Sova Gardens

I only have wonderful things to say about Sova.
My wife and I got married there on August 23, 2014. My wife and I new from the very moment we walked into the venue back in July 2013, that this was where we were going to get married. No questions asked, this was the place.
We were having a small and intimate wedding of about 75 guests. Paul had suggested switching things up a bit by having the ceremony where dinner would normally be, and having dinner where the ceremony was. It was great. It made our whole day even more intimate and meaningful by having all our guests closer together.
There were 3 bathrooms on the property, and the ‘grass’ was actually turf, which I really liked because that meant our guests and myself wearing heels, wouldn’t have an issue with sinking in the ground. My wife has an aunt who is in a wheel chair, and she commented on how wheelchair friendly the turf was, and how accessible the whole venue was for her.
Every contact and communication with Paul & Denise were met with timely responses. Every request, regardless of the size was eagerly granted. Working with Paul & Denise thru the whole process, from the contract, to the deposit, to my questions months before, weeks before, days before, and the day of, were second to none. Any question or doubt was met with answers and reassurances.
We rented the farm house that is on the property which was great to have. I stayed there with my «best person» Friday night after the rehearsal. Their is no WIFI in the house, which I feel was the only draw back, but it was nice to be a bit more unplugged so I could focus on what the next day was brining. We got the keys the day before the wedding, so we were able to meet w/​our vendors when they dropped off their deliveries. This was extremely helpful! When we arrived on Friday, the tables and chairs were already set up, so if we needed an additional table set up, it was done. It was great to see the venue start to come alive.
The day was great. The gardens were in full bloom, and smelling amazing. The day was warm, but not so hot. Our guests complimented us so many times on how beautiful the venue was. We didn’t have to add much as the lighting was all done, and the umbrella’s add an extra element was wonderfulness.
When everyone had gone for the night, we met up with Denise. We asked if it would be possible to leave the lights on over the patio. She said yes, and showed us where the power was so we could shut them off when we were done. We sat, and just took in how amazing the day was, having all our friends and family there with us, and how awesome Sova was.
So THANK YOU to Denise & Paul for making us feel welcome, accepted, and supported. We really have nothing bad to say. It was a picture perfect weekend, and it will go down as one of the best days of our lives.

Fantastic wedding venue. The owners are great to work with, helpful and flexible and really provide everything you could want out of your ceremony/​reception location.

My good friend just got married here. Great venue for a simple & lovely wedding. We had roughly 175 people with no problems and could easily have 200+. outdoors with a nice but not over bearing garden. separate areas for wedding, reception, and dancing. overflow parking in back. All the service personnel were awesome and nice. Feet won’t get muddy due to the artificial grass. Multiple restroom locations for guests. We also held our rehearsal dinner on site in a cottage where the brides maids also spent the night. Overall: ***** Thank you for a great experience!

Our daughter’s wedding was there last weekend, and we couldn’t have been happier with Sova, Paul & Denise! The atmosphere is true Sonoma county, and it was really wonderful. The weather was a bit cold — but the tavern was warm and welcoming for those who needed an indoor retreat. Our out of town friends rented the Farm House, and it was perfect. I would recommend Sova to anyone looking for a beautiful place to have their wedding, or any outdoor garden party!

We had our wedding here on September 28^th and it was beautiful. It rained all night and morning and Paul helped us with contingency plans. Thankfully, the rain cleared up and the weather turned out beautifully! Paul helped the whole day behind the scenes and things went seamlessly. We also rented the house for the weekend and it was beautiful and accommodating :-) All my guests were raving about the venue and the house!

Could not be more pleased! My husband and I were married here a few weeks ago & it was the best choice for venue, hands down. It was actually our only choice — we didn’t look anywhere else, didn’t have to. The venue is beautiful — between the lighting, beautiful flowers and gardens, and quirky indoors we did almost nothing by way of decoration. We had a band and the setup for them was great. The kids at the wedding ran around and played. There was tons of space and the layout is fantastic. My photographer was overjoyed with all of the beautiful lighting and great locations for photos.
As previous reviews mentioned, having the setup of the bridal cottage to get ready was perfect! It was secluded, with a little table outdoors, and plenty of space for my bridal party to be with me. I agree with the greatness of the astroturf as well! It was so beautiful, without the concerns of my dress, and heels sinking in.
Denise & Paul really make this place — they were both so helpful every step. In communication with us, lived up to their promises and then some. Paul even lead us through the rehearsal and the wedding procession, seeing that we didn’t have a wedding coordinator.
So pleased, and would recommend this venue to everyone!

Beautiful location! The serving staff were extremely friendly. Great place for an event.

We got married here on 10÷10÷10 at Sova Gardens, and it was the most perfect day ever!
Denise was a joy to work with and we helpful in every way imaginable — she had all of the best vendors in the area to refer to us; she was always available to us when we needed to visit and for our rehearsal; she kept the place maintained immaculately and looking better each time we saw it.
The venue is just spectacular. With beautiful landscaped gardens and views of the rolling hills in the horizon, it literally felt like we and our guests were celebrating in our own magical world. Sova Gardens had the best use of space and layout I’ve seen, and we’ve visited quite a few during our search for the perfect venue. While it’s large enough to easily comfortable hold hundreds (72“in large dining tables!), we didn’t feel lost with our relatively small wedding party of 75 guests. Actually, it was quite intimate and the layout of the venue allowed us to move from one area to the next throughout the day, making it progressively more fun and interesting as our we progressed on through the day and night. You would think that we would have had some desire to change up our surroundings between different venues for the ceremony, photos, and reception, but Sova Gardens was just perfect to facilitate all of that. Yes, the property has the longer grass-​like astroturf material, but we thought it was the smartest thing ever since it was clean (no grass stains!) and high heels won’t sink in. You wouldn’t even notice until you looked down hard to wonder why it was way more comfortable to walk around on — and there sure is a lot of walking on our wedding day!
We hosted our wedding entirely outdoors on the deck and reception area, although there was also a bar and tavern with seating for those who wanted to hang out indoors. There was also a full kitchen where our awesome caterer, Oui Cater, prepared most, if not all, of the meal on premise. There were absolutely no issues with or even any signs of bugs or pests.
We only received praise from all of our guests, «how did you ever find this place?! It’s amazing!!!» Well, hopefully more people will also find Sova Gardens and have the pleasure of working with Denise!

My wife and I just got married at Sova Gardens last weekend and couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful, friendly and well organized place. Everyone raved about how beautiful the venue was, as the flowers were in full bloom, and past the old barn (which was the perfect backdrop for some of our wedding photos) were the famous rolling Sonoma hills dotted with horses, sheep and goats (we could see them, but not smell them) which just added to our outdoor wedding feel.
Although the grass is fake it is nothing like astroturf! My bride and all the girls loved the grass because they could wear heels and not sink into the ground, the kids loved it to run around on, and all their mothers loved it because the kids didn’t get grass stains on their clothes. The grounds are gorgeous!
We had a live band and danced under the (dancing) tent where Denise has strung up beautiful lights that gave the night a magical feel. Tables were set up outside the tent so the parents and grandparents could watch the action and still feel like they were part of the party.
My bride loved getting ready in the special cottage Denise has set-​up for them and my Groomsmen and I got ready in the nicely set-​up water tower room.
If you are looking for an outdoor Garden wedding with plenty of space and a professional to work with, then this is your place! We couldn’t be more happy!

First of all, I have to disagree with Jeff P. The venue is actually huge — we fit 200+ people in there no problem and we didn’t even use a good portion of the place (the covered dance floor). The weather was beautiful, so we did everything outside and just had the bar inside the chicken coop, at the actual bar. Also, I know that Jeff P. may not be sensitive to this, but I was TOTALLY STOKED when I visited the place and found out that it was astroturf because then I knew I could wear heels and so could all of the other women who attended the wedding!!! We had kids there, and they were wrestling on the fake grass and practicing serious break dancing moves, and their moms didn’t even get mad at them because they didn’t get grass stains on their nice clothes. It was the BEST way to have an outdoor wedding, and I think Denise and Paul (the owners) are geniuses for putting that astroturf in.
Another great thing about this place is that Denise and Paul are really great to work with. They are very nice, friendly people who are totally on top of their game and help make planning a wedding fun.
We got tons of compliments on this venue — the fact that it was a chicken farm in its previous life was a fun and quirky touch that everyone seemed amused by. It was a totally classy and beautiful place, and the owners were a pleasure to work with. If I planned on ever getting married again, I’d probably do it there.
A few helpful tips:
— We used the bar as a bar so that we’d have plenty of space for dancing on the deck (I guess people usually put the bar on the deck, which seems weird to me since the actual bar is this gorgeous old wooden bar that Denise and Paul salvaged from somewhere).
— Our guests stayed at the Fairfield Inn in Sebastopol and we shuttled them to the wedding on school buses rented from the local school district, which really helped with the parking/​driving situation.

I came here last week for a really close friends wedding and I had a great time. This venue is pretty small which was perfect for the 30+ guests in attendance.
The wedding took place outside in front out of this mini watermill and farm tower. Although the watermill didn’t really server any purpose, it looked nice and was a good setting for the ceremony. All the grass was artificial which looked stunning but was a little bit of a disappointment when we found out it was fake.
The indoor area was kind of quirky with low ceilings and what seamed to be unstable floor boards. It reminded us of something from Willie Wonkas Chocolate Factory. Someone said it use to be an old chicken coupe and that didn’t surprise me.
All in all I think this place would be a great place to have a low key outdoor wedding.