Kennolyn Events

If I could give Kennolyn more stars, I would!
We had our wedding here this past weekend and it truly was a dream.
First of all, the venue is just about the most beautiful settings for a wedding that I have ever seen in my life and secondly, the staff is professional, compassionate, detail oriented and experienced.
Jenn was our wedding coordinator and she was fantastic. To save on cost, I made all the decorations myself (and I mean alllll of them, even the flowers! i made them out of paper!). Seeing as though I did not have a florist to help with set up of the center pieces, etc., I thought that my bridesmaids and I would have to come early to set everything up. Well, Jenn (fantastic Jenn!) would not hear of it: She set everything up the day of and did it in a thoughtful, beautiful way. She even re-​purposed decorations used during the ceremony for the reception.
Jenn kept in touch through the entire wedding planning process and made sure we were getting what we needed, she responded quickly to questions, and she ran things smoothly the day of.
On our wedding day, Janine was also there and was equally helpful and professional. We had a bee that was hanging out at our table (too bad they can’t control mother nature, hehe) and Janine put herself on the line to keep us safe from the bee! She said «I don’t care if I get stung, but I don’t want you to». That is really something.
The supporting staff at Kennolyn were equally professional and wonderful. One person who sticks out as very helpful was Didi, who helped my husband and I keep our glasses of wine full throughout dinner and brought us food from the buffet.
Oh! And the food! The food was incredible! I wish I had more time to eat it! I’d have gone back for seconds if I didn’t have to mingle with our guests. The food was my biggest worry, to be honest, because they do everything in house… but you need not worry because their Chef is amazing. I am a pescetarian and had several vegetarians and vegans at the event and the chef made something delicious for everyone.
I had so many guests come up to me and tell me that this was one of the best weddings they had ever been to… and I agree! Everyone at Kennolyn made it an incredible day.
Financially speaking, Kennolyn is costly, but when you look at everything you get for the cost (included is alcohol, food, a wedding coordinator, the amazing grounds and views), it really is a deal.
The *one* tiny thing I would say that is more negative about Kennolyn is this: I was a little frustrated with the DJ options on the preferred vendors list. If you want a DJ, you have to pick from 2 preferred DJs that they work with… the first DJ on the list never got back to me when I called (a couple times) and the second DJ (who we ended up with) was an egotistical jerk and messed a few things up for us. The DJ’s mess ups were not Kennolyns fault… but I never liked the DJ much from the first time I met him and felt stuck with him since we only had 2 to choose from.
Anyway, overall, I’d get married at Kennolyn all over again. It was an amazing and memorable day. They treat each couple as individuals and get excited about the individuality of each couple.
Thank you Kennolyn! You all rock.

Absolutely the best!!! We had a family wedding here and it was just perfect. The setting is easily the most beautiful you can find anywhere in Santa Cruz. A lovely hacienda with full ocean views. Jenn the coordinator has to be the most patient and organized person. The entire staff is friendly, efficient and very helpful. The food was OK. Not great but fine. But everything else was perfect, well run, and beautiful. I recommend Kennolyn for your event.

This review is long over due but well deserved. My husband and I got married at Kennoyln, last year on the 4^th of July. My husband was actually the one who found this place through Google. One day he decided to search «unique wedding locations» and Kennolyn popped up. At first I was hesitant to check out the location because I thought it wouldn’t be within our budget, but after looking at a couple places, we figured it wouldn’t hurt to look.
Upon arriving, we had immediately fallen in love with the location. It is nestled away up in the mountains, surrounded by the redwoods, with breathtaking views. As I mentioned earlier, I was worried about the costs, but to my surprise, Kennolyn was affordable. The costs included more than I imagined.
Jenn and Janeen, the coordinators were fabulous to work with. They were easy to communicate with and we never had to wait long to get a response to our questions. They were professional and super friendly. The day of our wedding, Janeen made me feel so comfortable about everything and I knew my day was in good hands.
PROS:
–great view
–one of only few places that doesn’t charge for various items (i.e, linens, heat lamps, silverware, table numbers and cake cutting)
–super friendly staff
–fabulous coordinators (they took care of everything– putting your worries at ease)
CONS:
–reception needs to end by 9pm (due to noise restrictions by neighbors)
–you have to use the DJ on their preferred vendor list. Unfortunately I wasn’t a fan of the DJ. 1) he wasn’t the friendliest to the videographer 2) despite giving instructions and providing the music for the bridal party entrance, he didn’t listen, nor use the music. My husband and I know a handful of DJs and would have rather given them our money.
If you can look passed having the reception end early and the fact that you have to use their preferred DJ, I would highly recommend Kennolyn.

Kennolyn could not have been a more perfect spot for our wedding. The Hacienda is gorgeous, teeming with flowers and plants with a gorgeous view overlooking the ocean and surrounded by redwoods. And the staff — particularly Jenn and Janeen — could not have been more helpful. They always responded to requests in a prompt, professional manner, they ran the show meticulously the day of the wedding, and they made the whole planning process so much easier, from start to finish. They are true professionals in how they handle everything, but also very kind and personal. I could not recommend them, or Kennolyn, highly enough. The food was also delicious — guests remarked that it was the best wedding food they had ever had. And all of the servers were so friendly and helpful. We truly couldn’t think of a complaint if we tried. Thank you, Kennolyn!

We had our wedding at Kennolyn on 8−1−14. We went on a venue hunt with our moms and toured about 20 venues along the coast. We fell in love with Kennolyn as soon as we stepped onto the property. We could not have a picked a more perfect location. The natural beauty/​flowers/​landscaping is a gorgeous backdrop for a wedding and saves money on wedding décor. The food is excellent! Our guests raved about the beauty of the venue, the delicious food and helpful staff. They were able to accommodate for several vegan friends, which was great. We began our consultation with Jenn and then Janeen took over. Both are amazing. Janeen went above and beyond to ensure that our wedding day was successful and everything we dreamed it could be. She was quick to respond to emails and phone calls and answered the millions of questions I had. The day of, Janeen coordinated all the vendors and guests, and did a wonderful job. So many of our guests told us it was the best wedding they had ever been to!
We are SO thankful we chose Kennolyn for our wedding. You cannot beat the price for the location, staff and amenities. Thank you Kennolyn!
Here’s our wedding highlight video so you can see more of the location:

I would pick Kennolyn for our wedding over and over again! It was such a spectacular venue, and I know that Kennolyn’s awesome staff were a huge part of the reason our wedding day was such a success!
My mom and I loved Jenn from the moment we met her. She was so helpful and low pressure when we were first looking at the venue, and always very easy to get in touch with during the planning stages. Having her there as a day-​of coordinator helped everything go amazingly smoothly! (Multiple guests commented on how flawless our wedding seemed!) It was so great to just be able to drop off our decorations during the rehearsal, and then to return the next day to see them expertly displayed! Jenn also coordinated all of the outside vendors we hired — I didn’t have to worry about a thing on the day of! I just showed up and enjoyed the day!
The food was delicious, and the servers polite and professional. Our champagne glasses were never empty! As bride and groom, appetizers and buffet items were brought directly to the sweetheart table. Jenn and Janeen even arranged it so that I could have a special vegetarian meal, and made sure I got a slice of the cake. They really thought of everything, and anticipated my needs before I even could.
Also, the location is really beautiful! We had an amazing view of the ocean, including a spectacular sunset during dinner. I love the Spanish hacienda style of the place, and our pictures among the redwood trees came out stunning. It was so nice that it is private (no strangers looking on!) and my guests were easily shuttled to and from the hotel in our charter buses. Many guests came up to tell us how beautiful, comfortable and fun our venue was.
Don’t hesitate to book Kennolyn as your wedding venue — I promise you won’t regret it!
(Thank you again, Jenn and Janeen!)

We had a wedding recently at Kennolyn. This place is fantastic.
Guests and venders complimented a lot about the spectacular view.
Jenn is our wedding coordinator. She is very organized on the day about the timing. She also did a wonderful job for the site decoration. This wedding venue exceeds our expectation.
The only thing holding our back when we were choosing the venue is the transportation. The final two miles are uphill and tough. We booked a shuttle bus for some family members between hotel and the venue.
Overall, our entire experience with Kennolyn was amazing.

My husband and I got married here in April. We had looked at several other places before my mother in law suggested we check out Kennolyn. We were so glad we ended up having our wedding here! Jenn was awesome and really easy to work with. She made me feel like our event was the most important thing she had going. She was always quick to respond to questions or issues and really paid attention to the details. Our wedding was perfect and so, so beautiful. Thanks Kennolyn!

We got married at Kennolyn a few weeks ago. Picking Kennolyn was easily the best decision we made when it came to planning our wedding — a big part of the appeal was the venue includes a planner, Jenn, who was incredibly helpful along every step of the way. From picking vendors to random wedding-​related questions, Jenn always responded right away with great advice. We went with her recommendations for all of our vendors and the wedding went off without a hitch. To be honest, I had figured that SOMETHING would go wrong, since that’s what they all say happens with weddings, but everything was just perfect. The food and wine were really good and we got a lot of compliments on the venue and the whole event — my mom said it was literally the most fun she’s ever had. We’d highly, highly recommend Kennolyn and Jenn to anyone looking for a wedding venue.

Kennolyn was actually the first venue that John and I went to while investigating where we wanted to get married. It was also one of the pricier options as it is all-​inclusive (they provide the food, the drinks, ceremony and reception venues and a planner who is amazing). There are several packages to choose from with different prices. We ended up going with the higher buffet and middle drink options and got rave reviews on the food and drinks from all of our guests (and we loved them too!!).
Jenn at Kennolyn is an amazing planner… her personality is so sweet and easy to work with. She was so patient with all my emails with questions and got back to me immediately.
The venue itself is tucked up in the hills above Soquel/​Capitola. From the Hacienda back patio, you have an amazing view of the entire Monterey Bay. The plantings and everything about the venue are just beautiful. We had our ceremony on May 18, 2013, and the weather was amazing. We did it all outside… ceremony on the back lawn with the wedding party on the patio in front of the lion’s head fountain; buffet, cake, coffee/​tea, photobooth, slideshow, mingling tables and kid’s craft table inside the hacienda itself, and the dining tables set up on the back patio. The reception was all in the front patio. It was so nice to have everything in one place and not to have to worry about a separate caterer.
This place is stunning, the food is great and the coordinator is amazing. It was definitely worth the price. We had a storybook wedding and so much of it was due to Kennolyn.

Picking a wedding venue is one of the most important things to consider when planning a wedding. It certainly was for us. I can remember when we first started looking at venues. Every place we visited didn’t seem to have that person touch we were looking for. The hotels and spas felt too commercial and the wineries felt too typical but when we finally stepped foot into the Kennolyn Hacienda courtyard, we knew immediately we’d found our venue. It had everything we wanted. A beautiful view, gorgeous grounds, an intimate setting but what sold us was their staff.
Janeen Bond, their Events Manager greeted us first. She made us feel at home right away and spent a great deal of time walking us around the grounds. She explained, in detail, how their wedding process worked and took the time to answer our questions. I think we spent 2 – 3 hours there that first day, which was a long time to spend but Janeen did so freely. It was this level of service that convinced us to sign the contract and was also the level of service we continued to enjoy throughout our entire planning process.
Jenn McIntyre (formally Dunbar), was our wedding coordinator. She is truly an angel. She went above and beyond on SEVERAL occasions. During the tasting and vendor event, where couples come to sample their food and meet their recommended vendors, I wasn’t able to sample the food. I was under doctor’s care that included a special diet but Jenn didn’t skip a beat. She offered to set up our own private tasting, which she did the following month when I was no longer on my diet plan. This was beyond appreciated as was the menu Jenn helped us create.
We wanted a big family style Paella dinner and Jenn actually worked with the chef to purchase one of those huge paella pans, so they could accommodate this request. Such a fun detail and one our guests enjoyed very much.
She was also amazing during our wedding weekend.
From the rehearsal, to our wedding day, to the day after our wedding she made us feel completely taken care of. I was blown away with how well she executed on all the little details we requested. From re-​purposing flowers, to handling vendors, to gathering our things, she made the whole process feel seamless, which to me seemed impossible to do.
All in all, our entire experience with Kennolyn was amazing. I couldn’t say enough great things and hope you consider them for your big day!

I visited Kennolyn with my fiancé, parents and sister in October. It was BEAUTIFUL. The grounds are gorgeous; the Hacienda is beautiful; and the views are spectacular. Perhaps what was most wonderful about our visit, however, was Jenn. We had gotten in touch with her to set up the visit and emailed back and forth with her several times before the visit. She was welcoming, accommodating and so helpful. As we walked around the grounds she answered all our questions and more.
We absolutely fell in love with the venue, and were seriously considering having our wedding there, but ultimately decided to have our wedding closer to home in the North Bay. Even after letting Jenn know we were going to use another venue, she was still so sweet and helpful. I am sure working with her to plan the wedding would have been wonderful, and I would absolutely recommend Jenn and Kennolyn!

Last year Sandy and I spent the weekend looking at potential wedding venues along the coast. We toured beachfront hotels and resorts looking for just the right place. Some of the resorts had spectacular views and were right on the coast. While we love the outside ceremony venues, we really were not looking for a banquet hall reception. It was getting late on Sunday and we had a long drive to Dublin ahead of us. We did however have one more venue to tour. I looked at Sandy and asked «Do you want to see one more or are you done?» To which she said «I haven’t found the one. Let’s check it out.»
With that we were off to see Kennolyn. I knew it was up a «hill» but I didn’t realize it was really up a «mountain». After a good 15 to 20 minutes on the long winding road, we arrived at our final destination.
We were met by Jenn and she gave us a tour of the facility. Within minutes we were sold. This was what we were looking for. The venue is truly beautiful. A small hacienda at the top of a mountain overlooking the vast pacific ocean. The courtyard so inviting as it beckons you though the Spanish style iron doors and into the tranquil courtyard.
A year later our date was upon us. A year of wedding planning, anxiety and stress was behind us as we were at the venue where we would married. The weather was perfect as if the gods parted the overcast sky so the warm sunshine could cast its soothing rays upon our party.
Our day was amazing as every expectation was not only realized but exceeded.
We used the Kennolyn partners for our cake (the Buttery) and our DJ (Sound in Motion). We continue to receive compliments on the cake now weeks after the wedding. The DJ was extremely professional and did a great job as MC and with the music.
The ceremony sight was spectacular, the tables were placed outside on the patio and comfortably seated our rather large party. Jenn and Henry (Sound in Motion) moved our event along keeping our guests engaged without downtime.
As the sun went down the party moved from the outside facing patio to the warm and inviting candlelit courtyard.
We simply had a magical time and celebrated our most precious day at the most perfect of venues. Our life together much like our drive to Kennolyn has been an adventurous journey full of twists and turns that we wouldn’t ever think of changing as it brought us to where we are now.
Kennolyn is the by far our easiest five star review.
For those who may like to see, there is a highlight video at the link below .
Thank you Jenn and team…

Our wedding was at Kennolyn on June 15, 2012 and everything was AMAZING! The staff was really helpful and everything flowed so smoothly! Jenn was phenomenal and so awesome to have a s a wedding coordinator! I would highly recommend this place to anyone!!! Well worth the money and every guest told us what a fabulous wedding it was! Food was also fantastic.

I just got married at Kennolyn in June 2012, and what a wonderful job Jenn and her crew did. I couldn’t be more happy with there service. Jenn was so easy and wonderful to work with. She took so much stress off me and my husband. We would highly recommend Kennolyn to anyone looking for a place to get married. They are a little pricey but so worth every penny.

Jenn is incredible. We had our wedding in September and our family and friends had a blast. Everyone said that it was one of the best wedding’s they’ve been to.
Our friends who planned weddings spent months of preparation and were overwhelmed by all of the details, but at Kennolyn we were able to relax while Jenn and her staff took care of so many of the planning details.
After sampling the standard food options, we decided that wanted our own menu based on recipes that we had eaten growing up, and the chef pulled off our custom menu perfectly.
Everyone enjoyed the long relaxed Saturday on the camp grounds filled with sports and swimming and hanging out, and the bonfires Friday and Saturday night were unforgettable.
Accommodations were excellent. The cabins were nicely furnished and the beds were very comfortable.
Finally, the ceremony and reception at the Hacienda were beautiful. Sunshine, views of the Pacific, lots of space to spread out, and a great dance floor.
Highly recommend.

i recently went to a wedding @ kennolyn and it — kennolyn and the wedding — was lovely. everything seemed to go smoothly, the spaces[*] were well laid-​out and decorated, good food and drink, etc.
the views from the lawn & terrace were really nice if you go for that sort of thing[**], but of course the fog rolls in as the evening progresses, so the view disappears [and the temperature significantly drops] while the sun is setting.
the staff was extremely professional and accomodating, and always there when needed but otherwise quietly blended into the background/​stayed out of the way. major points for that.
the only drawback i see for this location is, well, THE location. i mean, i grew up in the bay area, going to santa cruz beach and all that, so i knew what it meant when i saw soquel on the wedding invite… and i still was not prepared for or happy with the insanely windy drive through the santa cruz mountains to get to kennolyn. and the betrothed provided charter vans for the guests from the hotel! i’m SO GLAD that we decided to hop in those at the last minute instead of driving ourselves b/​c it was NOT easy to find or ride to. if you are someone who gets carsick or queasy driving through hilly terrain/​seeing sharp drops down the side of the road — forget it. i can only imagine how freaked out some of the out-​of-​towners who drove themselves must’ve been, and i certainly hope anyone who had to drive back in the dark afterwards was 100% sober! super scary.
i understand they have some sort of all-​weekend package, and maybe that works well for some wedding parties while avoiding the driving at night issue. but i honestly would not want to stay up in the woods/​mountains for a weekend by choice, even if it’s a really nice sort of grown-​up-​summer-​camp-​resort type deal. (i didn’t see the cabins or that section of kennolyn, but that’s the way it was described.)
so…good food, great staff, lovely venue & event. 4 – 5 stars.
getting to & from? 1 star.
i’d go again for something as special & significant as a wedding… but if i ever jump the broom, it won’t be there.
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[*] pre– and post-​ceremony cocktails, ceremony, dinner, dancing areas, etc.
[**] i’m not a nature/​outdoorsy kind of gal, so i don’t [go for that sort of thing], but i get it. it’s nice. and i really liked that everything was so clean and crisp [considering there’s tons of trees and such hanging out all over the place].

What an absolutely gorgeous venue!
While looking for a place to marry, this place kept coming up as THE place to check out. Anyone who had attended a wedding here raved about it. When Future Hub and I went for our appointment, we weren’t at all disappointed with the grounds, the beauty, the ambience… but I’d have to say the best part was the staff. They were SO nice and helpful when answering all our questions. They had a little video for us to watch (also the one on the website), offered us coffee and tea, and were generally very accomodating. I really appreciated the follow up e-​mail to see if there were any more questions we had.
Things we loved:
the views
the flexibility with the menu
the OPTIONS with the menu
all-​inclusive booze packages (*hic*)
easy parking
their offer to decorate however we wanted (within reason of course)
the staff. Holy moly, what nice people…
Why we decided to go with another venue:
the lawn area, however pretty and HUGE, had no shade. I was worried about the comfort of our guests and us squinting during the ceremony (just a goofy «ism» of mine, I know, but Future Hube is ridiculously light sensitive). I suppose we could have asked about tenting it, but that gets pricey and I think would take away from the beauty of the location.
the fear of guests crashing on the windy road downhill after a night of hard partying. I know I could just as easily rent a charter bus, but we’d already come to a conclusion about it being so far off the beaten path that we really didnt consider it.
One of the things I was very impressed by was how even AFTER telling Jennifer (I hope her name was Jennifer? My memory can be off sometimes) that we had decided to keep looking, she was still so sweet and accomodating, even offering to suggest wedding vendors that she had a good working knowldge of. Now THAT is service.

Where do I even start. This place is a small fortune for nothing spectacular. The view from the ceremony sight is pretty, when the fog isn’t present, and in the Santa Cruz mountains that is just impossible to predict. The whole reason for taking the very long windy drive to this location was the «wedding weekend» package they offer. It just sounded like a fun idea to have a wedding weekend where your guests spend the whole weekend with you celebrating, camping, swimming, playing golf, tennis, or basketball, and have the place staffed to serve you breakfast lunch and dinner. Campfire s’mores anyone? They require you to rent all of their (30) very small cabins for the weekend, and at $ 215 a night I would rather stay at the plaza. The ceremony and reception sight is Driving distance from the campgrounds and looked better in the pictures than it did in person. If we just wanted to rent if for the ceremony and reception it was still a small fortune and the windy drive in the dark for our guests leaving the reception just seemed like an accident waiting to happen.
To sum it up, if the wedding weekend is your thing, its definitely worth checking out, but for just a ceremony and reception, don’t waste your time.

We were looking for a wedding venue, some place that could accommodate the number of people we had invited (over 150), some place lovely and inviting, and with that charming quality that’s hard to put your finger on. When my fiancée and I arrived on Kennolyn’s doorstep, we were pretty sure we had found our place.
Kennolyn was our choice for our wedding for a bunch of reasons. One was its proximity to Santa Cruz, which both my fiancée and I adore as a town. Another was the fact that Kennolyn’s service comes with catering and wait staff included in the price, freeing us from having to find those items separately. They provide as many options and add-​ons as one could imagine, going from a very frugal but lovely time to an extravagant over-​the-​top crystal-​and-​good-​china blowout. The Hacienda overlooks the Monterey Bay, and is nestled among redwoods, so everywhere you look beauty abounds.
Our guide through the process, Carrie, was well-​organized and on top of a million details, so we felt totally comfortable through the whole process of putting our wedding together. She and the Kennolyn staff were greatly flexible with us too, allowing us to store our stuff there overnight so we would have less to haul in come the big day.
On the big day, everything went off as smoothly as I could have imagined. The food was excellent, the service friendly without being in your face, and Carrie did a great job of keeping us on schedule without being obnoxious about it (not an easy task). The little details were incredibly thoughtful, like having a platter of food waiting for the family after the ceremony so that the picture taking wasn’t a hungry-​ordeal. Kids at the wedding had a great time playing on the lawn or on the nearby swing sets. I could not have imagined a day more beautifully run.
I’d recommend Kennolyn to anyone looking for that perfect place for your special day.