Grand Tradition

Overview

A fairy tale garden setting featuring a heart shaped lake, waterfalls, graceful swans, and an ornate wedding gazebo etched in hearts and diamonds. Make an unforgettable ceremony arrival in our timelessly elegant carriage drawn by a pair of magnificent white Arabian horses. The ornate Victorian Crystal Ballroom features panorama windows, Swarovski Crystal chandeliers, hardwood dance floor, English style pub, a beautiful grand staircase, and private dressing suites for the bride and groom.

What Type Of Bridal Couple Would Like This Place?

You don't need to go to Las Vegas to find a tacky wedding chapel.   There are quite a few in Southern California . Worse yet are the all in one wedding venue and reception venues.  Usually, any venue that specializes in weddings tends to be very suspect for me.   When I went to the Grand Tradition for the first time, I was prepared to see an ill conceived wedding factory, and though everything about it is planned down to the red bricks that line the parameter of the man made lake, two words came to mind,. . . nicely done!    There is nothing wrong with venues that are built for weddings in mind if they are built well.    Though there are hundreds of places in Southern California that have grass and nice lakes they are usually golf courses and the golfers with their golf carts have to be dealt with.     It's nice going to a place like this and using the grounds without having to worry someone coming out to yell about staying off the greens!  Inside, the reception hall is large and lovely.  The changing rooms have plenty of light and are large.  The staff is on top of the entire day.  Once you step foot on these grounds, you really don't have much to worry about.

Photographic Potential

There is a large, to die for lake with plenty of great angles to use.  You are free to go all around it.  There is a gazebo as well which is also great for portraits.  The interior of the reception room is large and clean.  It photographs wonderfully  Since it's away from the coast it always seems to be a pleasant sunny day when I go to this venue.

Possible Distractions/ Work Around

We've covered numerous weddings at this venue, and the one thing we've heard from all of our clients over and over again is that they didn't like some of the vendors on the referral list from this facility.  For example,  I noticed that the same video crew keeps showing up to each wedding and though they seem to be nice, salt of the earth people, I seem to notice that they turn on their video cameras and walk away.  The brides tell me that their wedding video didn't turn out at all and it was a complete waste of money.  One of my brides was very upset with a DJ they referred,  it had something to do with no reading her notes and screwing many things up.   As far as photography is concerned the demo albums I've seen from this place from the photographers they put forth on their referral list just don't seem to do this place justice.      Maybe they picked up some newer vendors since I last looked, but for now I would suggest looking elsewhere for vendors. 

Overall Evaluation

This venue is located about twenty minutes off of the freeway in Fallbrook.  It's an out of the way type of wedding venue location and thus its nice if you want to have a destination type of wedding at a place you can drive to .    This place gets compared to Los Willows quite a bit (click the link and be sure to read about the comparison I did between Grand Tradition and Los Willows).    If you are out shopping for reception venue be sure to also check out Los Willows and Pala Mesa Resort because both are in the area.  If you're in a mood to check out wineries Orfila Vineyards is close by in Escondido and Ponte Winery is located in Temecula. 

As for this place, it's large, well laid out, and not tacky.  Still it's highly conceived and if you don't love the concept of this venue you will know right away once you visit it.   The food and hospitality are very nice, and if was located in Orange County this place would book out years in advance.   This place would do well for you if you are considering having a country club wedding reception.   The horse drawn carriage that brings the bride into the ceremony is a nice effect, they have it down to a science.   Again it either hits you right or it doesn't.   If you select this place, consider finding your own vendors.   

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The Venue Reviews is portion of the Lifetime Images website is a subjective  review of  great Southern California wedding venues by a guy who's spent the past decade checking  out all the best venues.  The list of reviews will grow over time,  In the meantime, is the information in the article useful?  What else would you like covered?   Are any of the facts wrong? Any broken links?  Are there spelling and grammar errors?  Would you like to share some of your latest poetry?   If you have anything to share, drop us a note or send us an e-mail to Steve@LifetimeImages.com.   Be sure to mention which venue/page you are referring to in your message. 

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