Brookside Equestrian

Attended a wedding here. Very nice venue. Staff was very friendly and accommodating. Atmosphere was very intimate and created a nice mood for the wedding.

I’ve always wondered about Brookside Equestrian as a site for a wedding, since it’s right next to my church, and we’re shopping for a venue for our wedding anniversary, so I drove through there in January. There was nothing going on, just equestrian facilities, maybe since it was winter. However, recently, I was pleasantly surprised to see how beautiful and elegant the place could be when I saw a wedding video made by MP Wedding Films. The «equestrian» theme was nicely preserved, and the place was nicely set up. The bride and groom were beaming with joy, and the guests were quite relaxed and seemed to be enjoying themselves very much. I would say that the outfit that did the decorating, I think it’s called Rose Wade Events, did a great job and so did MP Wedding films. I would recommend for folks in the Walnut Valley area or those who love a uniquely themed wedding to check the place out in the summer.

I cannot say enough good things about Rose Wade and the exceptional staff at Brookside Equestrian Center.
My husband and I were married there on March 30, 2013 and it was a truly dream come true. I honestly couldn’t image a more perfect place for our special day. There were so many things we loved about this place; I’ll try to touch on all of them:
* We looked at venues from LA to San Diego and everywhere in between — and from the second we drove down the gravel path we knew there was no place like Brookside.
* We got quotes at several other venues prior to finding Brookside and it seemed like the prices kept climbing up and up and up until they seriously exceeded our budget. At Brookside, we were offered an all inclusive package that covered everything, so we didn’t have to worry about the breakdown for each vendor or unexpected expenses popping up. Rose was very fair in her pricing and did not nickel and dime us at all.
* The venue on its own is gorgeous — outdoors and lush, but with a private and very intimate feel. However, Rose and her team also style each wedding to fit their bride and groom’s personal taste. They have several vintage items all at the bride and groom’s disposal. We took such comfort in knowing that Rose and her team pride themselves on getting every detail exactly right; which for us meant less to stress about!
* There was no shortage of attention from the Brookside staff on our wedding day. As the bride, I had one staff member (Sandy) assigned specifically to me. She was absolutely fantastic! She had every detail covered — from making sure the bride and groom never crossed paths before the wedding, to sending me down the aisle with tissues (that I desperately needed). Sandy’s dedicated attention really helped me relax and enjoy the moment, while Rose and another team member (Aide, who was also wonderful!) ran around making sure the venue looked perfect. They are seriously a dream team.
* The only complaint we received from guests was their regrets that the night ended so early. Due to the fact that Brookside is tucked away in a cozy little residential area in Walnut, the venue has sound restrictions, so the music had to be completely off at 10 p.m. Mind you, as the bride and groom, we had ZERO complaints about this detail. The day had been so beyond perfect that by 10 p.m., we were more than happy to call it a night.
* The food was INCREDIBLE.
Rose seriously blessed our wedding day with her sweetness, her perfectionism and her absolute love for what she does. It was apparent (not just to us, but also to our guests) that she and her team were invested in our wedding day and in our relationship. As a bride, I could not have asked for anything more and I’m so grateful for the entire staff at Brookside who made our big day a dream come true.

TIME&PLACE: May 2013 4pm wedding
Attended a wedding here for the first time this past weekend and it was nicer than I thought it would be! For some reason the fact that it’s in Walnut had always played with my expectations for the venue, but it didn’t disappoint. The weather was gorgeous, which helped a lot given the ceremony and reception were both outdoors, but the grounds were beautiful as well.
A few other reviewers have done a good job of really detailing more of the (duh) details so I’ll just add a few things I noticed…
*Large wedding (350 guests?) so the ceremony was held under the trees (pretty!) and the reception in front of the barn.
*Really authentic, country-​style grounds that are well-​maintained — and I have to reiterate – it really doesn’t smell like horses.
*While most of the places you’re walking to/​from are clean and paved, the dirt road driving onto the property and the parking lot are dirt, so don’t wash your car before coming unless you’re okay with leaving dusty anyway
*Would recommend against wearing heels given how much of what you’re doing is on the grass
*There were only 2 single-​person bathrooms, so there were rented port-​a-​potties. The actual bathrooms were nice, but with 350 guests, there was always a line
*During the reception, we couldn’t hear the speeches/​emcees/​etc. This is probably more the fault of the DJ/​rentals company than the venue, but if you do have a large reception, would recommend extra speakers/​sound set up to ensure everyone can hear what’s going on
*The Vegetarian station was a nice touch (I’m not alone!) but the food was subpar. The grilled vegetables were soggy and not well-​seasoned, though the potatoes and salad we good. I’m not a huge fake-​meat person so I skipped on the «chicken» and the server couldn’t tell me what else was in the «nut loaf» so I skipped that as well. It was a nice gesture to offer it, though!
*Didn’t interact much with her personally, but the bride+groom were really happy with the on-​site coordinator’s services and said that she did a good job of keeping everything going according to schedule – that’s a relief! It’s always disappointing when the on-​site «coordinator» does less coordinating than you would think.
Would definitely recommend this as an option if you’re looking for a venue in this part of SoCal.

I was here with my girl. No, we did not attend a wedding, nor did I marry her off. My girl is my daughter. We have been running around the hiking trails of Walnut for the past couple of months because she she was one of the slowest ones at school. I’ve been training her so that she could get stronger and to kick her little classmates butts. She has been in love with horses lately. I decided that I would surprise her by running around the perimeter of the Equestrian Center.
It was great! Not only did she have a nice run today, but, she learned some new words today. I took her to the entrance on San Vicente Drive, and showed her the sign saying «Brookside Equestrian Center». Unfortunately for her, she did not know what the word «Equestrian» meant. I told her we would see some equine. Again, she had no idea what it meant. Since there was not not much going on, I made her run up Lemon Avenue to Meadowpass Avenue. I kept on telling her to be on the lookout for some equine. She looked, but, still wasn’t sure what she was looking for. It wasn’t until we were on Meadowpass Avenue that we saw our first horse. That was when I told her what equine meant.
Since she has been in love with horses lately, I decided that we would go down the driveway on Meadowpass Avenue and get a closer look at some of the horses that we saw. It was the best decision that we made. The people there were wonderful! We saw a white horse that was blind in one eye. The rider was nice to us and allowed the daughter to pet the horse. The horse responded by sneezing horse snot at us. Disgusting! But, it was an experience that my daughter will never forget. We then went to another riding area and met Danyelle of Enriched Equestrians. Danyelle was in the middle of a riding lesson, but, stopped to talk to us, and offered to give the daughter a lesson (for a fee). She encouraged me to allow the daughter to learn how to ride a horse. Thankfully, Danyelle’s horse did not sneeze. She also allowed the daughter to pet her horse.
The Brookside Equestrian Center is a great place to take a walk, or run. I love that it is hidden in the middle of Walnut, without all my fellow Chinese neighbors. It looks just like a park. But, it was much more than a park to the daughter. I think we will be back.

Came here for a wedding and this place is really nice!
I just love that you can go to the stables and pet the horses. So while everybody was in their seats listening to the father of the bride’s speech. then the maid of honors then the best man’s.and perhaps someone else? (all toasts aka SPEECHES were super long) I went out to pet the horses and feed them carrots.
They set up croquet and did the cocktail hour really nice for them too.
Overall, the whole place is just beautiful.
They also have a wide grassy area where they put old school couches and cute little tufted ottomans and chairs under the lights where you can sit. Adorable.
One thing you must know: GIRLS: DO NOT WEAR HEELS. I wore taller wedges that shit did not fly well either. The whole place is uneven, and you’ll be walking in soft dirt, grass or bumpy unpaved walkways. I should have worn flats.
Also, if you’re doing a wedding there, the most ideal place that they have to do the ceremony is only half shaded so go there early to grab a seat in the shade or be like me and sweat balls. I don’t know if wedding coordinators work there but the person there was so nice to take my coffee cup I had from before when I asked her where the trash was. They were kinda pushy though, because when I left to go the restroom they’re like… wedding is about to start. and im thinking to myself. i can do whatever the hell i want…
Other cons: Parking in the corral was NOT the business. Don’t wash your car prior, and wear closed toe shoes… or better yet closed to LOW wedges or flats. The cars picked up ALL the dust and I went home with brown boogers.
Also, NO BATHROOMS besides the ones in the paddocks, so they had porta potties for us and I was like one of the first people to use it and it was already gross, not to mention it was hot as Hades up in that. HELL. NO.
So I would have warranted this place a 3, but the outdoor lighting, big open spaces and the fact that I got to hug and pet and cuddle like 8 of their horses meant the world to me! so extra star!

my wife and i were married here on june 23, 2012. we’re still happily together (praise the Lord!) and thankful that we chose brookside equestrian center/​rose wade events for that special day.
it was the first venue we visited and my wife immediately fell in love with it. the venue sells itself, even without the small details that rose and her staff put into making it a fabulous wedding venue. it feels like another world apart from southern california (almost southern?).
rose and her staff (sandy is super sweet) did an excellent job with the food, décor, making this into the fairytale wedding that still delights my wife when we speak about it.
we checked Unilocal *after* we signed our contract and the negative reviews listed here made us cringe. it really concerned us as to what to expect. here are some of my thoughts, hopefully to inject some fairness and rationality into folks that have signed or are considering signing.
1) dust. it’s an outdoor venue and so i don’t understand why this shouldn’t be completely unexpected. i didn’t see a lot of dust from the parking lot when people came in but saw a whole lot of it when guests were exiting en masse. that said … it’s an outdoor venue, the ceremony site is situated far enough where dust wasn’t a problem for us, and the dining area is a good distance from the lot.
2) rose wade — rose worked really hard to make our wedding special and we’re very appreciative for her help. that being said, rose *is* running a business and so the bottom line is her real priority. this is made amply clear when it comes to paying or discussing the bill.
3) negatives:
— summer weddings are hot. late guests sitting in the back will suffer.
— the night ended too quickly — i really recommend getting an extra hour.
— anything not in the contract i would not not expect to get, even if it’s verbally communicated at the showing or contract signing. to be fair, rose and team have tons of weddings and it’s not her fault if something gets missed. that said, it won’t be missed if you do not rush through your contract signing and get everything in writing.
— rose asked us to cut champagne after the contract had been signed.
— rose was unkind to my sister when she was helping clean up, threatening to charge us for some candle wax that had spilled on a table runner. to be fair, it’s her stuff and we were renting it … but it was received very offensively.
— my parents asked about bringing home leftovers (which rose had indicated we were entitled to, at the time of contract signing) but i understand that rose sharply responded that the caterers make «just enough.» their impression of her suffered because of this and the cleanup issue.
— it was difficult to shake the feeling we were being nickeled and dimed. to be fair, everything has a cost. it was just a really uneasy feeling, especially since a wedding is such a huge expense and this is her business.
4) positives:
— we were allowed to have a very informal rehearsal dinner on site at brookside equestrian, after securing the appropriate insurance (which is very important for the owners)
— the venue and setup were beautifully and meticulously decorated. it was, as my wife says, «magical.»
— rose came through and above on delivering a great, memorable, and magical wedding. we will always treasure this day. thank you for your help, rose!
— we were told the food was really great, especially for wedding food. the hor d’oeurves, the main course, and the cake (beverly’s best was great — lemon raspberry was their best, red velvet was so-​so). the tasting was also a blast.
— the venue had that rustic feel with trees, open space, light posts, a restored stable, and excellent lighting for pictures (with the right photographer/​videographer — shout out to John Yao/​SimplyTwo Photography and Ryan Quan Video).
positives totally outweighed the few negatives and i will reiterate that we are thankful we got married here with rose’s help. if you’ve signed a contract, congratulations. if you haven’t signed a contract, see above and make your decision accordingly. don’t be scared away by the scary brides that posted all the other reviews. it’s a **great** venue and rose wade events does really good work.

Beautiful location for an outdoor wedding! No need to over do it by decorating the place with all kinds of flowers! The scenery is just perfect. The trees are abundant and the field is so green!

came here for a wedding and i was definitely impressed!
the wedding set up was so elegant and sophisticated i was surprised a place like this could pull it off so effortlessly!
outdoor wedding, outdoor reception. amazing beautiful bulb lights strewn across the reception area, with lemonades galore and bars. great place for an outdoor wedding and i couldn’t have suggested an improvement with the wedding décor myself. would recommend for anyone looking to hold an outdoor wedding! tons of parking for guests as well.

I don’t even know what to write to describe the overall experience at Brookside Equestrian As a horse boarder, there is NO place that even comes close to Brookside. Two things that make this place so special are the beauty and tranquility of the proprty, that no one could ever argue, coupled with the gracious owners and the people that work there. I always tell my friends it is heaven on earth and I truly mean that. The trainers are the BEST you will ever find and the staff keep the grounds clean and take amazing care of the horses. Alas I would be remiss if i did not mention that the stable has the uncanny ability to attract the nicest people I have ever met.
As for the weddings I have seen many many many gorgeous venues so they are obviously doing something right! It’s definitely worth taking a look at whether you are looking to board a horse, throw a party, or get married… you would be cheating yourself if you didn’t!

This is such a pretty place to have a rustic wedding! I loved everthing about this place. It didn’t smell like poop at all! Since it had rained the day before the paths were a bit muddy but there wasn’t a lot of dirt kicked up in the air like some people have complained about. Also it was luscious and green and ideal for AWESOME pictures! It was a bit cold at night, but since i had anticipated the weather I was fine, but i felt bad for the bridesmaids who were freezing their butts off.

My wedding was held at this venue and it was definitely a night to remember! We used several different areas on the property that proved to be very unique and kept the guests moving around and not bored!
Ceremony– We had some beautiful lavender lemonade stands set up for before the ceremony. I was brought in via horse and carriage which really suited the venue. The ceremony was set up in front of the barn with strands of lights above. My photographer took some really cool pictures with different lenses and captured the true beauty of the venue really well.
Cocktail Hour-​Everyone moved to the gazebo area for cocktail and appetizers. This was great because the crew was then transforming the ceremony area to my reception area. I am sure the crew was cursing me because this task was no small feat in a short amount time! It is what I wanted though and after all I was the bride! At this time I took pictures around the facility. This took some time and didn’t allow me as much time with my guests.
Reception– Having the guests come back to the transformed area was truly magical! The sun had set at that point and the string lights were on and the candlelight glow was just more than I could have expected. Having the horses in the background created a really whimsical feel. It was feeding time and you could hear the horses nicker, when this happened I could hear my guests laugh with delight! We were all eating at the same time!
Overall this venue was truly unique. There are things to be considered when using this venue, such as horses in the background and some dirt roads. For me this was the right fit for creating a unique experience without having my guests bored with another expected wedding.
Many of my guests said it was the best wedding they had ever attended! Yippee!

This is simply one of the greatest places in Los Angeles. Its landscaping and scenery are comparable to the Huntington Gardens. The property has close to 28 acres, which include winding trails, creeks, bridges, and water to ride horses through. One of it’s greatest features are it’s trees. It is hard to find old, huge trees with lots of character, but not at Brookside.
For the riders out there, it doesn’t get any better than this. There is one full sized outdoor dressage court, one indoor arena and a large jumping arena. The trainers are literally world class and the horses are very well taken care of. Most importantly, the owners and trainers are very kind, honest people who are not pretentious. For all of the above reasons, this place gets five stars.

Attended my friends wedding which was held here.
The parking area was horrible. My husband had to drop me off before heading to park because dust was kicking up like crazy. So if you still plan to have your wedding here, just know your guests and you will have a film of dust on you once you arrive.
I saw the bride trying to walk towards the aisle while wiping her eyes because of all the dust that few in her eyes.

I’m in love.
This place was actually really hard to find. The sign isn’t that big to find it. You really need to drive slowly and know… it’s across the church.
You drive down a dirt path and park. There are tons of horses practicing and you see the barnyard and the outdoor wedding venue. I could not find the office for the life of me. I called Rose and she came out in a golf club to come get me. We looked at the venue and it was gorgeous. They are doing some work on it to make it better of course.
We go into the bridal suite to look at the slides and go over all the packages. The bridal suite is a stationary trailer because they could not build more buildings because it’s a historic landmark. So they had to create stationary offices.
CEREMONY AREA:
There are several. You can get married at the arch (gazebo) or in front of the barnyard. It DOES NOT smell like horse crap. They really do a great job masking it. I could not smell it at all. During the day, the light looks so pretty at the gazebo. I think if I were to pick this place, the gazebo would be it. They provide the chairs of course.
BRIDAL ROOM:
You have your own bathroom with many amenities and a couch with cute antique wedding stuff around you. It was a really cute room. I love that kind of stuff. I realized I love vintage weddings.
COCKTAIL AREA:
Their cocktail area could be in front of the barn or the gazebo area. They could set up a bar and could also put lawn games! How cool is that?! Lawn games! I love that kind of stuff. I definitely want to incorporate games in my wedding.
RECEPTION:
Outdoors. Again, you have choices. You can do it in front of the barn outdoors with lights strings around or in the covered outdoor barn area that could fit 300 people. It has lights and looks gorgeous.
DECOR:
They would provide all the antique décor — lights/​lanterns, table readers, etc. It’s all vintage. I loved it so much. You’d save a lot on décor.
CATERING:
They provide buffet and seated dinners/​lunches. They have special promotions right now as well. They include alcohol in their packages too so that’s a plus for me.
COORDINATOR:
Rose was great! I got along with her really well! She kinda saw my vision of what I was looking for and I described what I was going to do with my bridesmaids and myself (yes, I have ideas already). I really liked her.
CONS:
* You need to end at 10pm
* No live band (planned to have a DJ anyways)
* Parking on the lawn area or back (but escorted to the area by horse carriage)
* Don’t know how the weather is going to be in March for an outdoor wedding…
OVERALL:
I loved this place. It’s huge. They have great photo ops here! HORSES!!!
This is a contender.

Attended a wedding last night. Venue was beautiful and clean. The horses are in the stables that look like little houses stick their heads out to see what’s going on. So cute! Very country like feel. One bad thing was the parking! All the cars kick up dirt as well as when you are walking through to get to the venue, so if you’re wearing open toed shoes, your feet feel a little dirty. As well as the men, shoes got all dusty.
Overall, a great place. I’d def get married there!

5 stars for the venue.
2 stars based on my correspondence with Lisa, the venue manager.
I REALLY wanted to host our wedding here. Like, truly TRULY. But it ended up not working out, and thankfully we found another gorgeous venue that’s just as charming (maybe even more so), and provides a lot more flexibility for our needs.
When I first contacted Lisa, who is not only the special events point-​person but also the daughter of the owner, she was really nice. We clicked, chatted and laughed, and she got excited with me as I shared with her vision I had for the wedding. Brookside was perfect for what I wanted. Expansive grassy lawns, vintage horse barn (full of GORGEOUS competition horses), large willowy trees, and unbeatable seclusion. Even though you’re in the middle of Walnut (Asian suburbia central), it feels like you’re out in Kentucky country. Swooon.
Then came the stipulations.
1) She really pushes for her house caterer, who is pricier than a lot of other options in L.A. (We did end up choosing an even pricier caterer, but have many more options now with our menu, and a far more inclusive service package.)
2) She requires that you go through her exclusive rental company for all tables, chairs, linens, lighting, etc.
**After I found my own caterer (who also does rentals), Lisa met with my company and decided to allow me to use my own rental company (only because they’re a huge company and have really high-​quality furniture), but really made me feel like she was doing me a HUGE favor by allowing this.
3) She REQUIRES her own bartender, no exceptions. (I never received a bar quote despite MANY requests for one, so I can’t vouch for whether they’re high or low in terms of pricing. More on this later.)
4) The contract doesn’t require any specific DJ, but from speaking with Lisa, I got the feeling that she’d be REALLY unhappy if I didn’t choose one of her two preferred DJs. (And who wants their venue manager unhappy on their wedding day?) We need a DJ who is bilingual Chinese-​English, so this was an issue.
Despite all this, I loved the location so much for many personal reasons (I grew up down the street), and decided to go ahead and book it. Things came up at the contract review meeting that I hadn’t anticipated, and I ended up needing to solidify a few more things before signing and putting down the deposit.
One of the things I’d requested was her bartender’s contact info, so that I could contact them for a quote. Lisa said that she deals directly with the bartender, and that she would get the quote for me. (Since when were brides not allowed to talk to their vendors?) I sent her an email reminder about the bar quotes, and never got a response.
HERE IS WHY I GIVE HER TWO STARS:
Four days after I sent her the email about the bar quote, she sent me an email informing me that she had to let someone else book our date, and that she would «be more than happy to work out an alternate date» if we still wished to have our wedding there. I replied, saying that I understood that date holds couldn’t be held for more than a week, and that I’d still appreciate those bar quotes so I’d have a better understanding of what the overall cost would be, should we decide to go with Brookside for another date.
That was July 1^st. Still haven’t heard back from her. Not even a courtesy email saying that maybe she feels Brookside isn’t the best fit for our needs. Just silence. Very unprofessional, IMO. I definitely feel like we dodged a bullet, as gorgeous as Brookside is.
QUICK INFO FOR BRIDES AND GROOMS:
Venue fee: $ 3,850***
Lower property (beautiful) can be rented for an additional $ 1,650
Vendors can arrive on premises at 2pm, guests at 4pm.
All noise must end at 10pm.
Vendors must leave by 11pm.
No live performers (other than soft acoustic instruments); i.e. mariachi bands wayy out of the question (understandable, because of horses)
Outside catering: Yes
Outside rentals: 90% No
Outside bar service: No
Outside DJ: Taking a risk, IMO
***I thought this was pretty expensive when I first started searching for a venue, but I learned quickly that it’s actually quite reasonable. To give some perspective, here are costs of other venues we really liked:
Adamson House — $ 7,000
Red Horse Barn (not as picturesque) — $ 3,500
Muckenthaler — $ 4,000
Villa del Sol d’Oro — $ 5,000
And just for the sake of making you feel really good about being «thrifty»:
Huntington Library — $ 100,000 (yes, that’s venue fee only)
All in all, Brookside would probably be a wonderful place to have a wedding if you can abide by all of THEIR rules and requirements. I think Lisa would be a dear to work with. If you need room for flexibility, though, this is probably not the place for you.

Went here for a wedding and was thoroughly impressed by the ground and beauty of the place. Will try some horseback riding in the future. Great place to hold a party.