Cuvier Club by Wedgewood Weddings — Attraction in San Diego

High Value Budget Friendly Venue

We had the highest package as we were planning a large event and wanted an open bar. This was by far the best value we found around San Diego - we only had a few venues that could really handle our guest count and the other would have been at minimum $20K more than what we wound up spending at Cuvier. I would strongly recommend this to anyone planning a event and looking for a traditional ceremony - reception event.

Pros: -Mandi: She was our coordinator. She is extremely friendly and knowledgeable and helped reassure us that we were in shape and ready to go. Super helpful with working through all the MANY details of planning a wedding. Can't recommend her enough!! -Bar service was good! We had the call liquor package -Amazing support team: Cuvier team is extremely responsive and helpful with all questions. Customer service was truly next level -Food: shockingly good! This was not a priority for us at all but I was super pleased. We served salmon and short rib with veggies and a starter salad. We received a bunch of compliments - and large batches of salmon are hard to do decently! I was really impressed. -Beautiful and customizable space: gorgeous ceremony on patio. We have GORGEOUS patio pictures from our reception. A caveat, though, is that the sun was in the guests' eyes during the entire ceremony. It didn't bother us at the front, though. Yes, it was our call to host before sunset, but that is also their preferred timing. The 2 hours before sunset has the sun angled directly at the guests if you're using the patio. -Incredible flexibility!

Cons: -advertises as holding 200(+?) - I wouldn't try to seat more than 175 (we did, and it was tight - partially because we overestimated our need for dance space...) -Didn't have the cues with the DJ set for the bride's entrance - not a big deal, but having so many people bring it up makes it feel more noticeable. We worked with the partner DJ, so I assumed we didn't have to cover this stuff, but we should have confirmed ALL cues. -Photobooth and audio guestbook (from the partner DJ) were malfunctioning most of the night. It's a bummer to pay for these fun pieces only to have them be so intermittent. The teams should be better trained to troubleshoot their & their preferred partners' equipment. -Cake cutting: this was set up so our backs were to the entire reception because the dessert table was along the stage.

Notes: Wedgewood has this great planning binder they give you when you sign up. Unless you have planned a lot of events, don't expect this to replace a planner. Their staff will help with any questions but will do exactly what you ask. Unless you know the right way to do stuff, you'll probably make requests/choices that are not great! Learn from our mistakes: -do not seat ANYONE on the stage!! Although it was our request, they should not have allowed it. With the size of the supplied table, it was extremely close to the edge, creating some safety concerns, not to mention it was super cramped. Plus our party complained about the noise level since it's right by the speakers. this was the...

Contrary to the many great reviews, our experience was far from perfect. In the end Cuvier pulled through but it wasn’t before lots of arguing and escalations to their management. I would not recommend booking their all inclusive option especially if your venue is not Cuvier Club. I will say some of the problems likely stemmed from the fact that we had an off-site venue. Others happened because we had a poorly put together quote/contract.

Their all inclusive package includes a 30 day coordination. In reality this is almost useless, since you'll want to get everything lined up way before that. We ended up basically coordinating everything ourselves, including signing and negotiating contracts, doing venue walk throughs, keeping track of all items we needed to do, etc. Maybe if you left everything up to the last minute their coordination could be useful. The day of coordination is really only coordinating Cuvier vendors, and it does not include coordination of the wedding day. We ran very late because we did not have a coordinator helping with photos or keeping us on track before the ceremony.

The included vendors, with the exception of the cake place, all tried to upcharge us. They did this via various means. Some flat out told us it would cost extra money, like one of the DJs we spoke with, since we had 2 setups, which is supposed to be included but is not actually, others tried to add gas surcharges (which we successfully fought with Cuvier), and others told us that we basically wouldn't have good service if we didn't add another photographer outside of what was included. One photographer essentially told us that they preferred we didn't go with them since the negotiated rates cuvier pays are so low they'd be able to find a better gig.

Anders, the individual who booked our quote, did an awful job, and many of the problems stemmed from this. She advertised it as an “all inclusive package”, but we found there were so many charges on top, not only by the external vendors, but by cuvier itself. Even when everything was figured out, in the end they fell short delivering the following items during the wedding: special meals (vegetarians, GF..etc) were not served to the guests that needed them, but rather they wandered around from station to station finding out they couldn’t eat what was being offered - we expected plated meals for those guests. Appetizers for the guests that arrived late were not served because they came in after welcome hour. They did not leave the leftover food even though this is something we asked for The bar surprised us by serving hard alcohol straight They ran out of champagne glasses; and the bar failed to make our two special drinks that involved mulling mint and using fever tree mixers. Lastly they did not follow cake cutting instructions, so guests were not able to try the different flavors. Nothing truly awful but far from the perfect we expected with the costs of a wedding event.

The positives: The food was good and they did not run out (which was a concern). The vendors we ended up hiring through Cuvier...

If you are looking for the BEST venue and catering company for your wedding, this is the place. We are so grateful to have been able to plan our wedding with the most passionate and dedicated workers in the event planning business. Our wedding was absolutely perfect from planning to the actual day!!

Anders Cueva was the most personal, warm and thoughtful person from the start of our process to the very end. She guided us through any question or uncertainty that we had about our wedding, allowing us to build the perfect wedding we envisioned. All of our expectations were continuously met, and consistently worked to make sure if there were any (which there were barely any) "bumps in the road" that we could pivot together for an even better idea for our wedding. Anders is the type of worker that will do everything she can to make sure you are happy throughout your entire planning process.

The wedding coordinator provided to us by the company was Federico Tomas, a person who excels at being the absolute best at this job. Federico remained in constant communication with us during our planning process, offering us the best ideas and collaboration for our big day. On our wedding day, he was an amazing source of support that was never too far away, making sure we were having the best time. Not only did he make sure we were having a magical day, but all of our guests (138 to be exact) were well taken care of and having an amazing experience!

On top of these two incredible workers, was our event captain David and his amazing team of servers during our wedding night. Everyone we spoke to raved about the kindness of every server they communicated with and how attentive Federico was with all the steps of the wedding event. There was not a single hiccup or delay during the event. With all this wonderful service, the food served was out of this world. Our chefs Kyle & Kody serve nothing but the best food, and ensured that even our guests with dietary restrictions were taken care of.

The Cuvier Club by Wedgewood Weddings gave us the most perfect wedding. They offer nothing but the best in all corners of the planning process and leave an everlasting impression on everyone that attends their events. Working with this venue and staff should be #1 on your list if you are looking for the wedding of...