Got so much positive feedback on my wedding day because this venue is absolutely perfect!! Our guests had so much fun and we were able to capture beautiful pictures. Chrissy was amazing, she was so on top of everything and so easy to work with. The students did a fantastic job as the wait staff. The food was perfect! I love that we were able to pick our favorite dishes to be served; not many venues let you do that! Price was super reasonable as well. I'm so happy I chose this venue!! Unforgettable day. Thank you Chrissy and team. read more

The Sesnon House is a great wedding venue. Highly recommend. The venue is part of the culinary school. Chef Andrea, who is a professor of the culinary school, also offers a lot of options to customize the menu. For example, we wanted to incorporate chestnuts and dates into our menu. We had this Korean traditional ceremony where our parents gave us blessings with chestnuts and dates. Chef Andrea customized hors d'oeuvre to be roasted chestnut crostini. We also had desserts with them - chocolate chestnut cakes & a family-recipe date bar. It was awesome. Many people complimented our food, and it made me very happy because food is such an important factor in our lives (I am Korean and we live in NYC - food is all we care about haha). Students of culinary school prepared and served our food - it was such an honor to have those enthusiasm and joy on our big day. The venue comes with the day of coordinator - Chrissy. I can't say enough about her. She is the best. After the first meeting with her, I told my husband "I think we're in good hands". She is a seasoned professional who knows the ins and outs of the wedding. In general, it is a great venue with a great price & great staff. Highly recommend. Photo credit: @nicolejkimphotography read more

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The students and staff who put on the event were all fantastic! Everyone was so professional and kind! My wife and I didn't get to try any appetizers so when we sat down for dinner we asked a student if they could bring us each one and she came back with a whole plate full! Another student (completely unprompted by us) boxed up some of the delicious cookies they made us in a to go box because we didn't get any of those either. Their attention to detail was phenomenal, and all our guests (and us) absolutely loved the food. Many people told us it was the best wedding food they had ever had. If we had to do it over again we would absolutely return to sesnon house! read more

Sesnon House is an amazing wedding venue. It's the perfect balance of a beautiful venue and amazing food at a great price. The students who do the catering are fabulous - we keep getting compliments about how incredible the food was. The coordinator, Kristen, is very responsive and organized, and she worked very hard to keep our wedding on-track and flowing. Highly recommend Sesnon House for your wedding. read more

Words cannot express the gratitude and joy I have when I look back at our wedding at the Sesnon House in October, 2019. Between the gorgeous early 1900's architecture, perfect combination of indoor and outdoor space, absolutely beautiful landscape, amazing staff, and delicious food, this venue was idyllic. First off, HUGE kudos to Chrissy Hankes, the Events Coordinator at the Sesnon House at the time of our wedding, and Jeremy MacVeigh, the Department Chair of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management and lead chef at the Sesnon House. From our initial walkthrough to the day of the wedding, Chrissy and Jeremy helped lead us seamlessly through a myriad of details to create the day we'd always imagined. Chrissy was one of the most organized people I've ever met, and she was easy-going and humorous in a way that kept my whole family feeling low-stress during a very stressful planning process. She has put a TON of work into anticipating everything that could and should happen, and her leadership at our rehearsal and on the day of the wedding made it so clear that we were in good hands. Jeremy was equally helpful, planning the most delicious menu and working through all of the minute details with a kind smile. Our wedding day was during a week of PG&E power outages, and Chrissy and Jeremy worked around the clock to make sure that there was an emergency plan in place for our outdoor wedding with 160 guests in the case of no power. Luckily, the power was on during our special day, but it made a world of difference to know that we were working with a professional, prepared, and compassionate team of staff. Honestly this venue had everything we could have hoped for. It is one of the most financially reasonable venues in beautiful Santa Cruz county for what it offers- in house food and service, seamless setup and cleanup included, dance floor, dining, epic art and photo-worthy spaces, redwood trees and gorgeous palms, and the ambiance of a Gatsby-esque party. We didn't need to pull out all the stops for expensive decorations because the space itself is elegant and classic on its very own. Plus, you're only 5 minutes from local Aptos hotels and a quick 5-10 minute drive to the beach. I absolutely loved the Sesnon House, and I cannot recommend it enough. read more

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This review is almost two years late, and I regret that I am just now getting around to writing it. My husband and I were married at Sesnon House on June 10, 2017. We had 110 guests, our wedding started at 5pm, the weather was perfect, and it was the most beautiful night of our lives. Thank you to Chrissy and the amazing, super helpful staff for making it such a special night. My husband and I looked online for venues before we narrowed it down to the ones we wanted to visit. One visit to the Sesnon House, on an evening that they were decorating for an event, not even a wedding, and we were hooked. The house is beautiful, you don't even need many decorations in order for it to have a romantic feel. There was space for our guests to roam around. We had our cake in the piano room, where there were tables and chairs for guests, a dance floor and DJ in the main room where you walk into the house, and a buffet in another room that later turned into a sitting area for anyone who wanted coffee by the end of the night. And of course the huge lawn area in back where we got married and had dinner. We even had room for a photo booth! We didn't get to try the food beforehand, but we knew Cabrillo College has a good culinary program, and chose to trust the many positive reviews we read about the food served at Sesnon. It did not disappoint! We had many vegetarians in attendance and they were very accommodating with letting us customize the menu choices. We were allowed to purchase wine and beer but no liquor, specifically so the students can learn to pour. They allowed us to serve beer in bottles and the students poured the wine, which helped keep our cost lower. They allowed us in 1 hour before the ceremony to decorate. This didn't work out in my favor, that's one thing I would have changed is that I wish they could have allowed for more time to decorate. My entire decorating crew was in my wedding basically and we showed up late after getting ready and totally forgot about decorating. Luckily, Chrissy and her wonderful crew were helping and she even managed to wrangle up the guests who showed up early to help decorate. The kitchen staff set up our dinner, and it was beautiful. The colors and dishes chosen really complimented each other well. Our guests were really impressed with how beautiful it was. We had dinner outside, it was a beautiful evening with perfect weather, but since it was an evening by the coast we did pay for additional heaters to keep everyone warm. By the end of night, there had been problem guests kicked out, and my husband and I had no clue of any of the issues. Chrissy designated family members to be the voice of reason, and clean up the messes before we ever found out about it. This also was hugely helpful in enabling us to get our deposit back. Chrissy dealt with our Las Vegas crowd like a champ! Helps that she's from there too :D. Bottom line, this place is Affordable Beautiful, doesn't require many decorations, the house and backyard alone set the mood. Food was great Dance floor is awesome The ceremony location is beautiful Even if you don't have a wedding planner (Chrissy doesn't get paid to be your wedding planner), she steps in like one, and on a day like THIS DAY, it was such a blessing. Staff was great, professional, and very clean. It's a mansion.... read more

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Our wedding reception at the Sesnon House was a beyond wonderful event. The beautiful setting and location, the incredible food - from hors d'oeuvres to the dinner itself served family style - led by Chef Andrea and her terrific student team as well as Chef Andrea's patient efforts in effecting our linen and silverware selections, and all this so very well-coordinated by Chrissy and Melissa whose day of the event management was amazing. An especially appreciated excellence was how they worked with us on the schedule, e.g., they explained we were about to run long on hors d'oeuvres time, asking if we wanted to extend that time; we declined and moved onto the next step (speeches) as originally scheduled. Then when our dinner was about to run long (because we were table hopping more slowly than envisioned), they again asked and this time we asked for an extension. That efficient ease in which they communicated was great, helping the reception go so well. We had a slideshow continuously playing photos we wanted to share with guests next to our PhotoBooth. Chrissy and Melissa coordinated so well with our terrific DJ, (JJ from Alan Waltz Entertainment,) too. An unplanned good time was watching the kids playing on the grass. A reality of being on campus meant no hard alcohol, i.e., only beer, wine and champagne. That was not only fine, but our predominantly wine drinking guests clearly had a fun time. Lots of dancing on the foyer with the bar on the terrace worked out well logistically, too. And we cannot say enough about how delicious Chef Andrea and her students' food was. And the students took such delight when our guests and we would compliment (unsolicited) them on the food - especially the incredible chicken in a tender sauce that was perfectly prepared. Vegetarian pasta and seasonal vegetables were so delicious, too. Chef Andrea also provided a terrific photographer recommendation - Leslie - who did a tremendous job. That the weather even cooperated epitomized how special the day was. And finally wanted to note how simply very nice Chrissy, Melissa and Chef Andrea all were, especially the day of our reception making for such a wonderful wedding present. To us, they clearly enjoy what they do and excel at it! Thank you all. read more

I'd have to say this is the perfect place to get married. Sesnon house is a one stop shop for wedding venues. You do everything in one spot. Get married, eat and dance the day away. Catering is on site, servers are built into the college culinary program. Everyone was so professional and wonderful. The food is exquisite. So many compliments from our guests on the food. The house is a historical site, it's so pretty you really don't need to decorate it at all. Just decorate your sign-in table and gift card table. Keep it simple. A great perk to the SH, is you practically get a built in wedding coordinator...somewhat. Crissy! She helps you stay on track and layout your perfect wedding day. You also get to meet up with the chef to talk about the menu. I had to alter our menu just a tad because I'm a vegetarian, they were so kind to make my small changes. Thank You!!!! Beer and wine only. No kegs. We got creative and went all out with craft beer from a local SC brewery, Santa Cruz Ale Works. Another hit. The reason behind no kegs, is because this is a college and the loop hole is the students get practice pouring out of a glass as part of their curriculum. You are allowed one hour prior to the wedding itself to decorate. That's where it's better to think less, because you really get 45 mins, unless you want to be decorating up to the wedding itself. Delegate friends and family to take on this responsibility. The bride will be upstairs getting dressed and taking pictures. We did a guest seating chart, rather than name cards at each plate. Again keep it simple. I got my flowers at Safeway in Soquel, saved a ton of money. They don't deliver, have friends pick up the flowers if you decide to go that route. This was one of the best days of my life, and I'm so happy that we decided to get married at the Sesnon House. Oh forgot, this is one of the best deals around including the site rental and food. I wouldn't even blink an eye at how much we saved compared to other venues. We had about 110 guest, total was around $13k this is including everything: flowers, cupcakes, DJ, Site, food, beer, wine, decorations etc..., compared to most weddings over $30k read more

We had the best wedding ever July 28, 2018! I would like to thank Chrissy, Rosie, Sue, and the entire, wonderful staff for making my big day a dream come true. Quick overview of our situation: We got engaged in February and my fiance wanted to get married "before football season in the fall." Looking back, I was overwhelmed and massively anxious.. until I stumbled upon Sesnon House on Yelp. I'm not a person who loves to get involved in details and generally assume professionals in the space have way more context and information on throwing a wedding party than I do. In the case of Sesnon House, this was more than accurate -- and in addition, I have to say that the level of integrity and quality that the staff put into planning our event was beyond spectacular. I didn't have time to make every decision necessary to make the event work, so I basically delegated decision making about the linens, sourcing the DJ, alcohol decisions to the staff. To make things more exciting, our original forecast of 100 guests exploded to 150+ in the weeks leading up to the wedding. The few things I did meticulously plan (ceremony logistics, food planning, etc) quickly had to be rearranged, but Chrissy and Sue accommodated these changes without a bat of an eye and a single one hour session. Chrissy & Sue are super experienced so they are able to condense the planning of the event to the micro level with about an hour of thoughtfully presented questions. Furthermore, the beauty of venue and scalability of operation of this place is unmatched. It's Santa Cruz charm at its finest, with the most enthusiastic staff who really put their all into making the day perfect. Our wedding was great, but what really put it over the top was the picture perfect weather that brought the fantastical aspect of "California living" into clear focus for our guests. The food was excellent, and the vibe of the day was so joyful, wonderful, and magical. I know that that kind of operational perfection is not a coincidence -- the precision and thoughtfulness in planning shone through every aspect of our big day. I even remember the logistics of walking down the aisle being managed to the core -- Rosie sprinted to the back while I was driven to meet with the flowers, and in preparing to walk, another staff member adjusted my veil so it looked just right. Seriously -- who are these people??? It's easy to get really cynical about the wedding industry with all the ridiculous personas and pricings you get when you shop around, but honestly, Sesnon House was a complete joy to work with. Thank you guys to the moon and back! The kindness and passion in their work was so contagious that by the end of the night, everyone had a joyful experience that really brought out the best in them. Oh and PS -- while we sprung for literally every feature we could imagine, me and my now hubby landed within budget!!!! What a cherry on top of all the insanity. It's nice to pay what you expect for a day that was magical beyond belief. My dad's advice that day was to keep an album close by for the rest of our lives to remember the day, and I'm so happy that Sesnon House is the back drop to ours. read more

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The Sesnon House was the perfect venue for our September 2018 wedding. The grounds were beautiful and immaculate, and the culinary staff were polite, professional and helpful. We chose the Sesnon House as our venue for many reasons. I am listing a few, but there are many more. First, the historical house is beautiful and requires little if any decoration. Second, the modest cost of renting the venue includes the services of an event coordinator, Chrissy. Chrissy is your main contact and coordinates everything from the day of itinerary, to the menu selection, to vendor access, to day of wedding coordination. This was a huge benefit. Third, the venue allows you to select your own vendors (although they provide a list of their recommendations). Fourth, because the venue allows you to bring your own sealed beverages (Costco, Bevmo etc.) we were able to minimize the cost of beverages and to take home the leftovers. Worth noting, is that the Sesnon House is affiliated with Cabrillo College and as a result there are some rules that some may perceive as strict. For example, the venue allows beer and wine only, the bar staff must serve the alcohol, smoking is prohibited (must go to the sidewalk at perimeter), music must be off and by 10, and all vendors out by 11:00. That being said, my husband and I found the Sesnon House rules to be reasonable and made for a better experience overall. Special thanks to to event coordinator Chrissy. From the first inquiry we submitted to Sesnon, through delivery of our deposit, Chrissy was extremely helpful. After our first consultation with Chrissy, we felt confident that we were in good hands and in time were proven right. Another special thanks to Culinary Chef Jeremy and his students. The food was not only delicious but beautiful and elegantly presented. Thank you for helping make our day so special. read more

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Our wedding was almost a year ago, April 7, 2018, and I finally decided it was time that I got around to publicly thanking Chrissy, Jeremy and the rest of their wonderful team for making our wedding day so perfect. From day one, Chrissy was there to make sure all of the details were covered and to give advice and input that truly made our day extra special. It was absolutely wonderful to have her in charge the day of the wedding, knowing that everything would turn out exactly as planned, which it did. Chrissy is one of those people who pays close attention to every detail, is super organized, and is very knowledgable about local vendors. If you've never been to the Sesnon House, I urge you to go and see this beautiful, historic venue. Our wedding was gorgeous, in part due to the significant beauty of the building and grounds. In addition, the food is outstanding, with many selections to choose from. We received lots of compliments on the food as well as the outstanding service. Chrissy also provided us with suggestions for our florist, decorations, and DJ, all of whom were simply the best. Beautiful venue, delicious food, outstanding service, reasonable prices, and a wedding planner who really knows her "stuff" -- the perfect place to get married! read more

We could not have been happier with our son and daughter-in-law's wedding. The venue is so scenic and warm, and the layout allows for ceremony, dinner and dancing in different areas of the grounds and house. The food was outstanding, a reflection on the quality of the culinary program located within the venue. The best part of it all is the great coordination and management provided by the team, under the management of Chrissy Hankes. She knows her venue, and she knows how weddings work there. I would not question her suggestions at all. All the five star reviews are NOT FAKE. This is truly and wonderful venue for weddings! read more

I got married at this beautiful manor on 2.20.2011. It couldn't have been any better. From the time I first spoke with Margitta (Sesnon House Coordinator) to when all the guests left was a delight. Margitta is so well organized and very inviting personally, she made everyone feel completely comfortable. It had rained the whole week before the wedding and thankfully the sun was shining on my "big day". The grounds were very lush and maintained nicely even through out the winter. I would recommend The Sesnon House over and over. read more

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My wife and I were married at Sesnon House on 7/11/15 and we had a great experience! From the beginning, Chrissy was available to answer all of our questions and was very open with her recommendations and experiences for past events. Our wedding was about 70 people and our entire event took place outside. It was a warm summer Aptos day and it was a little hot for the guests during our ceremony, in hindsight, some cheap fan's would have solved that problem. Cocktail hour was done on the terrace with appetizers served by the students. We took group pictures this time, and the terrace location allowed us easy access to family members to for pictures. While this was going on, other students moved the tables and chairs into place for dinner. Dinner was AMAZING. I am going to be honest and say that we picked Sesnon based on the incredible reviews of the food and they were right. First off, everyone should order the Brie and Brioche. Talk about amazing-ness!! Every food option was great and we keep hearing about how good it was from our guests even now (a month after). While I was busy and wasn't able to get seconds, I have multiple reports of people going back for more. Our families aren't really a dancing crowd so we just played music outside on rented speakers via spotify on an old phone while people talked and mingled. We also had brought some grass games (beanbag toss, ladder golf, boccie ball etc) and they were a hit for people to play after dinner. Dessert was served inside. We didn't have a cake, but instead many different smaller bite sized deserts. Mini cupcakes, small cookies, mini eclairs and mini tarts. We probably should have moved it outside, but we didn't hear any complaints about people having to walk inside to get it. Clean up was a breeze and we were out of there 15 minutes before or scheduled leave time. We had a great time and would recommend this venue to everyone! read more

I recently got married here on July 27, 2013. What originally sold me on the venue was the price and the beauty of the venue. I was initially apprehensive about having my wedding catered by students but Sue, the head of their catering program assuaged my fears. She is a Paris trained chef with over 25 years of experience and that really showed in the quality of food and service on the day of our wedding/ The food was truly AMAZING! Many of our guests commented on how delicious the food was. The staff was also amazing, quick, courteous and professional. Krissy, the venue coordinator was a key part of making my wedding day perfect and worry free. 2 weeks before our wedding we were notified that Margitta the coordinator we had been working with was leaving her position. Naturally I was very worried but I should not have been. Krissy handled everything wonderfully, so wonderfully that if I didn't know better I would have assumed she had been doing the job for ten years. Overall, I had a great experience with the Sesnon House and their staff. I recommend it highly! read more

I have photographed lots of weddings at Sesnon and It is a gorgeous location, the wedding coordinators fabulous and so organized and the food really good. read more

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We had our wedding here August 2011. The grounds are beautiful: green grass, trees, flowers which are all well maintained. The house is historic and has vintage, old world charm and really doesn't need much decoration if you are having a wedding. We spruced up the inside with flowers, candles and an awesome cupcake tower. The price is reasonable (we had 80 guests). Our first consultation with Margitta was nice and informative (discussed price, rules, vision of the wedding, etc). The bridal suite is spacious and there are plenty of bathrooms. There is also a ton of parking options. Once we booked The Sesnon, I found it extremely hard to get ahold Margitta and she forgot to attend the on site consultation with our caterer (Feast for a King took care of everything!) but didn't seem to hinder our plans. On the wedding day, Margitta made sure everything was good to go and we started on time without any problems. We didn't use the culinary students, so we can't comment on that. We did use their bartenders, who were really nice and really fun to have at our wedding. Margitta did provide us with tables to use for the guest book, gifts and cupcake tower, so we didn't need those from the caterer. The Sesnon House is a great place to have an event with their beautiful outside and inside accommodations! read more

We had my daughter's wedding and reception at Sesnon House on April 28th. Chrissy Hankes and her staff did a fantastic job managing the entire process. The cost of the venue for the wedding was quite reasonable, particularly in comparison with other venues that host an even like a wedding. And the food for the reception dinner was excellent. I would recommend Sesnon House to anyone that needs an even venue! Mike S. read more

Our wedding here was absolutely amazing! We really can't recommend Chrissy and this venue enough. The historical house is stunning in person and in pictures and all of our guests had a great time. The price is extremely reasonable for what you are getting. When comparing this venue to others on par with beauty and accommodations, it's as if you are getting the fantastic Cabrillo culinary catering and servers for free! And my, was the food fantastic. The chef has a range of set menu options and is willing to make small adjustments to make it perfect for you and your guests. Chrissy was completely essential to making sure that our wedding went off without a hitch. She is very knowledgable about more aspects of weddings than we realized existed, and she is very forthcoming and honest. If you are willing to let her (which I highly suggest) she will work to save you expenses and make your wedding day experience utterly painless and stress-free. If at any point during the wedding we noticed that our crowd-sourced decorators had missed something, Chrissy and her assistant had it fixed immediately. There are some special rules to follow because this is part of Cabrillo campus, but we really ended up being grateful. We didn't want liquor at our wedding (to prevent people getting a little too happy) and we were also glad that there was no smoking on the premises. It was an easy and convenient excuse to tell family and guests that it was the venue's rules and not our own. At the end of our wedding we had an unfortunate scare with Grandma which included an ambulance visit. Despite the extra chaos, Chrissy took nothing out of our deposit. read more

We can't express enough how amazing our wedding day was. Chrissy, Jeremy and all the staff were absolutely top notch, from planning until the very end. Everything went seamlessly, at least for us and our guests, if there were any glitches, we didn't know about them. We would recommend Sesnon House for any event. We would not have changed a thing. My daughter caught the bouquet so who knows, we might be back soon! read more

Sesnon House - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Aptos, California

My daughter was married at Sesnon House on 4/28/18 and I was absolutely delighted with the entire event. The venue itself is beautiful, as are the grounds, and Chrissy, Jeremy and her team exceeded our expectations in terms of the professional service provided, the beautiful room setup, and the incredible food served at the reception. We received many compliments on how beautiful everything looked, and even more compliments about the food, which was nothing short of outstanding! I can't thank Chrissy enough for what amounted to a flawless event which made our day even more special. I highly recommend Sesnon House to anyone looking for a very special place for their next event. read more

Awesome to experience! Students prepare and cook. Come and try with an open mind and give support to your future chefs! read more

Sesnon House - Ravioli was delicious! Great job Dare! Duck fat popcorn.. nuff said! - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Aptos, California

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My daughter recently got married at the Sesnon House. It was a beautiful wedding! Chrissy made everything run smoothly and efficiently. The food was so good and I was able to relax and enjoy the day. I would highly recommend this venue. read more

My new wife and I were married here on 09/14/13. Let me just start by saying it was an awesome wedding and exactly as we pictured it. I highly recommend this venue and caterer for your wedding. We have had nothing but compliments from our family and friends who have all said that it was one of the best weddings they have ever been too. The site is very close to what the pictures on their website make it appear to be ( A very big plus). I can't tell you how many other venues we went to that looked great online with the pictures but turned out to look entirely different in person when we visited them. The site fee was $2,200 for seven hours of time (very reasonable for the Santa Cruz Area) and we decided to purchase an additional hour for ($500) in order to allow us more time for set up and clean up. Please keep in mind that with this venue you are required to use the Cabrillo College Culinary Program as your caterer and rent all you dinner rentals must be through them. That being said the food from Sue and the students was amazing and very reasonable ($29 per person not including tax, tip, and rentals). We received many complements on the appetizers, dinner, and the professionalism of the service staff (students). The best part was you bring your own alcohol (wine, beer, champagne only) and there is no corkage fee. They have a bartender serve it to your guests as part of the catering cost. If you are looking for a one stop completely easy to use venue that is also beautiful and historic this is the place for you. Just as the previous reviewer who got married in July stated there was an unexpected change in our site coordinator from Margitta to Krissy at the last minute. At first we were very apprehensive to find out as our big day was approaching fast but it turned out we had no need to worry. Krissy was extremely professional and helpful. She took the time to get to know us and what we wanted in our wedding and she made it happen. We even made a horrible mistake and accidentally RSVP'ed the week before the wedding with 89 guests on our final count when in reality we had 99 coming to the wedding. We figured out two days before the wedding that we had made a mistake and Krissy calmly made all the necessary arrangements, contacted Sue (Culinary Director) very last minute to make room for the additional ten guests. She may be new to the Sesnon House but she acts like she has been doing this job for many years. She was also our day of coordinator and made sure everything went off without a hitch. At one point we were almost an hour ahead of schedule and she rearranged dinner and the rest of the evening on the fly and it went so smooth that our guests didn't even notice the changes. I really can't say enough good things about the experience we had with Krissy and the rest of the staff at our wedding. I highly recommend looking at this venue and considering if it is right for your wedding. read more

I will admit, I was a bit nervous about how our wedding reception would go at the Sesnon House. About a week before our event, I emailed the coordinator a document that detailed all set-up of our event. I wanted her to have one document to reference and be able to direct our other vendors. The venue was set-up according to the directions I had given and our reception ran flawlessly. At the event, the coordinator was there, along with an assistant. Towards the end of the night the coordinator was nowhere to be found but the assistant was there and fully capable of handling everything. I would not suggest the Sesnon House for every bride. It takes a special type of person to not turn into a bridezilla when working with this venue. read more

Meh, I attended as a guest. The facilities were nice, good for the 80 people attending the party. The house is not much bigger than a normal residential home, so it can only hold indoors about 40 in a single wing for dinner. The service was okay, but not really experienced in formal dining etiquette. Unsure if the student chefs were the ones preparing dinner, the food was prepared mediocre with small and extremely regulated portions, combined together to make about medium sized dinner plate. All in all, nothing bad to say but also nothing to get excited about. I honestly would have given the house 3 stars if it wasn't for the employees and vendors below patting themselves on the back, giving the house 5 stars, a skewing the house's true CUSTOMER experience score. read more

just want to say THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH to all of the staff at the Sesnon House for making my May 3,2014 wedding go off so smoothly. I spent 3 months pulling out my hair trying to find a the best venue. Being the bride I wanted it all but was on a budget and needed to find something I would love. I figured I wanted a beach wedding but my grandfather who is 85 was giving me away and wasn't having it. This venue was near the ocean however(1 mi away) so it worked. It has a beautiful indoor, outdoor combo with the ceremony and dinning outside(comfortable 72 degree weather for my day:)) buffet, cake cutting, and lots of dancing inside. I will say after viewing some other sites that said they were all inclusive, or that you would think would be amazing for how my they charged, I wasn't impressed one bit. I almost waited another year because I was tired of looking. One day I noticed out of 6 pages and over 400 venues I priced and narrowed down top 5 on each page Sesnon House was on all of them. I scheduled an appointment to meet with the house coordinator who I believe retired, but let me know that I would be in good hands if I chose the site. After walking through the front door, I knew it was the place. The home was built In the early 1900's and you can tell by the design and architecture of the home. It was beautiful all by itself, so I knew it would be fine with minimal decoration. I went back after the coordinator retired to find Chrissy Hanks as her replacement. You would think she had been working there for years. She let me know what to expect and when to expect it. Throughout the whole ordeal she was there and very professional, even when we were a handful to deal with. I remember being asked what was next and when I ask what was next she popped up out of nowhere and said, "We will do cake cutting in 5 minuets". I still don't know where she was lol but she was there the whole time. I love how attentive she was throughout the day. She even took on the stress of dealing with one of our not so cooperative vendors. I will say if you get a chance to work with Chrissy Hanks, you will wish you could bring her home. The catering which is done by the culinary students under the supervision of the Sue Slater who has years of experience was excellent. The Guest loved all the food. The staff showed a level of professionalism that everyone could appreciate. All in all I will say I made an excellent choice in venue. I can guarantee that if you pick this site you and your guest will love it. read more

I recently attended a friends wedding here and it was beautiful! The location was so naturally pretty there was not a need to decorate it. The food & drink was served by Cabrillos culinary staff and not only did they provide great service but the food was delicious!I would very much recommend this venue. The ceremony started a little late due to issues with the wedding party but the staff was kind enough to provide water. read more

Absolutely wonderful for our wedding! The staff here goes above and beyond in all the ways you hope for. Our wedding went smooth and timely, it was perfect! My wife and I are both planners and booked this venue a year in advance. With all the time, we were really able to dial in our needs and wants. Very affordable while not sacrificing anything. The food was great, the student staff was professional and personable, and the day-of coordination second to none. These people have so much experience they know the flow and can resolve any issues as they arise. Highly recommend the Sesnon House! read more

Sesnon is always awesome, and I'm not just saying that because I'm the one cooking there! It is a gem. I will continue to come here after I graduate. read more

My ratting as a guest here attending a wedding in mid-April 2013 could easily be a three, but a one factor put my review at a four ( I'll get back to that in a minute). I actually considered this venue for my own wedding and went through the whole tour and sit down with the wedding coordinator Margitta who is helpful and who takes so much ownership, helpfulness and pride with her staff on the day of your event. The reason we passed on this venue is my husband-to-be was not sold on the set up for our reception. The good news was my mom referred the info we received to my cousin for his wedding and in turn he booked it. Here's a few factors to consider for you and your guests coming from a former bride to be and a guest attending this venue: 1.) Consider your guest count before you book this venue. The Sesnon House is perfect for a smaller wedding for at least 50 to 75 max guests. Anything over 100 you need to consider renting tables, dance platform, heating lamps for chilling nights, etc. for your reception on the lawn. 2.) Want alcohol at your event, plan to hire a bartender and BYO. 3.) Want your dinner reception inside the mansion, prepare for half your guest to be sitting in another room. The Sesnon House has two rooms on both sides of the foyer. So if your guest count doesn't fit in one room, the rest have to sit in in the another which is smaller then the one that obviously can fit a head table and is much bigger. Even though it was open seating for dinner the bride and groom made their best effort to include everyone in speeches, toast and all the other activities that take place at your table during the reception. Felt a little disconnected while sitting and waiting to eat, but its one thing you can look past. Consider feeding people quickly so your guests don't feel left out for that long. 4.) If you use the lawn for anything during your event here's a few tips. - Heels can and will sink in the lawn as you walk on it. It's understandable, but if you're using it for your whole day, consider a platform. - Before and during the ceremony that took place on the steps, which is a great spot, between 3-4 p.m. don't forget sunblock, sunglasses, or anything to protect you from that sun. It was beaming right over the roof and in our faces. - Lawn is great for the little ones to run and play on. Although I'm not sure if the grounds crew considered not fertilizing it before a wedding ceremony and reception. Throughout the day and night you get wisps of the smell. Also I know its part of the history of the building, but there's this oddly placed Chinese gazebo in the back of the lawn. -It will and can get chilling at night if its not summertime. Rent heating lamps if your wedding is on the lawn at night. 5.) The foyer is great for dancing. But like I said before, that's if your guest count is around 50 to 75. The one factor that put this venue above a three and made up for the room set up for dinner and smelly lawn WAS THE FOOD! THE FOOD AND STAFF ARE AMAZING! The culinary staff and students that prepared the appetizers and dinner were great and the food was really good and plenty of it. I'd say some of the best wedding food I've ever had in my life. You can have all the glitz's and glamour for your wedding but your guests will always remember how great your food was at your wedding. All in all, the building, grounds and culinary staff and students get a well appreciated 5 star ratting in opinion. Very nice and pretty location for a smaller wedding. read more

My husband and I had our wedding reception at Sesnon House in October 2019 and it was the most magical location to celebrate with our friends and family! The grounds were beautiful, the mansion was gorgeous, and we could not have been more impressed with Chrissy (wedding coordinator), Jeremy (chef) and their team! The food was so delicious and they were willing to cater to our guests with dietary restrictions (vegetarian and vegan) which we and our guests greatly appreciated! Everyone was very professional and helped our event run so smoothly! We recommend Sesnon house to anyone looking to have a special wedding day filled with a great atmosphere and such incredible food! read more

We recently used the Sesnon House for our daughter's wedding and I can't say enough about how pleased we were with everything!Chrissy did such a great job helping everything to go smoothly. She was calm, professional and so courteous. The ceremony itself we had on the steps and it was gorgeous. We had 135 guests and were seated for dinner on the lawn. We were intially concerned about the coastal fog but it was fine. It was so pretty with little candles on the tables. The food was fabulous. Chef Sue is Cordon Bleu trained and her staf of students were amazingly professional! We didn't have one moment that was sketchy just everything was wonderful. We were also worried the dance floor would be too small but that worked out too. We were super happy with the Sesnon House and are happy to recommend it highly! read more

Wow, this place is amazing!! Came here for a wedding reception today 7/30/2016. First off this place is huge can easily fit 500+ people outside area and a good 100 indoors for the lobby/ dance floor area. Not only was the wedding reception memorable.. But the whole ambience was amazing. I have to say the whole staff, of which played multiple roles from buffet servers, bartender and clean up crew did an amazing job.. The staff was professional, helping and generous with there appetizer service pre- party celebration... I definitely will keep this place in mind if the perfect venue/ event ever arises in the near future. Good job staff!!( black &white clothing) Just to bad they did not have name tags.. Would love to drop names of appreciation...! read more

I have been to 8 weddings in the past year and I have to say by far this was the most well catered, organized and professional venue. The culinary program at Cabrillo is very impressive. My friends got married here and had her "perfect day" thanks to everyone at the sesnon house. I've only been here once for lunch and enjoyed that very much too, but as a wedding venue I am still in awe! Hat's off to Sue Slatter, head of the department and her students! Well done:) read more

Really, I would score this a 3.5. I had a mixed experience choosing Sesnon House as my wedding venue. Overall the event was a success. The grounds and facilities are lovely, and Margitta (coordinator) was on the whole well organized, personable and helpful, however we did have a few issues arise on the day. Our wedding procession was delayed at least a minute AFTER the processional music had started, as Sue (the culinary instructor) had taken aside my poor aunt - who was in charge of timing - and was quite rude to her about cutting the cakes on the dessert table. If this was an issue, during the ceremony is not the appropriate time to take it up. Especially as this should not have been an issue at all - we actually had discussed both in person and via email correspondence confirming that it would be ok to cut the cakes on the dessert table prior to the reception for self service. Which brings me to my second issue with Sue, that she never responded to (or possibly even read) a number of my emails, and I only sent a few to her! She was also quite brusque with me when I went up to cut the cake (due to the whole dessert table issue I assume). Before recommending this lovely site to others, I would emphasize that first and foremost it is a teaching institution and you may experience some frustration getting a timely or clear response to your queries. So beware of this if you are hoping to do things slightly differently from their "usual" set up and organizing a lot of it yourself. If you are bringing in well organized vendors, or planning a standard set up, then I would recommend it and would not expect these issues to arise. The students serving were delightful, the food was good (but small servings), and the space very well suited for this type of event. read more

Our wedding was on March 28, 2015, and we were thrilled that it took place at the Sesnon House. We chose Sesnon primarily because in our initial meeting with venue coordinator Chrissy Hankes, we were extremely impressed by her supreme organizational skills, breadth of experience, and friendly, approachable manner. Chrissy had us at "Hello!" And she lived up to our great first impression; throughout our planning process, she provided solid support and excellent advice. And at our rehearsal and wedding, she orchestrated a smooth and easeful flow of events that made everything feel seamlessly graceful. We can't thank her enough! We also loved working with the head chef, Jeremy MacVeigh, who was responsive, thorough, and easy to work with at every step of the process. He and the catering students were diligent and pleasant in each interaction we had, and they created a delicious meal that all of our guests enjoyed. We also appreciated the location; it allowed us to have the option of an indoor or outdoor event, depending on weather. We had a beautiful outdoor ceremony and then moved indoors for dining and dancing. Many of our guests commented on the lovely venue and we felt it was a perfect place for our magic day! -- Natascha & Zachiah read more

I recently had my wedding at the Sesnon House. I have mixed reviews about this place. If I could turn back time I probably would not select the Sesnon House for my wedding. The things that irked me: - It was hard to get the wedding coordinator on the phone to ask questions and my voice mails were always answered with an email rather than a call back. - The set up time and clean up time allotted are ridiculously stingy. For a 4K price tag we has 2 hours for set up and 1 hour for cleanup. It left no real time for friends and family to really make the space special. Rather everyone raced around with their heads cut off setting up and then getting ready for the wedding. - I wanted to have a loungy room with dim lights and candles for people to relax while the dancing was going on. I had to ask twice if candles could be lit, and lights dimmed through out the night. I asked if one of the doors could be closed so that the music wasn't blaring into the room. The response was no due to fire safety (come on). So guests that wanted to retreat from the music had to go outside and stand all night. It was hard on my older guests who just ended up leaving early. My suggestions to you IF you plan on renting here = hire a wedding coordinator to be there on the day of your wedding. She or he can then insure that all your tiny wants are met. If you are going to spend the enormous amount of money on a wedding why not get what you want! The Goods: -The food is great and the service is pretty outstanding. Jeremy and his culinary team have their stuff down! -Its organized and you will encounter very little hiccups. The night seemed to have a nice flow about it. - Chrissy is very present during the event and made sure we eat, drank and were merry. I feel sad to have to write a review like this . I know that the staff at the Sesnon House work really hard. read more

We had an incredible wedding at the Sesnon House in July of this year. -Chrissy, the coordinator, is great. She is highly organized and kept track of everything. She was very open to making "our vision" work, but also gave helpful advice and suggestions when asked. She did a great job at the rehearsal dinner of giving instructions so everyone knew what to do the day of. Chrissy also kept everything running smoothly the day of, and it really allowed me and my (now) husband to sit back, relax, and enjoy it all. -The space itself is beautiful. I loved how much style and charm the house already had. I didn't feel like the indoors needed any additional decoration. There is a perfectly-tuned grand piano available for use. And the outdoor space was wonderful, especially if you have a lot of kids! About 10-20% of our guests were kids, and they had a great time running around on the grass. It is just a really beautiful space. -The food. OMG, the quality of the food and service is incredible considering what a deal you get. For anyone hesitant about working with students (the catering is done by Cabrillo College's catering school), TRUST ME that they do an excellent job. We paid about half of what we would have paid per head at most other venues for the same amount and quality of food. It was a delicious meal, and they have a great variety of entrees/sides to choose from. All the students working the event were really sweet and did a great job! We received so many compliments about how beautiful the indoor and outdoor spaces were and how smoothly everything went. I don't think you could find a better value anywhere else. I would highly recommend this venue for a wedding! read more

We had our wedding here yesterday and I couldn't wait to post a review. Everything went perfectly! Margitta, the Sesnon House coordinator, and Sue, who runs the culinary arts program, made sure everything ran smoothly. We didn't have to worry about anything during the event and the food was absolutely delicious. And when this morning, I couldn't find my toasting flutes, Sue went out of her way to help me locate them. Turns out I had them the whole time, but she was very gracious when I apologized for jumping the gun. I'd definitely return to Sesnon House if we have another event. read more