Unique Northern California Wedding Venues

Whether you prefer sweet simplicity or whacky gimmicks, Northern California has no shortage of settings to choose from for a unique celebration. The list at hand compiles a bevy of California wedding venue options to refresh your venue search in categories such as:

• Museums
• Vineyards
• Observatories
• Sugar Mills

Read on to get inspired by all the wedding venues Northern California has to offer.

Finding Your Perfect Venue

Northern California’s cultural scene and natural beauty make it a popular place for weddings, which can make your search for the perfect venue overwhelming—and fast.

Before you even open your web browser, set aside some time to sit down with your spouse-to-be and spitball some ideas for the type of wedding ceremony you’d both find most meaningful.

A spirit of flexibility is necessary to maintain, especially at the beginning of the process, so there’s no need to devise a hard-and-fast list of non-negotiables. You should, however, have at least a sense of the following criteria:

• A rough estimate of the length of your guest list
• Whether you’ll want the same or separate locations for your ceremony and wedding reception
• A practical budget estimation
• Ideal dates or season you’ll want to host your wedding
• The degree of assistance you’d like from your chosen California wedding venue

Once you’ve narrowed down the general parameters of your ideal wedding, you’ll have an easier time nixing obvious “nos” from your search—and you’ll be able to develop a more refined set of questions so you can do your pre-booking due diligence with your favorite selections.

Choosing Wedding Venues: Thinking Outside the Box

Beyond the concrete, logistical elements of your celebration, be sure to introduce some levity into the decision-making process. Asking the fun questions will help you nail down that specific je ne sais quoi you’re looking for from your ideal location.

Here’s some food for thought to experiment with:

• What are some of the most genuinely fun special events you’ve attended together?
• Are there any routine adventures or interests you enjoy together?
• What activities did you love to do as kids?
• What were some places you loved to visit or have always wanted to visit?
• What time of year do you both feel the most exhilarated?

Even if the dreamiest elements of your wedding seem out of reach, there are plenty of inventive ways to imbue your celebration with treasured elements from your brainstorm. For instance, if you and your partner dream of traveling to Barcelona but can’t foot the bill for a destination wedding, consider chatting with your planner about caterers who specialize in Catalan cuisine.

Allowing yourself the time and space to dream up the style, theme, and flavors of your Northern California wedding venue will guide you in the right direction, priming you to find the best locations when you stumble across them.

Unique Northern California Wedding Venues

Now that you’ve tapped into your own big ideas for design, dining, and diversion, it’s time to take a stroll through some unique wedding venues in Northern California.

City View at Metreon, San Francisco, CA

If you’re on the hunt for a wedding venue that will dazzle your guests with the bright lights and big city skyline of San Francisco, the City View at the Metreon is sure to surpass your expectations.

Newly renovated to accommodate up to 800 seated and 2,000 standing guests, the City View banquet hall possesses more than 31,000 square feet of interior and outdoor terrace space. Some of their amenities include:

• Dressing room and bridal suite
• Floor-to-ceiling glass windows
• Seven living walls of greenery
• Ample indoor space with multiple entryways and wheelchair accessibility
• At-the-ready event staff
• Catering
• Impeccable list of vendors

With adjustable interiors that can divvy up the dining, dancing, and celebration areas, this venue gives you unparalleled flexibility to tune your surroundings to your wedding agenda and personal style.

Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA

The uber-hip Contemporary Jewish Museum is a versatile, modern space for couples looking to wed in Downtown San Francisco. There are four spaces in the CJM available to couples:

• Koret-Taube Grand Lobby: This spare, industrial-glam interior makes for an ideal foyer for guests to gather and unwind before the festivities. The lobby may also be used for smaller receptions or for nuptial dinners that cap at 200 seated guests.

• The Blue Cube: The Blue Cube is the quaintest and most modern room of the bunch, with vectored ceilings and a clean white palette to work with. Small ceremonies, cocktail hour, and wedding rites like cake cutting and bouquet throwing are ideal for the Cube.

• Richard and Rhoda Goldman Hall: The 3,500-square-foot Goldman Hall is the biggest and most adaptable open space on the museum premises. Host a large banquet, dance the night away, or project your couples’ montage with built-in AV systems and colorful disco-esque lighting.

• Stephen & Maribelle Leavitt Yud Gallery: If you’re looking for a space with great acoustics and a mellow vibe, the Gallery is a gorgeous specimen. Vaulted ceilings give it a sacred and special feel, making it ideal for exchanging vows, warm reception suppers, and intimate live concerts (a romantic string quartet, perhaps?).

You’ll want to work with a pro to make the most of this modern museum space. Fortunately, the CJM has a roster of core wedding planners that can help you mix, match, and maximize the areas available to you for weddings ranging between 50 and 200 seated guests.

Cornerstone Sonoma, Sonoma, CA

For couples searching for a spot to host a timeless, country-style wedding, Cornerstone Sonoma is a must-see. It’s a perennially shifting landscaping masterpiece that invites visitors to enjoy new flora throughout the changing seasons—lily ponds, great lawns, rambling orchards, you name it.

Weddings at Cornerstone take place in one of three venues: the Wedding Garden, the Vineyard Lawn, and the Garden Barn, which can accommodate medium-sized weddings between 120 and 300 seated guests. The following wedding conveniences may be provided by the venue:

• Dressing room and bridal suite
• Bar services
• Catering provided by FOLKTABLE
• Service staff
• Clean-up assistance

While many outdoor venues can be difficult to navigate for older guests, this facility is fully wheelchair accessible. Couples are required to tour the Cornerstone complex before putting down a deposit to reserve the property for their wedding.

Saratoga Springs, Saratoga, CA

Family-owned and operated Saratoga Springs has had a love affair with nature from its founding in the 19th century. Saratoga is now a full-service events and excursions venue known for making outdoor weddings not only accessible, but enchanting.

Saratoga Springs is one of our most capacious venues, with room for up to 800 seated guests. Packages include:

• Personal event coordinator
• Dressing room and bridal suite
• Set-up and clean-up assistance
• Event staff
• Catering
• Dance floor
• AV capabilities
• Liability insurance
• Full wheelchair accessibility

Nestled among the redwoods, brooks, and nature’s archway of the California sky, Saratoga Springs is perfect for couples who want to commemorate their commitment to each other with a nod to their love of nature.

Straus Home Ranch, Marshall, CA

The word is out on the glorious Straus Home Ranch, a Tomales Bay homestead that’s been in operation for more than 160 years. Set the scene for your ceremony, reception, or other festivities in three venues:

• A 150-year-old eucalyptus grove
• A 19th-century barn
• A sprawling country garden

Each setting has room for up to 185 guests. The Tomales Bay beach is also located on the property—an idyllic mise-en-scene for your wedding photos.

Straus Home Ranch is open to elopements, and their full wedding package enables you to stay in the Straus handsome country home, with full use of the homestead’s facilities. The Ranch is perched right beside outdoorsy West Marin, which is brimming with outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, and even oyster hunting jaunts for your guests to enjoy.

Sterling Hotel by Wedgewood Weddings, Sacramento, CA

If you think you may have been born in the wrong era, your wedding is a fine opportunity to travel to another time. For the occasion, consider reserving The Sterling Hotel: a dashing Victorian mansion with antique fixtures like a ballroom, stained glass rotunda, classic cellar bar, courtyard, and on-site chapel.

This wedding venue can accommodate up to 200 guests, with three standard packages at the ready for newlyweds:

• Classic Package: This package includes a five-hour reservation, two-entrée buffet, cash bar, and AV capabilities.

• Premier Package: The Premier includes the Classic’s amenities, as well as a three-entrée buffet or duet plate, complete bar, and décor like custom floral arrangements.

• Elite Package: This top-tier package includes a six-hour reservation, three-entrée or duet plate, full bar, and other activities and decorations like a photo booth, grand sparklers, and even a wedding officiant.

The Sterling is a reputable, full-service wedding venue with years of experience, and is happy to oblige couples with custom wedding packages. The hotel has charming rooms available for guests to retire to after your celebrations, and its location in downtown Sacramento means other hotels and Airbnbs are a stone’s throw away.

The Terrace Room, Oakland, CA

To pull off a classic wedding in the heart of Oakland, you’ll need to scope out The Terrace Room—a sumptuous ballroom and full-service venue hemmed by glass windows that provide waterfront views of Lake Merritt and the verdant hills of Oakland.

A wedding reservation at the Terrace Room includes:

• Complete private access
• Tables, Chiavari chairs, linens, and table settings
• Food, beverage, and alcohol
• Events staff
• AV capabilities

This space can accommodate up to 190 seated or 220 standing guests, with a series of menus the culinary team has perfected and plenty of flexibility for customization.

Vizcaya Sacramento, Sacramento, CA

Set in a Victorian estate from the 1880s, Vizcaya Sacramento is a designated historical landmark. The property boasts ivy-spun colonnades, a Victorian tower, and exquisite gardens for couples marrying in Sacramento.

All-inclusive wedding packages come with:

• A personal wedding coordinator familiar with the venue
• Bridal suite and groom’s lounge
• Ceremony rehearsal
• Beverage service
• Event staff
• Set-up and clean-up
• Table set-up and settings
• At-the-ready dance floor

The hearth of Vizcaya is the mansion’s ballroom, where you can gather up to 240 guests for your ceremony or reception. While the venue has its own seasoned catering team to provide your wedding banquet, there’s no requirement to book exclusively from Vizcaya’s roster of vendors.

When they’re not making wedding dreams a reality, Vizcaya Sacramento operates as a romantic B&B, which means you won’t have to travel far to put your feet up on your wedding night.

Old Sugar Mill, Clarksburg, CA

What could be sweeter than a former beet sugar refinery for your wedding? Today, the hallowed halls of Old Sugar Mill have been converted into an esteemed Northern California winery. Strung with fairy lights, the high-ceilinged exposed-brick interiors provide a remarkably romantic setting for weddings.

When you partner with one of Old Sugar Mill’s four seasoned wedding planners, you’ll receive:

• The assistance of a wedding coordinator
• Bridal suite and groom’s lounge for the wedding party
• Up to six hours of private property use
• Up to two hours of set-up and one hour of clean-up
• A complimentary wine tasting
• Tables, chairs, and table set-up
• A wine barrel bar
• Complimentary parking

Old Sugar Mill offers three signature wedding packages designed for up to 250 seated guests. Whatever the size of your event, rest assured Old Sugar Mill will impart a warm, fairytale touch to weddings of all scales.

Build Out Your One-of-a-Kind Wedding With Zola

Picking a venue sets the stage for your wedding and sets the tone for all the other arrangements that follow. Zola’s suite of complementary wedding planning tools can help you stay on top of everything from the fine print to the big picture, such as:

• Vendor options to accompany your venue of choice
• Wedding websites to house all of the event details
• Customizable paper products, from save the dates to thank you cards
• Simplified registries

For the most dynamic, easy-to-use, and totally free wedding planning tools, look no further than Zola.