Casa Del Prado — Attraction in San Diego

Tldr: DO NOT BOOK YOUR WEDDING HERE

Casa del Prado seems like a beautiful place for a wedding. And from an architectural standpoint, it is.

But the public nature of the park, uncontrollable crowds, poor facilities, and rude staff made our experience infuriating.

We knew it was a popular public park when we booked the space. But the rental agreement states "There must always be at least a portion of the park available to the general public during all park uses and rentals. The designated area(s) for this permit are indicated on the General Development Plan or Site Plan." One would think that by paying a reservation fee to rent the space, you would actually be able to reserve the space. We brought ropes to discourage the public from entering the ceremony and reception space, and set up signs requesting they respect our privacy during the wedding. They didn't.

As we were setting up, we asked many onlookers to please leave because we were trying to set up for the wedding and they were in the way. An orchestra group was practicing on the 2nd level of the ceremony space, and the orchestra leader approached us to let us know that their families would be coming and going at 4pm (our ceremony time) but "they will be respectful." He swore up and down that they would be respectful and quiet and we wouldn't notice them. See attached photo of a respectful orchestra family photobombing during our ceremony. No matter what angle our photographers came from, their respectful families were in every single shot. One man stood on the balcony directly above the couple and just stared over the railing through the ceremony while his children ran wild, which was distracting for the guests. On top of that, the orchestra group played loudly through the whole ceremony.

Back to the privacy we expected when we RENTED the space. A parks & rec employee approached us and told us we couldn't kick people out of the space because it's a public park. I stated that we were under the impression that because we paid a rental fee to rent the space (see permit wording above stating that the permit specfies designated areas), we would actually be allowed to have a pseudo private event. She said no, we could not ask people to leave, it was public, and I need to read my contract. Again, see aforementioned contract line stating that "there must always be a portion of the park available to the public." We were not asking for the whole park. We were asking for the 2 courtyards we paid for. If it's a public space, what are we paying a rental fee for? We could've just set up shop and not even bothered signing a rental contract with the park.

In the end, we had many spectators at the wedding. Why people want to stand around watching people they don't know get married is beyond me. We also had people using the (disgusting and filthy) public restrooms throughout the wedding.

We also didn't have electricity upon arrival for the lights, music, etc. We had to call parks & rec, who called someone else...and after a couple hours we finally had electricity. They sure took their time with getting that set up, but were super quick to yell at us for our "please respect our privacy" signs.

Bottom line: When paying to reserve this space, you aren't actually reserving anything. It's a public space that they refuse to let you actually reserve privately. What is the rental fee for? I have no idea. According to the parks & rec, despite paying to rent the space you must still allow screaming children, obnoxious families, and homeless people invade your wedding ceremony and you cannot do anything about it. The pretty architecture isn't worth...

Threw a huge party here once, rented it out and had so much fun- wedding reception. It is a really beautiful building that has seen some wear and tear, but there are rooms to prep food and so security can chill out, or can be used for changing. It is a very reasonable venue to rent for events, and iconic. There is a large courtyard in the center and the artwork is the original from the Exposition. Good place to visit during the holidays as well, but best to be there in the Summer, near the Zoo and parking. Truly unforgettable and...

I go once a month to the San Diego tropical fish society (club) meetings in the meeting room area of the theater. The rooms are about what you'd expect, linoleum tile, old paint etc. But if anyone has an interest in aquariums/ paludariums or keeping tropical fish our meeting are very informative and there's always aquatic plants and critters being auctioned after the presentation. Just Google SD tropical fish club and the website has the calendar of...