Blackberry Creek Farm at Kelly Gulch

Over Memorial Day weekend 2014, my husband and I stayed at a b&b in Topanga Canyon and loved the area. We decided to drive around to see if there were any possible wedding venues that offer an all outdoor space that was rustic, charming, but still classy and elegant. We drove by a sign that said Kelly Gulch, Googled it, saw great photos on their website, called Sally up, and within a few hours was able to stop by to meet her and to view the farm. It was just what we wanted. We reserved it almost immediately and had the best wedding almost exactly a year later, during Memorial Day weekend 2015.
Here are things we loved about Kelly Gulch:
* Sally’s great. She feels more like your wedding mom than a venue coordinator. It helps that she owns and lives on the property because you can feel the love she pours into it. Sally added so many great improvements to the property during the time we reserved and actually had the wedding. Every time we came back to visit, there was something new!
* The venue is gorgeous – just look at the photos! It’s small enough to create an intimate feel, but large enough to accommodate up to 200 guests. There are lots of trees, Sally’s cute farm animals, a beautiful barn, a dressing studio, writing studio, an area for enclosed fire pits, a large parking lot, stunning wood bridges, and lots of other areas for great photo ops.
* It’s not a wedding mill. Other venues we looked at were very strict – you must show up at x time, clean up by x time, and felt very business-​like. That wasn’t the vibe we wanted, and we’re so grateful we found Kelly Gulch. Sally let us do things like drop off our alcohol a week in advance and flowers the day before to store in her cool laundry area. Having that flexibility really came in handy, especially if you are having a primarily DIY wedding like we did.
* Sally doesn’t nickel and dime you. If she has something available, she will offer it to you and not charge you for it. For example, she has some tables, signs, drink dispensers, wagons, etc. that we were able to use in our wedding, which helped reduce costs.
* I’m not sure if prices have gone up, but Kelly Gulch was reasonable compared to other venues we looked at.
We really can’t recommend Kelly Gulch and Sally enough. We had a dream wedding on a reasonable budget, and it couldn’t have been done without first finding an amazing venue. Our one piece of advice to future brides and grooms is to order more bathroom stalls – at least 4 – regardless of your guest count! Pay more if you have to – you won’t regret it. We only had two, and I think we served way too many good drinks because there was ALWAYS a line at the restrooms. When one of the two stalls broke down toward the end of the night, that just made things worse. Our lesson learned is your lesson gained!