No one wants to read a negative wedding venue review, and overall, our wedding day was wonderful. I understand that we were a difficult couple, especially due to all the restrictions with COVID guidelines. But I was hoping for a little more than we got, especially from the staff. The venue itself is beautiful. I knew as soon as we walked in that my (then) fiancee would love the place and that we were done looking at venues. The high ceilings, chandeliers, brick and hardwood... the whole aesthetic was amazing. The catering staff (the catering company owns the venue, so if you want to get married at The Estate, you have to hire Jay's Catering) was really good, and they worked with us to individually package to-go meals for our guests since we couldn't in good conscience have all of our guests eating together. Now for the difficulties. As I said before, our wedding was during COVID-19, so we dealt with a number of restrictions. We were also a difficult couple to deal with because we had to keep changing plans as the government placed greater restrictions and/or eased restrictions. We needed to be talking to the venue and catering coordinators quite a bit, as we increased and decreased guest counts and talked through all the different precautions that needed to be made. Toward the beginning of our working with them, both coordinators (Jeanne and Sierra) were very communicative and prompt, but as time wore on (and our wedding day grew closer) we were having more and more difficulty getting a hold of them. There was a point fairly early on where we realized that if I (the groom) called or emailed, I would get a terse, sometimes unhelpful response in a day or three. However, if my fiancee (the bride) called or emailed, she would get a prompt response that answered all of her questions thoroughly. As a groom who wanted to be involved in our wedding process, it was particularly irritating to be sidelined like this. The sound system wasn't what I was expecting. I help out from time to time with audio at church, so I'm used to working with venue sound systems. The Estate's sound system was set up more like a home theater. There were a few inputs, but everything was running through a central receiver rather than through a sound board. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but since it was COVID season, we were livestreaming the ceremony. Their system was incapable of handling that complication, so we ended up paying the livestream company an additional fee to bring in their own sound equipment so that we could have sound for both the in person attendees as well as the livestream viewers. There's a small parking lot in the back that is shared by some nearby vendors, and we were told that we'd have the whole lot (about 35 spaces) for our guests to use. When we arrived on the morning of our wedding, we were told that we were able to use about 8 spaces because the venue coordinator hadn't reserved the parking lot. We were also supposed to have a curtain that divided the main room so that the bride wouldn't be seen too early. That curtain was nowhere to be seen. After a lot of running around and numerous phone calls, our wedding coordinator discovered that the curtain had been used at a different venue the previous day (the catering company owns multiple venues) and wasn't returned. Our coordinator was able to find a spare curtain that was much smaller, but got the job done, but the whole situation left us feeling rather disappointed. So all in all, we were happy with the way things ended up looking, but there were several little things that added up to a large amount of unnecessary frustration. read more

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Can't thank the entire staff of The Estate and Jay's Catering for being so great throughout my wedding planning. Hannah, Jeanne and Erin were amazing and made everything perfect for our special day. Day of wedding our guest raved about the h'orderves, dinner, bar service and overall customer service from all staff. Thank you to the entire staff for making our wedding day so special. The Estate is our hidden gem that we finally got to share with friends and family. read more

The Estate on Second - Wedding - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Cool spot but the sound system wasn't that great. Depending where you sit the view is obstructed by large pillars. They were charging $55 to park in the lot behind the venue. We got FREE parking in the structure across the street. All that mattered was who I was with... and we had a good time. read more

Beautiful beautiful venue for my friend's wedding. I'm one of the bridesmaids and I cant say anything less on how the venue housed our preparations, etc. highly recommend for value of price, location and overall aesthetic! read more

The Estate on Second - Upstairs attic. Spacious for bridal preparations - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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The venue was good, the food was decent, and the bathrooms were clean. Overall we had a great time with our friends. read more

The Estate on Second - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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We had our wedding at The Estate on Second on 3/30/19 and it was everything we could have dreamed of! The space is so beautiful and romantic; it truly speaks for itself. There is exposed brick, gorgeous floors (including wood flooring upstairs), big white columns and sparkling chandeliers. The venue is owned by Jay's Catering, so you are required to use them as your caterer. Luckily, they are equally as amazing and it makes the whole process that much easier. They were able to do all the food and drinks as well as our cake. They have a lot of food options to choose from and host tastings every month or so. They provide you with a design consultant to help you chose your linens, table setting and flatware. They also offered to make us signs for our signature cocktails as well as a seating chart. We were also able to add on the hedges that we used in our ceremony which were re-purposed to use around the venue during our reception. Everyone we worked with through The Estate on Second as well as Jay's were all great help, professional and prompt. We would highly recommend them for you wedding or next event! read more

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Just a fantastic venue. Arielle, Sarah, and Kenny were all a great help. They coordinated well with us and everything was quick and easy. Their service on the wedding day was superb as well. And their food was just great. Everything looked awesome and the initial set up was exactly as we have asked. Thank you, for helping us to have such a great wedding :D read more

The Estate on Second - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Santa Ana, California

As a photographer I can tell you that this place is amazing. Gorgeous! perfect for that brick sort of boho classic chic feel. It is someplace that I am considering for my own wedding. The staff was super professional and friendly. The vibe was wonderful. Plus shooting in downtown Santa Ana with its hip arts vibe is alot of fun! read more

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Not sure I would recommend Estate on Second to anyone. As a bride, you are stressed out and have a lot going on. What you need is a venue that is organized and has great communication. This is not that place. Here are some things to note and consider, which I did not know what I booked the location: - There is not food tasting included before the event, nor pictures of the food you're ordering. There is an event they host where you can taste a few dishes that Jay's Catering makes, but I feel like this is how they skip out on giving people private food tastings. If you would like to try the food that is served, perhaps go somewhere else. Side note: the food at their event was good, but nothing I was interested in choosing... it was a lot of the upgraded options. --- I ended up choosing from the Asian menu. My guests reported they liked the food! I personally thought it was a bit salty. --- Also, this means you don't get a cake tasting either. And if you decide not to go with their cake, I believe it was $4/pp to go with another vendor (and for me, for 160 people, that would be $640 and I'd still have to buy another cake). --- the cake was tasty though! Got the chocolate with espresso filling --- - Children's meals are $40 and consist of macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. This is for kids 7 and under. I was not impressed with the price, especially since kids barely eat anyway. (For reference, the adult meals came out to $49/pp) - When you choose a bar package, it encompasses every person at the event, including those underaged. There were no discounts for having children there who won't drink. Many of the guests said the alcoholic drinks were a bit weak. - Upgrades are expensive. Ask BEFORE you sign up how much it will be to upgrade the silverware or drinking glasses per person. - Bad communication experience with our planner. I asked her 3 times for an image of an event with black table cloths. Finally she sent me a picture after I asked her in person in front of her supervisor. I began having to highlight, number and bold my questions in an email so they wouldn't be looked over. - High chance you will not be able to do a rehearsal on the property. - The only times they allow you to do a walk through & meet with the coordinator are M-Th from 9-5pm. For someone who works M-F from 9-5, this was incredibly inconvenient and something I wish I had known ahead of time so I could plan it out. - Wedding was in the summertime, so it seems the staff was consistently out of town and I felt communication was very choppy during that time. I needed to meet with someone to choose table linens & dinnerware, and one day I got an email saying she was going out of town for 3 weeks and she could either meet with me tomorrow or the following 2 days, or not until a week before my wedding. I had to last minute ask my boss for time off for this. Very inconvenient. Positives: - Beautiful venue - AC - I really liked the cake - My guests had a great time The day of was lovely, I got great reviews from my guests, but the planning process was just stressful and therefore I don't know if I could recommend to anyone I know to have their wedding there. read more

What an incredible VENUE!!! Sierra was amazing and so was her team. They took care of us. They asked great questions and got details that they needed. The coordinated great with our wedding coordinator, Tanairy. Everything the day of the wedding was done the right way and I wasn't worried about anything. The Estate on Second is an incredible venue and you don't have to do much to it to make it look beautiful. The food at the venue was incredible and people couldn't stop talking about how good it was. The venue is great since the cocktail hour takes place upstairs and then you come downstairs for dinner and the rest of the reception. It breaks up the day nicely. Thank you again to the team and Jay's Catering! read more

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The best team! we worked with them for our engagement party and they were amazing! Thank you Estate on Second Team again for everything read more

We had our wedding here in August 2019 after swooning over the exposed brick and beautiful chandeliers that made it such a gorgeous venue that not much more was needed to dress up this place. Having everything in-house was so convenient, not having to need to rent any chairs, tables, draping, or even accent furniture. (I am personally not into the lounge furniture at weddings trend.) The chiavari chairs come standard, as well as basic linen colors and styles. We wanted our wedding to be classic and timeless, so this was perfect for us. It was so easy to work with our venue director, Sarahrose -- she was approachable and easy to talk to. She was patient with our questions and concerns, and made it so comfortable for us to plan our wedding. Toby was our day-of venue manager and from the day when we met him to tour the space, he was patient and knowledgeable. I felt that he and his team had great control of the space, whether it was the flow of people traffic and overall safety. The security personnel were present/obvious but unobtrusive -- it actually made it feel like a VIP event (which it was!) as they wore black suits rather than the rent-a-cop outfits. One of our concerns was to make sure we didn't have crashers, which is why we opted out of hotel ballrooms and golf courses, where we would share the space with others. They do rehearsals during the week only from Monday through Thursday, if time allows. This place is so straightforward that unless your wedding ceremony is different and your wedding party or coordinator is not familiar with the concepts or practices that you have included in ceremony, then sure, have a rehearsal. For us, it was literally walk down the aisle, go to your spot/side/seat -- even my 2-year old niece figured it out on the day of. I didn't feel the need to pull people into Orange County on a weekday (with traffic!) for instructions that can be given 15 minutes before on the day of. And it was fine. Having our wedding in August meant that climate control would be important, and we liked that the entire space was ours, with both indoor and outdoor spaces. It is also accessible for guests with mobility restrictions, which was another plus. I think it would be nice to also have another auxiliary room that could potentially be a "groom's room". I believe the space is also expanding in the months to come as well. Parking is plentiful at the structure, but guests have to pay for parking. This is definitely a gem in Santa Ana! read more

As soon as I saw this venue, I knew it was it for me. Absolutely stunning. My venue contact, Lauren Macleod was nothing but helpful and patient. We went back and forth over so many things and she always accommodated us. Now, you can count on some things to go wrong on your Weddding day unfortunately for us, ours was a big one. Our wedding photographer, Sean, left us before our wedding even began. He was already agitated due to issues with his insurance that the venue required and became further irate, unbeknownst to me, due to the fact I wasn't wearing my mask in my bridal suite with only my mother in law in the room. Wasn't wearing my mask, in my suite because I'm doing my makeup and getting ready as all Brides do. He went to my venue contact for the day, Tobie, and demanded that he enforced the mask mandate. Tobie and the wedding photographer than came to my suite and Tobie let me know that, Sean(the wedding photographer), was upset. Before I could even open my mouth Sean was yelling at me. Anytime I tried to speak or get a word in, he cut me off. The situation escalated from there and Lauren was called. Tobie and Lauren remained professional and helped handle the situation amazingly and our wedding at least still came out looking beautiful. read more

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A great venue for a wedding. Love the building and the beautiful areas that are available to take photos read more

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Is there an option to rate this 10 stars?!  I wanted to start off by saying that with all the chaos of weddings being postponed during the pandemic, The Estate on Second and Jay's Catering handled it like a champ!  I never once felt like they were working against me.  They were always willing to work with me on postponing so that I can have the wedding of my dreams.  This venue + catering company has high integrity, which is rare these days.  I actually switched to this venue because I got skrewed over by my previous venue.  With that said, The Estate on Second is a gorgeous space in downtown Santa Ana. If you're on the verge of booking it, do it. You won't regret it because the staff is so nice and caring. HUGE shoutout to Brittany and Sarah Rose for helping me book this venue.  They were both so sweet and so patient with all my questions. read more

Where do I even begin? February of 2021 I just happened to be looking for wedding venues and the Estate on Second in Santa Ana CA popped up. I instantly fell in love with the building and scheduled a tour. From that first initial call it was an amazing experience out the gate. The staff were amazing. A few people in particular were Jeanne, Sierra Sprague, Toby (apologize if spelled wrong and didn't catch a last name) and Debbie Mastroianni. Jeanne was amazing when we took the tour. Answered all questions and was incredibly informative. Honestly I do not know where I would be without Sierra. Throughout the entire process of wedding coordination with the venue she was amazing. Honestly, it felt like I gained a lifelong friend because of how much we talked via phone and email. Every time I had a question, concern or just wanted to vent, Sierra was there. She dealt with it all and took it all in stride. I never felt pressured or overwhelmed. She made sure that all emails were answered in a timely manner and was always incredibly informative. Toby... my man. The day of our wedding was on top of it. Helping all our vendors e.t.c. and Debbie.. Debbie was amazing when coming to planning our floorplan layout and design ideas. Again, I never felt pressured into any decision making. She was incredibly informative and nice. I want to thank Jay's Catering from the bottom of mine and my husband's heart for giving us an amazing wedding venue and wedding experience. The entire day went off without a hitch. The food that Jay's Catering prepared was AMAZING!! It's been almost 2 weeks since our wedding and am still getting compliments. Thank you and I definitely will spread the word to anyone and everyone planning a wedding and in need of a venue. Any venue managed by Jay's Catering all the way! 5 STARS! A+! Thank you again!!! read more

Although we ended up not going with The Estate for our wedding (we decided on a beachier, ocean-view setting), we absolutely LOVED the venue! It's as stunning as the pictures you see. Additionally, Jeanne and Sarah Rose from the venue and Casey's from Jay's Catering were so helpful and lovely, we wanted to book here just to work with them. You should definitely check this place out! read more

Oh my goodness, pictures do not do this venue justice! This venue is absolutely gorgeous and it has such a nice vibe to it. It's elegant but warm and inviting at the same time. It's the perfect balance between that wonderful old charm and modern sophistication. We emailed a lot with Sarahrose before booking The Estate and during, and she was so nice, so patient and very responsive throughout the entire time. She's very professional and always provided information we requested. We toured the venue a couple times and everyone we met there was always super nice as well (Aaron, one of their event captains, and Jeanne, their venue manager). Our decision came down to deciding between The Estate and a place in Long Beach that we also loved. A couple of the reasons that we chose The Estate is because they had bathrooms on the first & the second floors, and they included catering, rentals, bar & staff. The Estate is one of the venues owned by Jay's Catering. They have endless options for food and a ton of rental upgrades to choose from. Working with The Estate & Jay's Catering was such a fun process, we felt so special with the meetings and the events they allow you to go to. Jay's Catering invites their couples to The Taste of Jay's which they host at their different venue options. The event is the perfect place to try their food, look at their rental options, and meet their staff. You also get to have a design meeting, so we met with Debbie at their office. This was so much fun, and you'll definitely want to upgrade to their beautiful options. They keep your budget in mind though, so you'll never feel pressured to upgrade anything. It's just nice they allow you this time to see all the choices. Our event specialist was Arielle Marte, and she was so great to work with! She was so patient with us especially when we changed our menu choice a few times. We decided on the Latin buffet, which was delicious! Our guests absolutely loved the food and the cake (white cake, with chocolate Bavarian cream & whipped cream frosting). Everything was so good! I know they say that wedding couples usually don't get to eat at their wedding, so we didn't finish our plates, I just wish we brought the leftovers home. Their bar was great too! The drinks were so good, and the bartenders were nice and kept the line moving quickly. The venue will also provide security guards, which was nice. The Estate isn't able to guarantee a rehearsal ahead of time; so we knew that we may not be able to have our rehearsal onsite if they had an event booked the night before our wedding. Luckily, we were able to, so that was good, but just a heads up that that's not promised. We had our ceremony downstairs, and while our guests were upstairs at cocktail hour, the staff flips the downstairs space to set up the reception area. They did this so quickly! We don't really have any cons about having our wedding here; even if some things didn't necessarily go as planned or expected, the entire wedding was just perfect! This is a stunning venue on its own, and you really don't need to add much to it. It's gorgeous as-is, or with whatever other decorations you want to add. The space around The Estate is also beautiful! There are a ton of different perfect spots to take your wedding photos. I also want to add that seeking out gay-friendly wedding vendors was important to us, and they made us feel so celebrated. They're incredible people & welcome all love! Here's a link to our wedding same-day-edit to check out what the day looked like! https://amariproductions.com/ashley-kelsey/ Wedding Vendors: Venue: The Estate on Second Catering: Jay's Catering Photo + Video: Amari Productions Florals: Blooms Dunn Right DJ + Day-Of Coordination: KSDJ Wedding Dresses: BHLDN read more

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We just had our daughters wedding here. I cannot say enough good things about this venue. They were easy to work with, they accommodated everything my daughter asked for. They set up exactly how we asked, they were on time. They went out of their way for the bride and groom all night long. The service from the servers was superb! They were more than polite- they actually enjoyed people. The bartenders remembered people's drinks so you never had to say it twice. The venue is well kept and clean. The perfect place for a vintage wedding. We had 120 people and there was more than enough room. I never felt like the tables and chairs were too close together. Plenty of room to walk around. The food!! People raved about the food!! We had the bbq chicken and brisket. Flavorful and moist!! I don't have one complaint!! More than 5 stars!! read more

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I would not recommend booking with this venue if you want a stress-free event. As someone with high anxiety trying to plan around evolving plans, I was "man-splained" by the owner of the venue that rent costs $30k monthly, so they have to make ends meet. [See below Armond trying to dilute the invaluable bride's first-hand account on the stressful working with The Estate actually is (I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THAT REVIEW MORE SERIOUSLY BEFORE BOOKING)]. They are not flexible during a global pandemic. They are not reasonably willing to work with you on active contracts executed mere months prior to the pandemic. A gorgeous historical venue, but management and staff could use customer service training. I am not impressed after being told every line in the book, and then "sorry it was not what you wanted to hear". That is not how you run a business. You are supposed to meet people half way and actually work with them, rather than make decisions behind closed doors and box guests in with very little options to proceed affordably. Views are personal based on experience and do not represent any other entity. read more

My husband and I LOVED our wedding venue. It is classic and timeless, both of which can be seen in our wedding pictures. Everyone we worked with was efficient, yet incredibly kind. Ariel, Sarahrose, and Debbie all worked together nicely to provide us with everything we wanted for our favorite day. It was easy to communicate with them and they listened to create exactly what we dreamed of. We could not be more thankful we chose this space for our best day! read more