One of the premier wedding venues in the San Francisco Bay Area, Filoli Garden and Historic House is a country house with 16 acres of beautifully maintained gardens set in a 654-acre estate in Woodside. Built for the Bourn family in the 1910s, it was later purchased by the Roth family who donated Filoli and the grounds to the National Trust fo Historic Preservation in 1975. Filoli Garden has been open to visits for the public for years and thousands of visitors love wandering the stunning gardens featuring everything from daffodils, magnolias and tulips in the spring to roses in the summer. Volunteers help maintain the gardens, creating beautiful floral arrangements for the main house out of flowers harvested from Filoli Garden. Filoli actually has a portion of the garden known as the Wedding Place because one of the previous owners’ daughter was married there in 1941! Recently opened as a wedding venue to the public, Filoli Historic House and Garden is one of the most incredible places to say your vows in the Bay Area!

With six different outdoor spaces and two indoor spaces, couples are sure to find the perfect spaces for their ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. One of my favorite spaces for either ceremony or reception, is the beautiful entry courtyard in front of the main house. During the spring, clematis and wisteria produce a riot of flowers that climb up the columns framing the front door, making the steps a perfect place for a ceremony. The entry courtyard can seat 220 and host 300 standing, making it wonderful for ceremony, reception and cocktail hour.

Another beautiful space is the Garden House and the Garden House Lawn. The Garden House itself is perfect for small, intimate events, able to seat 30 and host 50 standing. Including the expansive lawn next to it, it is possible to host 200-240 seated guests and 260 standing guests.

The grassy area by the pool is perfect for cocktail hour.

For indoor locations, the ballroom with its gold trim and crystal chandeliers that are copies of those hung in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles creates an old world romantic setting that takes you right to Europe. The ballroom can seat 120-145 guests and hold 200 standing guests.

There are countless picturesque spots to serve as backdrops for your bridal portraits… the main difficulty will be in narrowing them down, because the grounds are so vast! I particularly love the yew tree-lined paths next to the pool and the intricate wrought iron gates in the garden.

The stats:

Number of Guests: max of 600 seated in the Woodland Garden Court, with varying capacity for other locations.

Catering: Filoli Garden has several preferred caterers, including Paula Le Duc, Taste Catering, Heirloom Catering, Melons Catering, and Crystal Springs Catering.

Average price: For a 90 minute ceremony only, the rental fee for a Filoli Garden wedding is $25000. For a 4 hour reception only, the rental fee is $50000. The 6 hour ceremony and reception bundle is $60000 with the ability to extend the rental time to 8 hours for and additional $2000/hour.

Standard package: All reservations include 1 facility manager, a gate guard and 370 parking spots, as well as a complimentary membership to Filoli. A Filoli approved wedding planner is also required and all vendors must be approved in advance by the event manager.

Alcohol: Couples can work with the caterers to serve wine, beer and custom cocktails.

Contact Filoli via their event inquiry form or via a phone call to 650-364-8300 ext. 221 to learn more about hosting your wedding at Filoli Historic House and Garden!

Contact me or email me at alice@aliceche.com to book photography for your Filoli Garden wedding now. For photos from an editorial wedding shoot at Filoli Garden, see this blog post. For other high-end wedding venues in the Bay Area, take a look at this post featuring the best wedding venues in the SF Bay Area

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Alice Che is a San Francisco Wedding Photographer based in the Bay Area specializing in intimate, emotional wedding, engagement, couple and boudoir photography. Serving the South Bay, Peninsula, and East Bay: San Jose, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Carlos, Burlingame, Los Altos, Milpitas, Union City, Fremont, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Carmel, Monterey, Santa Cruz and surrounding areas.