After a weekend of wedding planning, meeting with two client couples, and consulting with four more potential couples, I decided to switch gears on today's blog and kick off our "Professional Event Planner Series: Venue Reviews". Kicking it off with a short video, shot live from the Grand Island Mansion, in Walnut Grove, CA (see right).

This venue is simply gorgeous! A historic mark in Northern California as one of the oldest private estates. The downside right off the top is the location. It is a journey from any direction, through winding roads of California countryside, with little to no civilization. This makes for a nice wedding day getaway, but if you are planning an all-day celebration or ending late into the night, this may be a difficult venue for your guests.

On the plus side, evening weddings include the use of the mansions eleven bedrooms, including rooms on the private yacht, down at the river. You can keep the celebration going all night with your bridal party, close friends, or family, in the overnight accommodations. There is a billiards room, a theater, basketball court, tennis court, and lots of space to get lost on the property. This may be a fun way to end the night (unless you'd rather spend your wedding night alone with your spouse...)

The venue has multiple spaces to accommodate different party sizes. The inside space has two dining rooms. The main dining room, shown above, with the large glass window and archways, can accommodate up to 112 guests. If your guest count is larger than that, your remaining guests will be sitting down the hall in the overflow room, pictured above with the gold trim & gold chairs. You may be wondering how you can do toasts and first dance, if the room is split...well, you don't. After dinner, your party will proceed downstairs to the grand room for toasts, first dance, and cake cutting. Or you can take the party outdoors on the glamorous courtyard and party under the stars.

If you're like my client and you do not like the idea of breaking up the party, you can have your entire reception in the beautifully designed tent area, off of the courtyard. There is a minimum guest count of 200, and an additional rental charge on the tent, but hey, at least everyone will be together.

There are two ceremony sites in the front of the mansion, which looks simply breathtaking upon arrival. Minimal decor is needed, as the grounds are already beautiful. For an additional fee, the pool area can be used for cocktail hour, late-night snack, or even a dessert display.

The catering is provided in-house. The small bites I tried were good. They can even provide the cake in-house and the sample I had of that was ahhh-mazing! The bar is only wine, beer, and champagne, all as a hosted bar. If you desire to have hard alcohol, you can bring your own for a fee; a must bring liability insurance, rent your own glassware, and provide all mixers. This can be a bit of a task and can get a little expensive, depending on your guest count.

Overall, this place is beautiful and very unique. It is quite an experience to be able to stay the night in the mansion (the room decor was really neat). Downside - they do five weddings a weekend (yes, two weddings in one day). To me, that seems like your wedding isn't exactly special but more of a turn-key operation. This could be good, knowing they have a thorough and experienced staff. Or it could feel like you're just a number. An additional downside is the location. It seemed great when we looked it up, but upon making the drive from the Bay Area, there was more time spent in the countryside than we would have liked. That could be a deterrent to your guests and/or dangerous at the end of it all (small winding roads to/from the property). On the positive side, the prices are very reasonable for what you get; food selection, look of the venue, complimentary parking, amazing photo opportunities. They offer a preferred vendor list but allow vendors outside of the list. Only exclusion, DJ services. This must come from their list or you'll pay a fee to go off the list.

To recap, visually stunning mansion, with space for small to large weddings, just outside of Sacramento area. If you're looking for a unique, secluded experience with history and Italian charm, this is the spot for you. We recommend a planner for this one :)