Franciscan Gardens — Local services in San Juan Capistrano

Franciscan Gardens created an experience far beyond our hopes and dreams for our wedding. We were so excited that we could have our wedding at this venue based on its beauty, location, and charm. The 24Carrots team (shout out to Nasime and Elizabeth!) were incredible to work with throughout the entire process. Leading up to our wedding, the team was super responsive and quite accommodating with our requests for our special day. They helped walk us through various costs to help figure out what worked with our budget as well as providing us some great vendor referrals. The food from 24Carrots is a selling point alone, we had a great time with our tasting experience, but we had so many people comment on how great the food was, from appetizers to the main courses. The venue also had so many great options with décor and upgrades for dinnerware. But the day-of is when the Franciscan really shined. We had to make some last-minute accommodations which they were more than willing to help with, and they operated so smoothly with our coordinators that my wife and I were able to be present throughout the night, even to the point of having appetizers put aside for us, drinks on standby, and dinner set aside for us so we could eat. My wife really didn’t know what to expect going into the day, but the Franciscan Gardens exceeded our hopes and dreams, creating a magical evening that my wife and I are so grateful to look back on. Also, a huge thank you to the incredible serving staff that evening, who were all so happy for my wife and me, and so gracious and accommodating with our guests! The only note is that the rooms for the bridal party to get ready in are small and don't have windows, which isn't great for photos, so we had alternative places to get ready in (Nasime was able to provide some...

Franciscan Gardens is an amazing venue! The setup is absolutely gorgeous with the greenery covering the high walls, the string lighting, the fountain, and the pergola. The food was catered by 24 Carrots and it was extremely delicious. Elizabeth, Anna, Nasime, Nicole were who I worked with and they were very communicative and easy to work with. They are clearly professionals who are experienced in this field. They were very easy to work with and were very kind when I would have to make adjustments. The location is also fabulous. It's on a walkable street so there's bars, restaurants, boutiques, etc. all within walking distance. There's also a parking lot right next to it so your guests can just park there for the wedding (I believe $2/hr or $20 for the whole day). It's a also 30 minute drive to SNA airport, and there's numerous hotels within walking distance or close driving distance - very convenient for guests. It's a very popular wedding venue, so many of the wedding vendors have previously worked with Franciscan Gardens - my vendors were all experienced with the venue and worked seamlessly with one another. It is on a busy street and near the train tracks so just be aware of that. They also just renovated the bridal suite and it is SO gorgeous. It looks amazing for the getting ready photos. In terms of pricing - I feel like it's pretty comparable to other OC venues. I felt that the base pricing is very reasonable, it's more of a matter of how many add-ons and extras you want, that's where it really starts to get pricey. Overall great experience! Pair the venue with some nice florals and it is truly a dream! We added hanging wisteria courtesy of Ruffle Effect and it was gorgeous.

PC: Cassy...

The Franciscan Gardens was the perfect wedding venue for us and we couldn’t have been happier with our decision to have our wedding ceremony and reception here. The venue is located in the heart of San Juan Capistrano, right downtown within walking distance from all the restaurants, bars and The Mission, which made it so convenient for our out of town guests with plenty of things to do and see just within a few minutes walking distance away.

All of the venue staff were so friendly, helpful and truly just amazing to work with! The Franciscan Gardens team was very professional, detail-oriented, responsive and made us feel at such ease that every detail was being handled so that we didn’t have to worry or stress - especially Nasime, Elizabeth and Anna! The team made the wedding planning and preparation process feel so seamless and our tasting just months beforehand was such a fun experience.

The space was absolutely stunning and we received so many compliments from our guests on the romantic, cozy and warm atmosphere in addition to the quality and presentation of the food - 24 Carrots did a phenomenal job catering our event! Highly highly recommend Franciscan Gardens and 24 Carrots catering, you will not be disappointed, it’s such a charming space and the venue team executes every...