would recommend Sanders Estate to anyone looking for an amazing wedding venue. The Blue Ribbon took care of all my wants and needs for our big day. Totally worth the money! The staff were great and my coordinator, Akunna was so accommodating. What a incredible day that was!! read more

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This was such a beautiful venue! Heavy price but totally worth it! On a beautiful day to experience a beautiful thing! I recommend this venue to anyone needing a place to get married outdoors! I took a few pictures so y'all can have an idea. read more

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Just had our wedding there and I can say that if I was to plan another wedding, this venue would be a HARD NO. The Day of Coordinator was very unresponsive up until the day of the wedding - and to get her response we had to send 3-4 emails reminding her we need some answers, and when they finally messaged back it was already too late in the wedding to find other vendors that were cheaper. During the wedding- they messed up our seat choices so it made for an awkward situation where everyone was already sitting down but we had to ask them to get up to switch the seats. After, we had also found that the glass equipment we used from a 3rd party vendor came broken as the clean up crew or Day of coordinator did not care - resulting for us to reimburse the 3rd party vendor separately. They also switched up the amount that we had owed them every time we messaged them. They increased the price with no breakdown provided of why it costed so much and every time we questioned them - they would keep increasing the price. We also needed to add additional walls and heaters for the tent as the weather was pretty cold, so we asked for a quote but they did not tell us the amount until the day BEFORE the wedding - leaving us no choice. After the wedding they added a 22% service charge plus the 10% tax on top of that further increasing the amount they quoted us without giving notice. All in all, this was one of the worst experiences I had planning an event and if you want to save money and have a smooth wedding - I recommend avoiding this venue and blue ribbon catering all together. read more

I was a bridesmaid for my brothers wedding, so I was pretty involved in every part of the planning and preparations. Along with that, I was planning my own wedding, which I was planning to also do here at Sanders Mansion, as it is beautiful and it was a difficult time to find a place that will let you have a wedding during COVID shutdown. After our experience with my brothers wedding, that place was no longer an option. For so many reasons.... For one, the deposit was taken August 28th, and the wedding was October 24th. That's 5 months of us not receiving a deposit after the wedding and 7 months since it was paid. We have contacted them, and they said they received a returned check within the first 3 weeks of the wedding, it's been an additional 4 months since. On top of that, about a week before the wedding, they promised us they would cover 3 sides of the tent.. this was during the COVID pandemic.. PROMISED A WEEK BEFORE THE WEDDING.. During the wedding, they said they can't cover the tent.... now that's only a week after, and now it's "due to COVID"?? Btw at that time, the pandemic was taking a decline, not increasing.. It was an outdoor wedding with an fully open tent in 45 degree weather.. Guests literally got sick afterwards with a cold.. The deposit that they promised has been on it's way, they gave us a heads up that they weren't returning a full refund because we apparently left a window open and it got cold inside?? And they did state that they found a broken fireplace after us.. I am tempted to go back there to see what they 'fixed' because we had people, including myself, keeping a lookout on the house and the guests, and I was sitting across the fireplace watching tv. But ok, this one is hard to argue.. We forgot a few decorative items that we used for the aisles at the wedding, as well as the brides gold earrings with diamonds in the bridal suite. We reached out the next morning, through calls, emails and we even drove up there. We weren't let in, nobody would talk to us over the phone but they would refer us to an email, and the email took nearly a week to get a response. By the time we got a response, they stated they couldn't find anything. Overall, we felt scammed. We were referred by a friend, but we won't be referring people. It has been 5 months since the wedding, they didn't even give us a partial deposit back. $2500 deposit, plus their fee, went down the garbage for a crappy wedding experience. They don't do this to everyone, I know, but be careful anyways read more

My fiance & I are getting married in the Seattle area in May of 2022. We visited 14 venues over the course of a weekend in the area before settling on a different venue than Sanders, but I still felt like I should leave Charles a review. The estate is very nice, and has a lot of good aspects going for it. It feels like it is very lush & green in the summer, we just went with a slightly different aesthetic. I know there are other, more negative reviews concerning the venue and their communication & I can't speak to those since we haven't advanced past the initial stage, but Charles was very responsive & answered every question we had during the decision making process. I had a very positive experience working with him, and if things fall through with our other venue we will definitely consider them again. read more

I got married here in 2017 and it was beautiful! Blue ribbon culinary center did an amazing job with setting up. Made for incredible photos too! read more

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I want to make something clear upfront. I attended a friend's wedding here that was catered by Blue Ribbon Cooking. That being said, I am not entirely sure who was responsible for what or if it all falls under the same umbrella. Upon arrival, the situation seemed like it was setup very well for a large wedding (assuming around 200 guests?). Nice estate, big tent, tables, lighting, nice place settings, etc. Shortly after arrival the rain really started coming down and flooding the entire wedding/reception area including the prep kitchen. To be fair, this was one of the worst rainy days in all of 2015. Shortly after the heavy downfall of rain began, the power went out. This meant no lighting for guests, no music from the DJ, and no lights in the bathrooms (the toilets didn't flush either). The prep area had 3-4" of standing water and, as the night went on, even the main tent sprung a leak right in the middle just spouting water inside creating a slippery floor. Granted, these are, for the most part, unavoidable events but the frustration comes in the handling of the situation. It seems as though they just simply weren't prepared to deal with any unforeseeable circumstances. There was no backup generator or alternate lighting source and seemingly no staff taking action about the water (safety hazard), the bathrooms, the leak in the middle of the tent, etc. Granted I was not privy to all of the goings on but for a company that does these sorts of things often, it seems like there would be a level of preparedness. In addition, it seems as though their treatment of the wedding couple in regards to the handling of the situation was relatively unsympathetic especially for how poorly they handled the situation. Given the circumstances, the guests made the best of the situation for the wedding couple. Also, this made for some unique, memorable moments (a first dance by cellphone flashlights and the crowd trying to bumble along in the lyrics they didn't really know, the photographer backing his car into the tent to play music for the reception). We had a good time because the guests pulled it together, not the venue. read more

I had my wedding here and the whole experience was phenomenal. The grounds are amazing. He's got two ponds, one with a row boat, several gazebos and swings for pictures. He even has swans! There are several options on where to have your event depending on the size of your gathering. The staff there is efficient and willing to pitch in and help with whatever you need. Robert (the owner) is constantly making improvements on the grounds; I think his next thing is to make his private air strip available for a really special exit for the new couple. The house is amazing, the bathroom has a claw foot tub and a cage shower! There are several areas to get great pictures inside as well as outside. Robert does live there, so he's picky about where you go in the house, but that's reasonable. I highly recommend his venue if you're in the greater South Seattle area. It's very easy to get to off of I5 or 167. read more

This venue was amazing, and all of our guests told us we picked a wonderful location for our wedding. The grounds were absolutely beautiful (you can see Mt. Rainier from the property!!), and I can't say enough about the charm and natural beauty of the location. The mansion itself is lovely and makes for some wonderful photo ops. The ceremony, cocktail tent and reception are located in three different locations on the grounds, which made for a very nice flow to the evening, while allowing our guests to see different parts of this beautiful property as well. One of our favorite moments was taking the rowboat out for pictures...after the ceremony of course! The venue staff wanted to make sure we didn't take an accidental swim beforehand. They really did think of everything. My fiancé and I were assigned a venue coordinator, Diana, to work with, and she was awesome. I always felt very well informed about all venue-related details, and I especially appreciated her prompt responses to my many questions, whether it be via e-mail or phone. The venue owner, Robert, was also really easy to work with . While the cost of the venue may seem a little pricey upon first glance, there weren't any hidden fees we had to deal with later on down the road. The price of the tents, tables, chairs set-up and tear-down was included in our rental, which was one less thing we had to worry about renting separately. They also include a golf cart with the rental (no extra charge!) for guests that might have difficulty walking around the grounds, which was a really nice touch. Since this is an all outdoors venue, I was a little worried about rain, but luckily our wedding day dawned bright and sunny. I am confident, however, if it had rained, our wedding would have been just as wonderful because the staff at Sanders is very well-prepared with an excellent rain plan. Sanders also provided great vendor recommendations. They recommended our caterer (ACT 3 - delicious food, wonderful service) and florist (Paisley Petals - very creative, natural-looking floral arrangements), and we were more than pleased with both. Sanders also recommended Adams DJ Service, but he was booked so DJ Adam recommended Troy Whalen of 206 Events. Troy was definitely one of the reasons we had so much fun at the wedding since he kept everyone dancing until the end of the night!! We had many of our guests tell us at the end of the evening Troy was the best DJ at any wedding they'd ever been to. He's also very familiar with the layout of Sanders Estate and will make sure your guests get from one location to another very smoothly. I would definitely recommend Sanders if you're looking to have an outdoor wedding in the Seattle area! read more

Awesome place for celebrations or just chilling out . The entrance is tricky, it is hard to see it from the main road. Went there on Friend's wedding, it was amazing. I've heard the building is more than 100 years old and one can tell by looking at the inside furniture. Filled with greenery and water showers it's a good place for kids as well as grown ups. read more

I did not choose the Sanders Estate as my wedding venue but I almost did (very close). When we first visited there I in love instantly with the beauty of the venue . I could already see myself walking down the isle there. The reason that we did not go with the sanders estate was because it we did not feel 100% confident signing the contract. This was the ONLY venue out of the ten that we saw that made me feel awful about my wedding budget and I felt as if they were not interested in really interested in hosting weddings. Sanders estate is owned by a catering company blue ribbon and does not function as a proper wedding venue. It was very expensive to use their catering so I opted to have an outside caterer. Immediately I felt as if our business was not wanted by the company. (I felt honestly totally rejected and a paying customer should never feel that way). I totally understand that they want you to use their services but if they choose to allow outside catering they should give you the same care and attention. I was told "you pretty much are just renting the space from us and we're not involved with anything else". I still wanted to maybe use their decor rentals and possibly talk to their coordinator but they made it seem that if you didn't use their catering company then it was not an option. The contract was not very clear at first. I felt a knot in my stomach every time I read it over. In addition to the fear of hidden fees, there were some lines with typos and duplicate sentences that I found. You had to pay 280$ for an onsite manager to be there that day but it was very clear that they would "not be involved with helping your wedding day off or helping with the flow of your ceremony." Okay fair enough, they're not a day of coordinator but you don't have to make the customer feel as if they will be helpless unless they pay for extra add ons. Example: 375$ for staff members to move chairs from the ceremony area to the reception area...what??? It was gorgeous but there was nothing included. I read more horrible reviews from this venue than any other I've seen and it's probably for a good reason. They have very strict rules on being out of the house after ceremony which was disappointing because the house is gorgeous also. I don't feel that putting the bridal party's belongings on the porch and locking the door is good customer service. Just more ways people feel unwanted and unappreciated by their own venue. My friend who attended a wedding there said the parking lot was not well lit which could be dangerous for guests leaving. All in all I would have loved more all inclusive options with just 2 or 3 price options for rentals. The many add ons make you feel like if you don't use them they will charge you a huge clean up fee. If you want a space to rent or you can afford to go big or go home then this may be a good place for you. If you are like me and need to pinch pennies to have your dream wedding I suggest going a big farther out to find a beautiful outdoor venue that includes most of the add ons at no cost. read more

Sanders Estate - Add ons and cost - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Auburn, Washington

I was married here last August. My family and I spent a bit extra to spend the evening before in the mansion on the estate. The owner of the home was absolutely remarkable. The estate was as you would expect. Immaculate. You can see that the caretaker obviously cares about this place. If you book your wedding at this venue it is a requirement to use Blue Ribbon Cooking as the caterer. Which wasn't a problem at first. When you book the venue you are assigned a planner as well. Everything before the wedding went as smooth as possible. Our planner seemed on top of all of my details. Even though I can be quite anal about them. Anyways, everything seemed to go as perfect as possible. Until the day of. We provided everything to be set up (ribbon wands, wedding favors, games, etc). While we were taking photos before the ceremony (1.5hrs before) we ran into our planner. I didnt even recognize her. She seemed to be quite flustered and was putting things up and getting things ready. Which is fine. However, she was supposed to show up 2 to 3 hours ahead of time to make sure everything was running smoothly. She showed up an hr ahead of time and never came to check on us.Thank god for my parents who made sure not to let me stress out. It was a half hour before the ceremony and the chairs were barely set up. My husband's best friend, my mother, and step sister, had to go put things out for display. We were supposed to have adorable chalkboard signs, which we paid extra for, but instead received a poorly scribbled sign on the chalkboard. Fast forward to the reception and things still were wonky. I had to tell her when we were ready to do things when we had an agreed upon schedule. As a planner, I would have assumed that they would be running the show, not the bride. It was incredibly frustrating. As you will become aware, this is not a cheap venue. You pay for what you are supposed to receive. And I do not believe we received the service that we paid for. On a positive note, our food was delicious and the wait staff was wonderful. The venue is absolutely beautiful. If I had to do this over again, I would probably have gone with the venue but would have been more stern. I have written this many months after my wedding so I could focus on the aspects that I thought were truly worth mentioning. There were several other small things that went wrong that day, but those were the worst offenders. This is receiving a 3 stars soley on the fact that blue ribbon cooking owns the property. If I was only reviewing the property, it would have easily been 5 stars. read more

Vanessa and her team at the Sander's Estate are amazing! We had a very last-minute, logistically challenging event and they went above and beyond to make sure everything was absolutely perfect. We can't thank them enough for all of their hard work and help in making this event a success! read more

Be warned! Think long & hard before you book this caterer or venue. If you're planning your dream wedding, I would take your business elsewhere, just in case. If you've ever had nightmares of things going wrong at your wedding.. I can't imagine it being worse that our actual wedding. Honestly, go find another company if you are early on in your wedding venue/caterer search. If you are already set on using this venue or have already paid a deposit, if you want to, you should still be able to get out of it with less monetary damage, earlier on. At the very least ask very detailed questions about contingency plans for every possible thing that can go wrong & get it in writing, because this venue is NOT PREPARED! They may tell you that they have a plan in place now (because of the disaster our wedding was), but we would suggest finding a way for them to guarantee in writing or a way for you to get your money back should anything go wrong, before you sign anything. Don't wait until the day of your wedding to find out there is nothing you can do about a wedding nightmare, and then still have to pay every single penny, adding insult to injury. We are writing this to WARN other couples who are going to spend so much money on one day where you have all your family & friends traveling from all over the world to share in this momentous occasion. To have a once in a lifetime experience completely RIPPED from you is truly heartbreaking. We felt so guilty to our guests for making them live through this horrible experience, especially for those who traveled from overseas, to deal with the horrendous event put on by this company. Our wedding was a complete disaster, made only worse by the staff & venue. We paid for all the extras, hoping for the best, but planning for the worst case scenario, just in case, but we were horribly misled. We live in Seattle & we know how the weather can be unpredictable here, and we prepared for that.. but there is no way we could have prepared for how unbelievably UNPROFESSIONAL the STAFF & UNPREPARED the VENUE was. I'll try to keep this as short as possible, but if you are planning on spending thousands of dollars on one day, you really need to know what kind of event this company is putting on. Here's a list of what went wrong: -No power with no backup generator (Even with a generator there is no way to have running water & flushing toilets, so make sure to ask about that) -No lights (pitch black where the wedding & reception were going on, once the sun went down) -No running water (can't wash hands after using the bathroom) -No flushing toilets (guests were close to puking with the disgusting bathroom conditions, even the male guests said they were seriously put off, and felt horrible for the conditions the females must have endured) -No heat (even propane heaters were need to be plugged in to electricity, and with no power, there was no heat) -Leaking tent (tent was leaking.. not just small drips here & there, but cascading waterfalls in random places in the center of the tent, not just around the edges. We also rented tent walls, which did next to nothing to keep the water out) -Wet floors & flooding inside the tent (yes people track in water, but the gaping holes in the tent made sure that the entire area was a slip & slide. Many people fell and its a miracle no one got seriously injured, just bruises, a few bloody gashes & sprained ankles) -Summarized conversation between staff member(s) & bride/groom about 30 minutes before event is scheduled to start: Bride/Groom: What is the contingency plan, since the power went out? Staff: We don't know, this has never happened before. What do you want to do? Bride/Groom: Can we hook up the backup generator. Staff: There is no backup generator & even with one, nothing will work. Bride/Groom: So what can we do? Staff: We don't know, this has never happened before. Do you have any suggestions? (How does a professional wedding venue & catering company have this response to a bride & groom on their wedding day??) -Several staff members were yelling & berating guests throughout the night. Barking orders (people were lost because it was pitch black & no one could see any of the signs for bathrooms, etc) & threatening random guests that they would be keeping our wedding deposit (Seriously! The staff were discussing our finances with guests!!) -The list actually does go on, and I have several dozen emails from guests detailing their experience, but this review is already so long.. You probably don't want to know the rest anyways.. PLEASE think long & hard before you sign with this place. They will be all smiles & promises at the beginning because they want your business, but we would suggest getting everything guaranteed in writing before you sign anything. Personally I would say, save yourself the headache & heartache and find some other company, but if you are set on them, make sure you have every possible contingency covered, get i read more

This venue is a hidden gem. I wanted to get married in Seattle, but when I started looking at venues, I felt like I had already been to weddings at most of them and I just didn't want to get married where someone else I knew had been married... or in an environment that seemed stuffy. I wanted a location that was convenient to the city, but I also wanted an outdoor wedding; preferably at an estate with good scenery, and a tent with a capacity for at least 150. This place had it all. I grew up near Sanders Estate and never even knew it existed. It's just a mile east off of I5 in Auburn, which is about 25 min of drive time from Seattle. The first time I viewed Sanders estate, it was pouring down rain in November, but I instantly fell in love with it. The owner (Robert) acquired the estate 6 years prior, and has restored the house and the grounds. It is 35 acres of private land, open fields surrounded by trees... two ponds (1 with a swan, 1 with rose bushes)... a cocktail tent and a reception tent... a pergola heavy with vines of wisteria... and of course, Sanders Estate which is a very large and beautiful 100-year-old home. Once I saw the grounds, I knew it was the place for our wedding, and booked it immediately. Then I spent the next 10 months crossing my fingers for no rain on August 12th! As it turned out, on our wedding day, it was a glorious 83 degrees. Our wedding ceremony started at 5:30pm, and the trees surrounding the venue kept everyone in the shade, which was PERFECT for photos. No squinting faces, no exposed heads to the sun beating down, just lovely sunlight breaking through leaves, and creating pools of light across the open field behind us. The staff helped us with much of the transition of items at the ceremony that needed to be moved to the reception tent, which was done seamlessly. All in all, my wedding was perfect and the best day of my life; the venue was in its most glorious state, and I couldn't have been a happier bride... it was one long, continuous moment that was one amazing thing after the next, and lasted all night to close off with a giant conga line through the tent, and a sparkler send off. The whole thing put me on cloud 9, and over one month later, I still haven't come down off the high!!! A few suggestions for future brides at this venue: Sanders Estate will assign you an 'event coordinator' from their staff, but you absolutely need a 'day of coordinator' for a venue of this scale (and if you have 180 guests), because you will need to set everything up and break it all down within your contracted time (the standard is 8 hours). 8 hours sounded like a lot of time to me when I signed my contract, but I had no concept of how long the set-up/break-down time would be until I planned the wedding decorations, then I realized it was hardly enough time because you have to hire or depend on family/friends to do all the set up work (if you do your own centerpieces, which I did). As the bride, you obviously can't help with this, which was frustrating for me because I would have liked to be there to direct with my vision which I spent so much time and money on. The length of time will be different for everyone based on their timeline of events and whether they hire other people to do things, but my only regret was that I didn't buy more time. I had my hair dresser show up late, and a shuttle bus driver that took us the wrong direction down hwy 18, and I lost 30 min of valuable prep-time at the estate. I would have liked to had the time to actually get my hair done at the estate, and not be so rushed when I showed up, because when I arrived it was "Game On" and photos started. Thank goodness I had an incredible friend who I commissioned to be my day-of coordinator, and I had family in from out of town who volunteered to set up our centerpieces, and break them down so we could be out of the venue by 11pm. It ended up working out beautifully, but we had to have VERY good planning to make the ship run smoothly, and in retrospect, we just enjoyed ourselves so much and everything was just so amazing that we just didn't want the day to end... I really wish we had the venue the entire day - that is the ONLY thing I'd want differently if I could have a "do over"... Other than that, on a scale of 1-10, I give it an 11!!!!!! read more

Staff running the event was not very accommodating and was just in a rush to get out. Venue was not ready to handle unexpected changes in weather. -Leaking canopy left us with very unsafe walking surface even under the tent. Floor was EXTREMELY slippery and I almost fell multiple times trying to walk across the wedding venue with a baby in my arms. With all the elderly people in attendance its amazing that nobody got seriously hurt, only some small sprains and bruises. Not one time did I see any staff member squeegee or towel it down. -Power went out, no back up generators available. -Toilets and water required power in order to flush or generate water. NOBODY COULD WASH THEIR HANDS! how unsanitary is that! -Cleaned up all glassware extremely early leaving guests with nothing to drink from. People were going to other tables asking if they could half what was left of water in their glasses. No paper or plastic was provided either. There is potential for this to be a great place but it my experience disappointing. read more

My son got married here. It's pricey (he paid!) but the setting is fantastic and the catering service is excellent. This is a professionally run place that will make sure your wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. read more

This wedding venue is absolutely gorgeous. We loved all the blooming flowers and natural wooded setting. Our guests told us the wedding was the most beautiful and classy ever. If you are willing to pay for the extras such as the tent liner and lighting-you will have a stunning venue. My guests felt the venue staff were more than helpful to their individual requests. We also had Blue Ribbon Catering, which was delicious! Akunna was our personal wedding planner, and she has very sweet and calm. I would work with her again anytime! Any little issues that came up along the way, were taken care of by the manager. I spent a lot of money on this day for my daughter, but it was truly memorable and beautiful and I have no regrets. read more

Attended a wedding as a guest. Nice architecture, upper garden, and lower fountain, the remaining grounds needed some grooming and safety features on the narrow drive plus more visible signage sooner down the main street as the property is somewhat hidden on the base of the hill. It would be nice if a wedding staff represented the estate to add to the hospitality of the brand. However, the vendors present, save the photographers, were not that friendly even though we were closely related to the couple. Can't hold the estate accountable for the latter, though! I appreciate the owner making the space available for private events. read more

We just had our wedding here and it was wonderful! Lisa and Sharon were great, and the customer service was top-notch. They were very eager to help answer any questions and assist where needed. The venue is beautiful, with a lot of photo-ops throughout. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a wedding venue in the Seattle area! read more

We has our wedding here this past August, and it was amazing! Everything was perfect. Lisa at the estate was so awesome from start to finish. Every single person that attended couldn't get enough of the estate and the grounds, nothing but compliments on how beautiful this place is. I'm so happy we had our wedding here, definitely a perfect choice for us :) read more