Fern Cottage

My husband and I just recently got married at the Fern Cottage. My experience with the staff was great. They were responsive, made the space available for multiple viewings, were flexible with rearrangement of furniture, and all around timely with all aspects of renting the space. The space is conducive to small gatherings and lends itself to emphasizing the beauty of the surrounding grove.

Gayle and I drove out to Kennedy Grove yesterday to take a look at the Fern Cottage as a possible wedding venue. This is one of the 4 properties that the East Bay Regional Park District rents out for special events. The others are Shoreline in Alameda, the Brazilian Room at Tilden, and the Lake Temescal Beach House.
Once your past the construction near the reservoir, the actual public park area is quite nice, with big trees and lots of green space and shade for play and relaxation. The Fern cottage is off to the side, with plenty of parking and also (unfortunately) with a good view of the park’s maintenance yard.
From the outside, the Fern cottage looks just like a regular house. There’s also a nice looking fenced back yard area that we could only peak at through the fence. We also looked through the windows and found the interior to be OK, albeit uninspiring. Gayle and I both agreed that this place would be better suited for a off-​site office meeting or a party/​reception. The price and the surrounding park land are certainly right.

I have gone to look at this cute little recreation cottage twice. Everytime I go there it feels like the right place for a small, on a budget, wedding.
The capacity is 60 seated and 130 standing.
The cottage size is 1000 sq. ft. It has a large backyard with covered deck and front deck as well, 16′ x 20′. They will allow you to put up an arbor/​trellis for the vows, but they won’t allow you to put chairs on the lawn so they don’t mess up the grass in the backyard. So, your wedding party will either have to be seated at the tables underneath the covered deck or stand around you during the vows ceremony. That shouldn’t be too bad if you keep the ceremony short.
There is a kitchen inside, a men’s and women’s bathrooms and tables and chairs are provided.
The place is really reasonable. Probably one of the best prices around.
It is surrounded by a beautiful park and its really quiet and peaceful around there.
There is also a great place for kids to play right out by the playground area. Volleyball too!

So, J and I are getting married here next August. It promises drama, because the Brazilian Room rules — from preferred caterers to prohibitions on «outdoor amplified music,» we are feeling a little bit screwed.
But it’s freakin’ CHEAP. And well manicured. And they seem willing to work with us, so I will update this review as we go along.