Wedding at Stern Grove - Trocadero Clubhouse

I am writing out this post to answer the questions of anyone who might be interested in having a wedding at this location. When I first did a search, I only found a few things that showed anything on this spot and it took a bit to get any questions answered. Read through and I'll give you a lot of the answers you might have if you're considering a wedding or event here. BE SURE TO SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN FOR THE PHOTOS....

After searching and searching for a nice public beach or park to have a wedding at in the Bay Area, the best spot I found was at Stern Grove. While the reviews of the Trocadero Clubhouse are mixed, I found the antique building to have an old-fashioned charm that suited me perfectly.

The building is open for tours every Saturday morning at 9:30am. The entrance is on the corner of 19th Avenue and Sloat Blvd. Generally you have to park on the street and walk down in the grove, but parking is plentiful and free on Sloat.

Down a gravel path and into the grove there is a perfect clearing for a wedding. And literally within a few yards is the entrance to the Trocadero Clubhouse, a perfect venue for a wedding reception. The max capacity is 120 which I think would be rather squishy, but we only had about 60 people there so there was quite a bit of space.

They provide 9' tables, I think they have about 15 of them, but we chose to rent round tables because they look classier and fit better. We also rented chairs because they only have about 60 of them and we did not want to lug them up to the clubhouse after the ceremony and make everyone wait to be seated for the reception.

There is an absolutely wonderful built in bar that is made of solid hard and polished wood. The sink behind the bar is perfect for an ice tub and drinks and snacks can be lined up along the bar. We did simple wine, beer and soda and got a friend of a friend to tend. The only thing about this area is that it is right next to the men's restroom and has quite a raunchy smell. You are not allowed to burn candles unless you have a fire permit. So we sprayed air freshener and put out jars of fragrant oil, which worked perfectly.

You are not allowed to tape anything up or use nails or anything so my mom came up with some great decorations that could be hung up on existing fixtures.

I also rented table cloths for the tables, a podium for the minister and a simple sound system with an amp that hooks up to an ipod or laptop, and a cordless microphone. On the morning of, I made the horrible discovery that I was about 100 feet short of extension cord. The closest electric socket to the outside clearing is unfortunately right inside the bar of the clubhouse. So I would plan on battery operated equipment or make sure that you have at least 150 feet of extension cord if you plan on doing anything in the clearing.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for! The pictures.....

The Trocadero Clubhouse....

Inside the main room of the clubhouse....we set up 9 round tables that fit 6-8 people each. Plus 3 long tables in the front of the room for the bridal party to sit behind. And there was still room in the middle to dance. (P.S. The fireplace is able to be used!) 

 The piano is not able to be played, out of tune and absolutely filthy inside. We kept it in the bar and used it for gifts....

The front porch is perfect for the cake table. We also put a candy table and the food station out there. But you need someone to keep an eye on it because the concert grounds for Stern Grove are right next door and random strangers will come up and try to eat if you don't make it clear it's a private event. 

Front porch is also good for throwing bouquets....

Hanging decorations.... We hung these everywhere inside and out. They are soaked in coffee and cinnamon which gave them a wonderful smell. And they have beautiful pictures of Paris and other romantic scenes on them. If anyone is interested, I have hundreds left..... 

The women's dressing room and the stairway down from there. Once I got my music cue, I walked straight down that staircase and out and down the walkway. The way the guests were seated they could all watch as I exited the clubhouse for the first time in my wedding gown....

  

The ceremony clearing.... Behind that podium there is a perfect walkway for the bridal party to come down....

And that's all folks....

DIY Cupcake Bouquets

I made these cupcake bouquets as the centerpieces for my wedding tables both to make the expense on flowers much less and to make up for the small cake we had. In the end, the total cost was less than $100 to make 9 of them. And no one even ate the cake because they got their fill of cupcakes.

We got the pots through random sources such as freecycle.com, scrap stores, etc. No need to buy them new or have them all match. Ours were all different and gave a rustic, bohemian appeal, which was the style of my wedding.

This was my first time attempting these cupcake bouquets and the main advice I would give is make your own frosting. With all that we were doing on the wedding, and Boober's decision to take a trip to Tahoe the week before, I went with canned frosting from Betty Crocker. It melts way, way to easily. In the end I made it work by adding corn starch and powdered sugar to stiffen it up. But there were a few casualties.

This is how I made these, step by step:

1. Fill a flower pot or vase with several ceramic tiles, or rocks, or something equally heavy to weigh it down so it does not tip over when the cupcakes are put on.

2. Cut a styrofoam ball in half. I used 5-6" balls as that is what fit into my flower pots. For that size, you will need about 10-12 medium-sized cupcakes.

3. Wrap a half-ball of styrofoam in green tissue paper to keep from poisoning your guests.

4. Stick 3 large skewers into the bottom, flat part, of the half ball of styrofoam. Have them sticking slightly outward so that when you stick it into the pot they help to stablize it.

5. Make your cupcakes - If you are going to use a box mix you must use Duncan Hines - not Betty Crocker. The BC ones are too moist and fall apart easily. Also, I substituted 50% of the oil with vegetable shortening to make it a thicker batter. I made the cupcakes a week in advance, froze them and then defrosted them the day before the wedding so I could put them on the displays.

6. Make holes in the bottom of your cupcake with a toothpick - Stick the bottom of your cupcakes with a toothpick and make three different holes in the shape of a triangle. (I tried doing it with 1 or 2 toothpicks, but they fell off. I highly recommend doing three.) Then stick three toothpicks into the styrofoam ball with the same shape and push your cupcake onto the toothpicks by matching up the holes.

NOTE - put unfrosted cupcakes onto the ball first. It is much harder to do once they are frosted.

7. Using a 1M size piping tip, frost the cupcakes in a circular motion starting in the center of each cupcake. That is how I frosted them to make them look like roses. But there are tons of pictures online that show different ways of decorating. Do this is close to your event as possible and ensure you keep them in a cool space so they do not melt off.

8. We transported them by putting them in boxes and propping them up with someone in the backseat to hold them. With 3 girls, including 1 driving, we managed to get 9 different bouquets through a 10-minute drive with damage to only 1 cupcake. If you have time, it would be ideal to frost them in the event space to avoid having to transport.

Feel free to ask any questions about how to do this or about how I did it. I am far from an expert, but I gave it a go and everyone loved them. Mostly they were super delicious.