The Best Mendocino Wedding Venue’s
The beauty of having a wedding in Mendocino California is you have a little bit of everything, from the Navarro redwoods to the cliffs of the Mendocino coastline, awesome places to stay, and, plenty of good places to eat.
Mendocino is one of my favorite places to photograph! with its unique weather, you should plan for a little bit of everything, from wind to rain or full sun, it’s always beautiful. It’s a good idea to plan a wedding weekend if you are wanting to have enough time to capture the beautiful landscape away from your venue but still soak in all your family and friends on your wedding day.
May is one of the best seasons to have your wedding in Mendocino, while you may have some rain, it’s before all the summer crowds arrive and is typically pretty quiet. I would avoid June -August due to crowds.
Cuffey’s Cove Ranch: Coastal Ranch and Wedding Venue, with over two miles of California Coastline with meadows and forests, a rustic barn for weddings receptions, and the refurbished Kenney House which is the original home on the property for accommodations for the bride and groom and big enough for family or friends if you choose. The venue is gorgeous.
Switzer Farm of Westport: Switzer Farm is the most majestic and secluded wedding destination on California’s North Coast. Located 20 minutes north of Fort Bragg, near the historic village of Westport, the restored 1884 Victorian farmhouse sits atop 22 private oceanfront acres directly above the wild Pacific
Spring Ranch: A grand Victorian mansion boasts a wrap-around porch, stone fireplace, and formal dining room. You can hold your wedding at several sites at Spring Ranch including peaceful meadows, towering eucalyptus, and cypress groves, or a beautiful event barn, and headlands bluffs overlooking the stunning Pacific Ocean.
Bell Valley Retreat - 600-acre venue includes comfortable accommodations for your guests, picturesque outdoor ceremony areas including a 150-seat amphitheater beneath old growth trees, lush gardens, and a sailcloth pole tent for your reception, 6 miles of trails to explore, fire pits, swimming pond, and more.
Things to do
Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve: One of California’s most remote parks in California, the redwood’s in Montgomery are amazing! it’s a short hike uphill and then downhill to a beautiful space with a loop trail with giant redwoods and a small creek running through it, it is an awesome place to go on a beautiful hike.
Shop in downtown Mendocino: The small historical town of Mendocino has so many quaint shops and cool and quirky buildings to check out while you are in Mendocino, along with a lot of great restaurants (see restaurants above) totally worth checking out!
Take a walk or go hiking: The coastline of Mendocino is beautiful so much to explore, and there are so many state parks along the coastline just drive along Shoreline Highway and you cannot miss the parks along the highway. My favorites were Mendocino Headlands, Russian Gulch, and Navarro River Redwoods they have beautiful coastal views with awesome redwood hikes.
Camila and Greg Eloped this week at Garrapata Beach. When Hwy 1 had a rock slide a week ago we had to quickly pivot away from their original plan of getting married in the redwoods. They found an incredible Airbnb at Ribera Beach where they had their first look and ceremony. From there we adventured down the coast with an impromptu cheesecake on the hood of their rented vintage Thunderbird. They were both so full of joy and love it was infectious.