Choosing wedding venue and caterer is probably the single most difficult decision in the whole planning process, but I really lucked out --- I wanted a location that is full of natural beauty, and yet close to civilization so that the wedding guests (and us) wouldn't have to drive after the drinking and partying. Sounds like a pretty impossible combination right?
Imagine my surprise when I came across Happy Trails Garden. I saw it on the web and immediately thought: ""I think this is it!"" The gorgeous camphor tree totally drew me in and it is a block away from old town Pasadena. When I went to see in person, the garden was even more beautiful than I could imagine! And when the sun went down, the tree lights up in the most gorgeous way.
So if your dream is a garden wedding for 20 to 200 people (I had 150), Look no more, this is the place you are looking for.
And now onto the catering. As with perhaps all brides, I barely ate during the wedding. But my guests told me that they really enjoyed the food (poached salmon, grilled tri-tip, paella with shrimp chicken ham ...), and we took home a bunch of leftover and it was delicious!
Last but not least, Kathy Black, the owner, is always warm, helpful, and flexible. Wedding planning is a very stressful project, but every time we talk to Kathy in person we'd literally feel the stress level come down. In retrospect I realized I worried about quite a few more things than I needed to --- If you go with Happy Trails, my advice is, just trust whatever Kathy tells you!
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