Berkeley Wedding Venues: The Best Places to Host Your Wedding in Berkeley
Berkeley is gorgeous and whether you’re from the area, fell in love at Cal, or are just looking for somewhere beautiful to get married, it’s the perfect spot to host your celebration. As a Berkeley wedding photographer since 2008 (!!!), I’ve been to almost every spot there is here and I’m excited to guide you through your choices with tons of photos, inside info, and help!
Not totally sure where you want to get married yet? You can also browse my list of the best Oakland wedding venues, the best San Francisco wedding venues, and a round up of the best redwood wedding venues in California!
1. The Berkeley Botanical Garden
The Berkeley Botanical Garden is probably my favorite wedding venue in Berkeley, with the tall redwood ceremony site and the lovely Julia Morgan building. There are a few options for a Berkeley wedding here, so I’ve broken your choices down for ease!
Mather Redwood Grove
The Mather Redwood Grove is the main ceremony site at the Berkeley Botanical Garden. You can rent this ceremony spot without hosting your reception here (host your guests elsewhere at your own discretion) or you can host your reception here and then everybody will walk across the street afterwards to one of the two reception halls, depending on the number of guests you have.
The Rose Garden
The Mather Redwood Grove is not actually the only wedding ceremony spot at the Berkeley Botanical Garden. While it’s the most popular, there is also the Rose Garden, full of flowers and overlooking the entire Bay.
Browse a Botanical Garden Rose Garden wedding.
The Julia Morgan Hall
The Julia Morgan Hall is a gorgeous building in the Berkeley Botanical Garden that has tons of wood, soft light, and glow-y evening vibes. It’s a smaller venue and you can only host up to 80 guests here, but it’s absolutely lovely. If you’re near max capacity you will seat some guests outside as well as indoors, but for smaller weddings everybody gets cozy inside.
The Conference Center
Okay, I’ll be real with you: The Conference Center needs a bit more work to feel cozy and inviting inside. You need to bring in cute lights or some kind of decor to make it feel like a place to host a wedding. (You don’t need to go crazy or over the top though! Something simple does the trick.) It has a much larger capacity than the Julia Morgan hall while still being on the garden property. The patio outside is wonderful and so cute: Lots of lovely greenery and a great garden patio feel. Overall I do still recommend this spot and it’s great for hosting a bit bigger of a party!
Browse a Berkeley Botanical Garden conference center wedding.
The Berkeley Botanical Garden is located at 200 Centennial Dr, Berkeley, CA 94720, above UC Berkeley. You can learn more on their website.
2. The Brazilian Room
Did I say that the Botanical Garden was my favorite Berkeley wedding venue? I think I lied. I LOVE the Brazilian Room, with its views of the Berkeley Hills, it’s proximity to Tilden Botanical Garden for photos (you do need a permit these days, but that’s under $80 and gets you exclusive wedding access for a few hours), and its reception hall full of windows. It’s pretty, cozy, and comfortable, and is an excellent place to host a lovely wedding.
Their max is ~120 guests and there are two wedding timeslots here: 8am-3pm and 4pm-11pm.
Browse a number of Brazilian Room weddings (I’ve photographed 10+!)
The Brazilian Room is located at Tilden Regional Park Shasta Road at, Wildcat Canyon Rd, Berkeley, CA 94708 in Tilden Regional Park. You can learn more on their website (it’s run by the park system).
3. The Berkeley Faculty Club
This gorgeous wedding venue is actually ON the UC Berkeley campus and is so pretty. There’s a massive room on site for getting ready (with lovely light, I might add) and some great park spots within a 1-3 minute walk for a First Look and portraits on your wedding day: Oak trees, flowers, sweet architecture, and a small redwood grove. They have it all!
The ceremony site is under the oak trees, with lots of space for guests and a lovely oak tree coverage. It’s one of the most comfortable wedding ceremony spots to sit in: Guests are never too hot, marriers are never too hot, it’s always pretty, etc. etc. Highly recommend.
Their reception hall is lovely, too, with pretty windows looking out onto the grounds, lots of wood paneling, and dramatic light. Great space for dancing, too.
Browse a Berkeley Faculty Club wedding.
The Berkeley Faculty Club is located on the UC Berkeley campus at Minor Ln, Berkeley, CA 94720.
4. The Tilden Botanical Garden
Right below the Brazilian Room is the Tilden Botanical Garden and you can reserve time in the garden to host your ceremony. No receptions allowed here. Most people opt for the redwood grove, with easy access for those with less mobility, and lots of beautiful trees. This space is probably best suited for a wedding with no more than 20-30 guests and please do note that the park doesn’t close for you, just relies on guests to the garden being respectful. It’s a gorgeous spot for a ceremony and if you want something simple but still lovely it’s truly a perfect option. (Also, it’s very very very reasonably priced!)
Browse a Tilden Botanical Garden wedding. Browse another Tilden Botanical Garden wedding.