Cabrillo Pavilion — Attraction in Santa Barbara

Since i was a little girl it was my dream to get married on the beach, but since i live in the desert when the time finally came for me to plan my wedding i had to travel and look around. when i found the Cabrillo art pavilion it was like a dream come true. the location was perfect! the people seemed very nice and helpful. during the year and a half i planned the wedding i made 3 trips down to the location to meet face to face with the planner to ensure we were on the same page with everything i wanted...... so here’s where the problems came in. during one of the meetings with the planner i was informed there would be a $300 permit fee to book the beach for me for the day. That included a staffed member holding the beach area (where ever i wanted it) and to ensure the beach was clean before the wedding. NO PROBLEM! i thought that was wonderful....skipping ahead i received an email 3 DAYS BEFORE MY WEDDING informing me i still owed another $857 on top of the $300 i had already paid for the beach. after many phone calls it turns out the $300 was only a DEPOSIT and for them to hold the beach for me i would have to pay at least another $450. they had quoted me the $857 because they ASSUMED i wanted an archway, chairs, and more employees to help. all of which was never mentioned in my contract. (yes i did check twice after this email) once again skipping ahead to my wedding day it was about 45 mins before i was to say "i do" and the beach was packed full of swimmers and trash was everywhere, when i asked the employee working "my event" that day what had happened, she informed me she had no idea of the beach needing to be cleared, no one had told her anything. she then locked herself in the room for the next 30 mins leaving my GUESTS to clear the beach..... so yes, i did pay $750 extra for NOTHING!!!!! moving along to problem number two there is no air conditioner at all in this building, which would have been helpful if they had told me that so we could have provided fans. instead i ended up sweating off all my make-up and hair, yes my pictures were ruined!!!! and the cherry on the topper. as it was getting later in the night our wedding party told us that we needed to head out and enjoy our night, they would clean and take care of everything. (as is usual in weddings) my husband and i were stopped from leaving by the pavilion employee who told us we could not leave until everyone else left. if we left the whole party had to be gone. she then proceeded to rush us and tell us to hurry and clean faster so she could leave. we were out of there by 9:00pm even though i had PAID EXTRA TO HAVE THE HALL UNTIL 11PM!!!

needless to say the extra money i paid for the beach (as well as the deposit) and the extra i paid to have the hall later even though the employee forced us out was NEVER REFUNDED!!!!! I CANNOT SAY THIS ENOUGH!!! DO NOT USE THESE PEOPLE! THEY ARE ONLY OUT FOR YOUR MONEY AND THEY WILL SCREW YOU OVER...

We had our wedding at the Cabrillo Pavilion and it was a beautiful venue to have a wedding in Santa Barbara. Working with the parks team to get our reservation in was very straight forward and the price for the venue is much more reasonable than many of the private venues in the area. The space itself is beautiful and must be seen in person. The windows overlooking the beach made a beautiful backdrop for our guests during dinner. There are also two balconies that were a huge hit with our guests. We had our ceremony on the beach right in front of the venue (reservation booked separately) and it worked out perfectly and made for an easy transition into the venue for the reception. We had appx 120 guests for a seated dinner with a dance floor. I think our final table count was ~18 with a sweetheart table, dessert table, bar, and DJ. There was more than enough space for all of that, we did not feel cramped and it could definitely hold more comfortably. The parks team was very attentive and answered any questions we had as they came up. They also returned out security deposit promptly after the event. This was a great venue, if you like it after seeing it, you should have no hesitation...

Had my wedding there Friday October 3. Ac was broken. Venue staff were clearing my guests cups that were full, & they had no business doing so. (Hours before my event ended). We forgot our wedding cake including our anniversary top, rather than contacting us to ask if we wanted it, they threw it away!!! So wrong & heartless!!! I was also never informed we couldn’t use a fog machine so our first dance was ruined with that unexpected circumstance. Cant hang anything from ceiling or walls. They are so strict here, it made our experience less than perfect. Id recommend choosing a location that is not as strict with the rules & would actually call you to ask if you wanted the items left in the kitchen.

This venue is nice & beautiful location on the beach, but would be so much more appealing & beautiful if they replaced that dingy old carpet with hard...