Le Sangreal, Malibu CA

This is a magically place! I tell all of my friend’s kids they need to get married at La Sangreal. The views are breathtaking. The houses are stunningly gorgeous with great attention to details. Leslie is kind & considerate. She energetically adds to the spectacular experience by making sure everything is running smoothly for every event.

It’s the dreamiest place to have your wedding. I had a gorgeous wedding - magic day of bliss. And the estate owner is so lovely and kind. If you’re looking for a venue that is unique and quaint - this is the perfect gem?

BRIDES BEWARE, terrible experience, thousand lost, legal action taken. I would caution any couple against working with Leslie who has proven herself to be utterly unempathetic in these difficult times.  My husband and I signed a contract to be wed at Le Sangreal on May 30,2020. The total contract was for $22,000. We paid a safety deposit of $2,000 as well as a 50% deposit on our overall package to secure our date. The second half of the amount would be due 90 days before the event date. We paid the second half on time just weeks before news of COVID broke out and lockdowns went into place. Because of this, we postponed our date to November.

As November approached, it became evident conditions would still not be safe for a wedding. Leslie called us to ask what we wanted to do. She said that we could have the event,  but we would have to lie to the police if they were called and say we were all from the same household.  We told her we were not comfortable doing that, and we would have to think about what we were going to do.

My now husband and I decided we did not want to postpone indefinitely and would be eloping to Vegas. We informed Leslie, and asked when we would receive our money back.  We understood that she might not have the money ready,  and we were open to delayed payments. We also anticipated we would likely not receive all of it.  When we spoke to Leslie about our decision she became incensed. She said we were entitled to nothing outside of the $2,000 security deposit, and there would be absolutely no refunds per the contract.  We explained that while ideally we would expect the entirety back because even the initial deposit was made in order to hold a date on which she was not able to legally host ANY event  (which means she lost no money as on account of holding the date for us),  we would at the very least expect the second half back which is for services rendered (which she never rendered because she was legally prohibited).

We hired many vendors because everything at Le Sangreal is a la carte, and not a SINGLE one of our other vendors tried to keep any money outside of the first half meant to save the date.  It is a testament to the egregiously selfish nature of Leslie's behavior here.  We lost thousands of dollars, and we understand that many vendors also lost business so we did not expect all of our money back, nor did we expect it to be paid right away. However, we never expected this level of entitlement from our most expensive vendor. We had to hire an attorney who has now sent several notices to Leslie in order to resolve this which she ignored for months until we posted a negative review on The Knot (which she attempted to dispute but failed).  We don't want anyone else to have to deal with the stress this has caused us which is why I am writing this review. Brides, think twice before you work with someone who would behave so callously towards a couple planning a wedding in the middle of a pandemic.

TLDR: Leslie (venue owner)  refuses to give back even the second half of our money (approximately $22,000 total) when we decided we did not want to postpone our wedding a second time due to COVID and decided to elope.  Every other vendor returned any money outside the initial 50% security deposit. We have been forced to hire a lawyer to resolve this whom Leslie ignored for months until we posted a negative review to the Knot. We are still involved in a drawn out legal conflict with her.

Gorgeous views! Nice estate for weddings, owner lives on property so it can be a bit awkward but owner makes an effort to be unobtrusive.