Allied Arts Guild — Attraction in Menlo Park

A TRUE GEM IN THE BAY AREA - 10/10 THE MOST PERFECT PLACE TO GET MARRIED!!!

It's true what they say, "finding the perfect wedding venue is like finding a great partner". We reviewed and visited SO MANY places to have our wedding and stumbled upon a rare gem in the Bay Area - The Allied Arts Guild. We discovered them on Here Comes The Guide (online wedding platform) and it looked promising! Independently, one of our really good friends also mentioned that AAG would be perfect for us so we finally decided to check it out. The second we walked onto the premises into the garden, we knew it was our place. The feeling it gave us, the wonderful weather, the local cats moseying through the rosebushes, the stunning wisteria covered trellises - everything about it was perfect. We met the venue coordinator, Tiana, that first day and we were pretty much sold.

Working with Tiana has been such a wonderful experience while planning our wedding. She is massively accommodating, flexible, kind, welcoming and a true pleasure to work with. From the get-go, we let Tiana know that we wanted to have an unconventional wedding with unique aspects that were authentic to me and my partner and Tiana was so supportive of all our ideas. She helped us figure out cool ways to use the entire space of the Allied Arts Guild, let us explore unique seating arrangements, dream up a magical cocktail hour experience, fold in an live acoustic performance and dished up the most AMAZING food + cocktails for the evening.

I just have to reiterate the food comment again - QUITE LITERALLY THE BEST WEDDING FOOD I'VE EVER HAD. The passed appetizers included mini beef wellingtons, lamb riblets and shrimp tostadas and our mains consisted of an incredible beef short rib & grilled salmon dishes that we could literally hear our guests raving about. As a bride, the biggest advice I kept getting was "make sure you remember to eat during your wedding". I mean, I already knew how good the food was from Cafe Wisteria (the restaurant at AAG who catered for our wedding) and when I say I cleaned my plate during our wedding dinner, I'm not exaggerating. It was DELICIOUS!!!

Tiana and whole Allied Arts Guild team went above and beyond to bring our our wedding dreams a reality and we had the most magical day of our lives. We have so much gratitude for everyone there, especially Tiana - it was more than we could have every imagined. So professional, welcoming and wonderful to work with. Working with Tiana has been such a positive experience for us and not only did we have the most wonderful wedding, we also gained a wonderful friendship with Tiana through the process.

Thank you to the entire AAG team for hosting our wedding. We had the time of our lives and can't thank you all enough for...

You know the phrase, "save the best for last"? This was it for us. After months of inquiring with venues all over the country (from Hawaii, Napa, SoCal, etc.) we landed at AAG as our last venue stop after feeling something was missing with all the prior ones. We literally found out about this venue Googling "hidden gem venues in California" and found it on a list. We live only 15 minutes away from this venue and thought, why not just look at it, it's so close. Well- looks like the venue will not stay too hidden for too much longer as more and more friends are recommending this venue to others.

From the moment we stepped on campus, we were whisked to what felt like another part of the world with all the Spanish architecture (definitely did not feel like the Bay anymore). Our guests were equally pleasantly surprised and everyone raved about how beautiful the venue was. We loved the intimate, secret garden vibe of the place and a bonus is that the venue is a nonprofit that supports LPCH and Stanford Children's Health. My husband not only worked at Stanford Hospital when we booked this venue, but also went there for undergrad so we felt an extra connection to the venue.

Working with Tiana was one of the best parts of booking this venue. We didn't realize how important it was to have such a good venue coordinator- she allowed so many things we wanted: fire pits, sparklers, rose toss, and even made our fruit punch for us the day of! She was SO flexible and easy to work with and could not recommend her more. Her kitchen/cafe is also equally amazing- we had guests saying this was the best wedding food they had ever had and we also were never hungry day of--- Tiana gave us so much food to make sure!

Due to the close proximity, I was able to get ready in the comfort of my own home which was one of the greatest perks and able drop things off the day before even (no one had booked it the day before). It made everything such a breeze. We now plan to go back every year for our anniversary and eat at the cute cafe. I HIGHLY recommend AAG. It was the happiest, most magical day of our lives and a huge part of that is thanks to our incredible venue and venue...

The first time that I was brought to Cafe Wisteria for lunch I recall being very impressed with meticulously manicured grounds bursting forth from this kind of secret garden hidden in a sleepy residential neighborhood along side the creek which runs parallel to Sand Hill road. It's a quick getaway without traveling far off the beaten path. It's grounds are filled with a variety of flowering plants that they've somehow orchestrated with the seasons so that there are always flowers blooming from under foot, climbing the walls and dangling overhead. (though spring and summer have the most). It's refreshing to slow down from a busy day and just enjoy chrisp air filled with the pleasent melody of birds singing and the bees hard at work. If your having lunch, I recommend asking to be seated outside on sunny days. If available, the tables which line the edge of the cobble fountain, shaded by a gnarled and knotted giant Oak are my favorite . The Café menu rotates seasonally & I'm told is geared towards utilizing local & fresh ingredients as much as possible. The Dungeness crab eggs Benedict is rich and creamy with fantastic texture and balance. I'm also a fan of the french dip sliders on mini toasted brioche, filled with tender slow-cooked brisket and served with a Tangy Au...