The best intimate wedding venue in Los Angeles is one you can have entirely to yourselves, where 20 to 100 guests feel like a full room rather than a corner of a ballroom, and where you are free to choose your own food and drink. At The Enchanted Manor in Valley Village we host private weddings and celebrations for up to 100 guests from $4,200, with your own caterer and your own liquor, so the budget goes into the day instead of a venue package.
What "intimate" really means for a Los Angeles wedding
Couples use the word to mean different things, so it helps to pin it down before you tour anything. For most people planning a smaller wedding in LA, intimate means three things:
- A guest list you know personally. Usually somewhere between a dozen and 100 people, where every guest is someone you would happily sit beside at dinner.
- Exclusive use. No second wedding arriving as yours ends, no strangers walking through the background of your photos, no shared lobby.
- A space that is scaled to the group. Forty people in a hall built for three hundred feels empty. Forty people in a garden feels like a party.
Write your honest headcount down first. It decides almost everything else, from the venue you can consider to how your budget splits between space, food and the little touches guests remember.
The real costs of a small wedding venue in LA
The venue fee is only one line on the bill. When you compare intimate wedding venues across Los Angeles, ask each one the same questions so you are comparing like with like:
- Is food and beverage included, required or open? Many venues require an in-house catering or bar package with a per-person minimum. That can easily outweigh the rental fee itself.
- How many hours do you actually get? Check whether setup and breakdown time are included or extra.
- What else is billed separately? Cleaning, security deposits, tables, linens, heaters, sound and insurance all add up.
- When must the event end? Residential and garden venues often have an earlier finish than hotels.
Here is exactly how that looks at our manor, so you can use it as a benchmark:
| Guests | Event fee |
|---|---|
| Up to 50 | $4,200 |
| 50 to 75 | $5,400 |
| 75 to 100 | $6,600 |
| Ceremony only | from $1,500 |
That includes 5 hours for the event plus 2 hours of setup, and the ceremony on the grounds. Extra hours are $300 each, and every event ends by 10pm. Additional charges are listed up front: cleaning $300, a refundable security deposit of $250, tables $8 each, tablecloths $10 each, battery lanterns and candles $2, heaters $75 each, a microphone rental $25 and a cooler $20. Chairs come from an outside rental vendor, and one-day event insurance naming Georgia Durante and The Enchanted Manor is required (it averages $66 to $124).
The biggest difference is what is not on that list: there is no venue food and beverage package. You bring your own caterer and your own liquor and beverages, and a bartender can work under your caterer's license.
Choosing the right setting for a smaller ceremony
With fewer guests, the backdrop does more of the work. A grand room can swallow a small wedding; a garden or a home-like setting wraps around it. When you tour, stand where you would say your vows and look at what your guests will see behind you, because that is the image in every photo.
At the manor, most couples choose one of two spots:
- The ledge over the pool beside the waterfall, with the rockwork, palms and moving water behind you.
- The front brick walkway leading to the large arched wooden doors, through the storybook front with its stone archway and brick path.
After the ceremony, the party spreads across more than 18,000 square feet of grounds: a thatched gazebo bar with a refrigerator, sink and barbecue, a lava-rock fire pit, a private patio with an outdoor fireplace and plush couches, a tri-level deck, and trees strung with fairy lights. Our guests describe walking under them as being like dappled moonlight. One guest, Mirela R., put it simply: "It is not a back yard but an oasis."
A planning timeline for an intimate LA wedding
Smaller weddings are quicker to plan, but the order of decisions still matters. A sensible sequence:
- Fix the headcount and the budget range. Everything downstream depends on these two numbers.
- Book the venue and date. Confirm the hours, the finish time and the full list of additional charges in writing.
- Hire your caterer. If your venue lets you bring your own, ask whether they can recommend caterers who know the space. Georgia shares the caterers she recommends, but you hire your own.
- Arrange rentals. Tables, linens and chairs, plus heaters for an evening event. We share vendor contacts for chairs and tables.
- Buy event insurance. It is quick to arrange online and most venues require it.
- Plan the music. Ask what is allowed. Our house sound system and wireless mic carry your playlist, toasts and vows; DJs are not permitted.
- Sort transport and parking. This is where small venues differ most from hotels.
Getting guests there: parking and transport
Los Angeles weddings live and die by logistics. Ask every venue how many cars it can realistically take and whether valet works there. Our home sits on a quiet cul-de-sac at 5235 Goodland Avenue in Valley Village, minutes from the 101 and the 405 and easy from both Burbank and LAX airports. There is parking for 12 to 15 cars on the cul-de-sac plus open street parking. Valet does not work well here, so for events we recommend guests use Uber or Lyft, which also means nobody has to think about driving home after the toasts.
For out-of-town guests, a nearby place to stay makes a small wedding feel like a weekend. Our guests get a special rate at The Mariposa hotel one block away, and the couple can stay in the honeymoon suite at a discount. Families who want to stay on afterwards can book the Inn, our vacation rental on the same grounds, which sleeps up to 6.
Questions to ask on every venue tour
Bring this list to each intimate wedding venue you see in Los Angeles. The answers will tell you more than the photos do.
- Will we have the entire property to ourselves for the day?
- Can we bring our own caterer and our own alcohol, or is there a required package?
- How many hours are included, and is setup time separate?
- What is the hard finish time, and what does an extra hour cost?
- Where does the ceremony happen, and where do guests move afterwards?
- What is the plan for evening chill: heaters, fire pits, indoor space?
- Which items are extra: cleaning, deposit, tables, linens, sound, insurance?
- How does parking work, and is rideshare drop-off easy?
If you are also hosting a shower before the wedding, our guides to bridal shower locations in Los Angeles and local bridal shower venues walk through the same questions for smaller daytime events.
Why couples choose the manor for small weddings
Georgia Durante spent 25 years remodelling her home into the manor, and she still lives on the property, so your wedding is hosted rather than processed. We have welcomed weddings and ceremonies of every kind, including same-sex, Jewish, Indian, Hawaiian and Disney-themed celebrations, as well as engagement parties, anniversaries and reunions. The saltwater lagoon pool with its three waterfalls and the raised Jacuzzi can be lit in nine colours, which turns the garden into something quite different once the sun goes down.
As one guest, Shannon, told us: "Our guests were blown away and kept asking... how did you find this place?!" Another, Andrew W., said: "It was hard to believe it was actually Los Angeles." Georgia's motto sums up the feeling of a small wedding here: "They come as strangers and leave as friends."
Plan your intimate wedding with us
If a private garden for up to 100 guests, with your own caterer and your own drinks, sounds like the wedding you have in mind, see the details on our weddings and events page, then call or text Georgia on (213) 999-3050 to check your date and arrange a visit. We would love to show you where you might say your vows.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a small wedding venue in Los Angeles cost at The Enchanted Manor?
Our event fee is $4,200 for up to 50 guests, $5,400 for 50 to 75 and $6,600 for 75 to 100, with ceremony-only bookings from $1,500. Cleaning, deposit, rentals and event insurance are listed separately.
Can we bring our own caterer and alcohol?
Yes. You bring your own caterer and your own liquor and beverages, and a bartender can work under your caterer's license. There is no venue food and beverage package.
How long can our wedding last?
You get 5 hours for the event plus 2 hours of setup. Extra hours are $300 each, and every event must end by 10pm.
Where do couples hold the ceremony?
Most couples use the ledge over the pool beside the waterfall, or the front brick walkway leading to the arched wooden doors. The ceremony on the grounds is included.
Where can out-of-town guests stay?
Guests get a special rate at The Mariposa hotel one block away, the couple can stay in the honeymoon suite at a discount, and the Inn on the grounds sleeps up to 6.
