About this vendor
Val Vista Lakes is a sublime wedding venue located in Gilbert, AZ. Not far from Arizona’s urban heartland, this tranquil retreat offers couples a romantic respite away from the city’s hubbub. Boasting a picturesque landscape made up of quaint lakes and vibrant greenery, this getaway is both captivating and calming. With a host of flexible event spaces, this venue allows you to create an event that reflects your distinctive spark.
Val Vista Lakes’ staff has been warmly welcoming happy couples for years. Janet and Janel, the Banquet Managers, are both well versed in the art of hosting milestone events. Janet has enjoyed 19 years as a planner, most of which have been spent at Val Vista, and Janel joined the team back in 2015. Their Events Coordinator, Mackenzie, possesses local knowledge of the venue, having grown up in the same neighborhood. Her time in the wedding dress retail trade allowed her to develop her knowledge of all things marriage-related. After many successful years, this talented trio remains committed to sharing their magnificent workplace with soon-to-be newlyweds.
This enchanting venue will charm you from the moment you set foot on its grounds. Their Banquet Hall will be your introduction to the venue. Replete with nostalgic candelabras and stately pillars, this indoor setting is characterized by its old-time elegance. Upon stepping out into the outdoor area, you will be met with a delightful scene. From scenic water features to lines of palm-trees, these fairytale surroundings are sure to impress your guests. The Grassy Oval ceremony site boasts a trickling waterfall and a hypnotic panorama of glistening lakes and distant hills. Peaceful rivulets of water will soothe you, while rustic bridges, pedal boats, and a stunning gazebo provide countless photographic. You can top off your ceremony with a sophisticated reception in the marble-tiled Ballroom. Featuring mood lighting and chandeliers, this event space is ideal for hosting a timeless celebration.
Val Vista Lakes offers a selection of packages tailored to a range of preferences. From reception-only rental options to the Combined Package, their planning staff aims to assist you with every detail of your special day. Able to host up to 200 guests, the venue provides several facilities for you to choose from, including the Palm Patio and Ballroom. Various discounts are available in the summer months for the Combined Package. They can provide additional special touches, such as boat rentals, ceremony chairs, and a projection screen. Lose yourselves in this venue's labyrinth of breathtaking scenes as you enter into the next chapter of your love story.
Amenities + details
Ceremony Area
Dressing Room
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Covered Outdoors Space
Liability Insurance
On-Site Accommodations
Outdoor Event Space
Settings
- Ballroom
- Beach
- Waterfront
- Cruise
- Garden
Awards and Affiliations
3-Time 'Best of Weddings'
2013.2012.2010.
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
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Reviews
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4.8
out of 5.043 reviews
we loved the venue, the team switched after booking but before the wedding. they reached out and got the information to us and we're able to answer all of our questions and provide...
the most beautiful location for our wedding!
We had our wedding here, and although the venue itself was big and classy looking, the communication with the managers and coordinators were definitely lacking. I have been surpris...
ed to see so many great reviews about the managers because we had a verryyyy difficult time communicating with them. A part of me was wondering if they hated us or something but I think they just forgot about us ?! Which was pretty stressful since I planned our whole wedding and they were not available to answer our simple questions and assist us.
First, they never answer the phones, so the only way I got a hold of someone for something urgent was by walking into the office in-person, or email.
Second, were first set up with a coordinator who did not answer our emails for months. We tried contacting his manager Mackenzie and never was able to get a hold of her in all of 8 months. Our coordinator quit his job there and we were never notified until a different coordinator, Jill, accidentally called my number, which was lucky because we could NOT get a hold of them for months and I just about gave up! When that Jill accidentally called us, I could finally ask all the questions I’ve been needing answered like how many high chairs they have, if they have a venue layout grid for decorating, etc. And this was about a month and a half before our wedding!!
Third, after Jill called us, she was thankfully assigned to us because she sounded reliable, but she only gave us the same number of the office that never answers, which I’m surprised because they always have people in there! So I just stuck with emailing her until the wedding.
But the worst thing that happened, was that we gave our checks to pay off the venue, and they still haven’t cashed them in, even a month AFTER the wedding! We sent in about 3 emails to remind them, and they would respond saying that they’ll take care of it, but they never did! So where is that money? And why is it taking them so long to cash in?
Other than their lack of communication and organization, the venue was pretty affordable compared to a lot in the valley, and they aren’t sticklers about cleaning up by exactly 10pm. It was also nice to bring in our own vendors for everything. But the communication, which should be very important, was close to none, until the last second, which is always when weddings get stressful!
Our wedding & ceremony were held here and we are so pleased! Everything was beautiful! Mackenzie was so great to work with!
Janet, Janel, and Mackenzie were amazing working with us to use Val Vista Lakes as our venue. They were so informative in giving us our first tour and answering any questions while...
we were looking for a venue and even more responsive with our questions after we signed with them.
We picked Val Vista Lakes because it's such a beautiful venue with a beautiful reception area with a window wall that looks out to the lake and hardwood floor and chiavari chairs inside. We loved that we could choose all of the vendors that we worked with and ended up using several of the vendors that were on Val Vista's recommended list. It definitely made our wedding feel more like us and less like a package that we had no agency over.
On our wedding day, the grounds and reception area were both immaculate and all of tables and chairs were ready for us to setup before we arrived at the venue. Mackenzie was also there in case we needed anything but the rest of our vendors were already experienced with Val Vista Lakes so the entire day went very smoothly. We had 162 guests (17 tables) and the reception area was a good size to seat all of them and still have room for the dance floor and room for the bar. You could probably comfortably seat another 3-4 tables. Also, because the venue also has the living room area, lawn, patio, beach, and garden areas there was plenty of space for our guests to mingle around during the cocktail hour and reception.
Our wedding was just perfect and we can't thank Val Vista Lakes enough for being a part of our day.
I highly recommend having your wedding and reception at Val Vista Lakes. Not only is the location beautiful but they were very easy to work with. We were able to go to the recept...
ion space multiple times to take measurements and check things out to make sure we had everything just right. Also Mackenzie was such a great help on the day of the wedding and really made sure everything flowed beautifully. Thank you!
We had such a good experience working with this venue. Janet, Janel and Mckenzie are amazing. They were on top of everything for scheduling, coordinated our rehearsal and ceremony ...
and were able to answer any questions I had. The venue itself is gorgeous! The banquet hall is perfect for big weddings (like we had) and easy to decorate. The outside is simply stunning. It doesn't even look like you're in the middle of the desert. Our pictures turned out so beautiful. Would absolutely recommend. It is affordable, beautiful and was such a pleasure to have our wedding there.
Loved our venue and all the staff! All the ladies were very knowledgeable and extremely helpful! I couldn’t have asked for a better team of ladies to help make my special day as am...
azing as possible!
Val Vista Lakes is gorgeous! We had our wedding ceremony and reception there and couldn’t have picked a better venue! All our guests loved it! The staff was great to work with duri...
ng the planning process and the day of! We were so happy we went with Val Vista Lakes!
We had an absolutely wonderful experience at Val Vista Lakes for our wedding - Janet is an amazing coordinator and our day-of contact, Mackenzie, was so sweet.
The grounds are gor...
geous and provide an amazing backdrop during the ceremony as well as numerous photo opportunities on the "Mountain". Our guests loved the cocktail hour patio with the cabana bar, and we received a lot of compliments on the boat ride we added for the hour!
The reception hall is beautiful and recently renovated. The full size industrial kitchen, complete with ice machine, and bar made it so easy on our vendors.
The bridal suite has a salon room in addition to a little lounge with mini fridge - I was completely at ease the morning of while getting ready. The space is incredibly enjoyable.
They have a gorgeous lobby and "family room" sitting area were we got to set up nice family photos and albums, and the lobby fit the large photo booth from Vintage Photo Booth Rentals perfectly.
We are so glad we booked here!
The only reason we are giving them a 4/5 stars is that the client is responsible for complete clean up at the end of the night with a hard stopping point. We knew this, but what we didn't also know is that we were completely responsible for taking out the trash to the dumpster. Our day-of planner reportedly refused to, so the night-of contact let us know we were supposed to. My husband and his best man ended up taking out all the trash (accumulated for 120 people drinking and eating for a 6 hour period) at the very end of the night in his tux. It put a damper on an otherwise amazing day, and right at the end when there wasn't much more of a chance to wash the sour taste out of our mouths about it.
If you book here make sure you hire a higher end, professional planner/day-of coordinator. Do not end up like us scrambling at 30m until close taking out trash in our wedding clothes.
Staff was helpful and made sure everything was exactly the way we wanted. Venue was beautiful and very accommodating for large groups. Had an amazing wedding and an excellent exper...
ience here!
The venue was amazing! I got so many compliments from guests about how beautiful it was :) The banquet and event staff are wonderful and accommodating. I had a great experience ...
here and highly recommend!
Val Vista lakes is a beautiful venue, especially with their recent remodel. I very much enjoyed having my wedding there and being able to go on the boat with my groom. However it i...
s very much a DIY venue and required a lot of work!! So be prepared to buy linenes and get an outside caterer.
Having our wedding at Val Vista Lakes was absolutely amazing! They were always available for questions, they help you put together your final details, and the venue is absolutely g...
orgeous!! Everything about our experience at Val Vista was perfect and professional. I highly recommend this as your venue!! (also, if you're worried about the pools being open during your ceremony/reception we literally forgot there were people there. The guests were very polite) Thank you Val Vista for making our day absolutely perfect!!
We absolutely loved this venue. During the planning they worked with our crazy schedules and were beyond helpful with planning everything out. Even without an official "coordinator...
" they helped with the flow of the ceremony. All of our guests could not stop saying how great everything looked, and we did VERY little decorating because of the scenery and landscaping that is always there.
All of their recommended vendors were great too!
I loved my venue's beautiful ceremony site and everything to do with it's glamour.
The only reason this is getting a 4 star rating instead of a 5 star rating is the service. It...
was a bit difficult dealing with their staff and what we could and could not do in the venue. I was highly upset when they couldn't rent out the boat service they have on their lake because they already booked it to a resident on my wedding day - however never called to tell me they booked it with someone else.
The other downfall is that the amenities that surround this venue is still open to their residents as it's in a residential community and they could basically be around the pools/lakes outside while you were getting married.
It was also frustrating that they booked a babyshower in the next ballroom over that had to go through our area to get the ballroom, which made it hard for taking pictures inside the ballroom. I was also not happy with the fact that they didn't want to put out as many tables as I wanted and still keep the LARGER dance floor, because I insisted that everyone would be dancing the whole time. They didn't believe me and made me settle for 17 tables and the medium sized dance floor. The space was NOT maximized the way I wanted it, and just as I expected, the dance floor was overcrowded. For the amount I paid for this venue, the service was inadequate. The only reason that I stayed with them and paid the amount was for the gorgeous ceremony site outside.
However, I do have to say this venue is great for people who want to bring all their own vendors in, as it doesn't supply anyone. This was a BIG plus as I was able to find cheaper catering and other vendors than normal.
Our wedding was April 27th, 2014 and we held both the ceremony and reception at Val Vista Lakes. Using a single venue for both made it easier on our guests and booking the event fo...
r a Sunday saved us a lot of money compared to a Friday or Saturday night. One of the major benefits to this venue was the freedom to select our own catering and bartender. This venue is beautiful; it has several waterfalls, a large gazebo (that we used for a cocktail hour following the ceremony) and it sits on a lake. We got our wedding photos back last week and there are plenty of shot locations around the venue with amazing backgrounds. Our ceremony took place on the oval lawn right in front of a huge waterfall. There were some limitations for the lawn (no fabric runners allowed) but we used flower petals for the aisle and it worked out great. Weather was perfect this time of year, we lucked out with a high of 80 degrees and there was plenty of shade nearby. The indoor clubhouse, where we held the reception, looked newly remodeled and comfortably fit our 140 guests. The inside has a beautiful wood staircase, chandeliers, large door entryway and doors/windows running along the back looking out towards the lake. It had a large dance floor, easy access for the DJ and a nice bar area. We used the adjacent patio for a buffet style dinner. The staff was very accommodating from the very start and made planning much easier. They even helped us walk through the rehearsal which was really helpful. I would highly recommend this venue to friends and family. It is a great value and is far more flexible than other venues we visited. It is a beautiful location for a wedding and helped create lasting memories of our special day.
I got married on April 11th and I absolutely loved this location. Janet was so helpful and great to work with. The outside ceremony area is so beautiful with the waterfall in the b...
ackground and the inside reception area was perfect for dining and dancing. I know my guests had fun!
What I liked most about Val Vista Lakes is that I was able to choose and hire my own vendors. My husband works in the restaurant business and he was so excited to have his restaurant cater our wedding. We were able to give business to our friends in the floral and cake industries too! When we didn't have a bartender to hire, Janet provided a list of credible bartenders to use.
Everything was so wonderful and I couldn't have picked a better location.
My husband and I are very pleased with VVL. All the staff members were very nice and accommodating. The only complaint I have is that the bridal suite was dirty. It's a beautiful p...
lace for an outdoor wedding and photos.
We got married there on Nov 10th this year. I couldn't be happier with the venue. Not only is it stunning, everyone there is extremely helpful! Especially the banquet manager, Jane...
t. She's very patient, very experienced and has a good answer to all of your questions. Everything went off without a hitch on our wedding day.
I recommend this place to anyone and everyone - it's GORGEOUS and really reasonably priced too. One of my favorite aspects of this venue is that they are very flexible with their vendors - you can have ANYONE cater for you - if you want to have a pot luck, they won't care so long as you clean up. Be aware that you'll need to purchase insurance here, but you can get a policy that'll cover their requirements for $150. VVL is awesome.
Awesome place and staff!
I had my reception here because we were married in Hawaii and wanted to recreate the feel of being at the beach. It was amazing. Our guests loved being there and felt like they wer...
e right there in Hawaii. PS the weather was perfect at the end of March! The room was perfect for the party and the gazebo was the best place to have a Hawaiian style cocktail hour.
I couldn't have been happier with Val Vista Lakes as my venue. I knew on my first visit this was the place for me, and every time after I stepped on the property I always felt the...
same - like I had transported to some tropical location and couldn't possibly be in Gilbert, AZ anymore. The banquet managers, Janet and Kortni, are extremely professional and these ladies know their stuff. You can fully trust all of their recommendations for preferred vendors and more importantly you can trust that all of the details of your day will be followed through on. The fact that the venue is yours for the entire day and has a very spacious bridal suite was another selling point for me. I was able to have a vendor come onsite to do hair and makeup for my bridal party and I which really helped make the day less stressful while giving me more time to hang out with my girls before the ceremony. The scenery for pictures is beautiful and the ability to have an outdoor ceremony and cocktail hour is a big bonus. This was also the only venue I found in the area that allowed you to bring in all of your own vendors – no stipulations. The savings related to being able to supply your own alcohol made this venue a clear choice over others. We held our wedding on a Sunday which is 50% less cost than Fri/Sun. As much as I loved this venue, paying 50% more for just the venue (+ tables/chairs) would have been outside of my budget & not justifiable in my opinion. As for our day, it was perfect and couldn’t have run more smoothly – I would highly recommend this venue to anyone.
IT WAS STUNNING! The water features and banquet hall couldnt have been better!The freedom to choose my own outside vendors made it feel completely unique. I couldnt be happier with...
my wedding venue and all the help they gave.
Val Vista Lakes is the perfect spot to have a wedding. You can have everything there! The ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. The grounds are beautiful, the scenery is amazin...
g and Janet and Kournti are so easy to work with. This venue was also affordable and they allow you to bring in your own vendors. We had the creative freedom to decorate and do what we wanted with our wedding.
I had my 10 year anniversary vow renewal ceremony at this venue. I waited a lifetime for my wedding day and since I didn't get to actually have it until my 10 year anniversary it h...
ad to be perfect! The ladies at Val Vista Lakes understood that completey!! Janet and Kourtney made sure I had everything that I needed so that my team could make things happen. It was PERFECT!!!!!! From begining to end they kept open communication, they answered all 8 million of my questions over a 2 yr time frame they were wonderful and truly a blessing! It couldn't have turned out better if I had done it sooner or anywhere else. I will use them for my 25th and my 50th and what ever else God has in store for me and my husband/family! Thanks ladies you ROCK!
Tonisha and James McSwain July 29th 2012
Val Vista Lakes Clubhouse was spectacular with us. They made everything work and set up the dining room for the reception without fail and let us come in a little early to move som...
e of the stuff we needed to bring in such as the beer and wine. Let us do a photo shoot while they were setting up. Overall, they did a great job in making sure everything was all set and ready to go.
We had our wedding in April of 2012. Everything was beautiful. We loved how we were able to choose everything ourselves! We were able to save a lot of money, since we supplied a...
ll of our own alcohol, we were able to have an open bar. Janet and Kourtni did an amazing job helping us with the planning before and even day of!
Val Vista Lakes is beautiful - and exactly what we wanted for our wedding. Our date was available and so we booked immediately. Janet was a doll to work with - she answered all my ...
questions, no matter how silly I thought they were! The ceremony was outside in front of the waterfall, and VVL made sure that the chairs were perfectly lined up, the arch was there and our unity table was ready to go. The reception area is all neutral tones, so it made it very easy to decorate with our colors. Janet took us through the whole rehearsal the day before and we left feeling like it would be perfect. And it was. I couldn't be happier choosing VVL. Between the people, the scenery and the accommodations, this place is a dream.
Val Vista is a beautiful place and amazing at what they do. Our day was so smooth!
This is the best value for a wedding venue in Arizona. It was my least expensive option!
Janet was helpful, resourceful, friendly and caring. She was really fast to answer every s...
ingle email and answered or returned every single call.
The venue was probably the most beautiful spot for pictures. Every guest who commented on the venue was in awe of how gorgeous everything was. It was private and exclusive.
Even though there was a chance for rain, we had the option of having the ceremony indoors. It was a beautiful day and we had the ability to have it outdoors with a waterfall backdrop.
The ability for my caterers to use the kitchen was valuable and the caterers did not have to walk through the dining room to refresh the buffet.
There was a built in bar, so the bartender had everything he needed.
I was able to choose all of my own vendors.
The bridal suite was almost all of the upstairs and beautiful. It was comfortable and worked perfectly for us.
the guest bathrooms were clean and decorated like a hotel's.
Everything about this venue was perfect.
A beautiful venue and a great place to create a dream wedding on your own budget.
I loved having our wedding at Val Vista Lakes. Janet, the Banquet Coordinator is very helpful and organized. The venue is beautiful and spacious and it was just perfect for our wed...
ding. We got some fantastic pictures around the venue as well. I would highly recommend it.
Janet was so friendly to work with and made everything so easy in preparing for our wedding day at Val Vista Lakes. She was very speedy with returning emails and phone calls. Just ...
a very pleasant person to work with when planning such an important day! The venue itself was perfect…everything was green and the flowers were all fresh. We couldn’t have imagined a better place to have our wedding!
Val Vista Lakes makes for the best photographs. Janet was wonderful!
Laura and Janet were so much help. This venue is PERFECT!!
This place is amazing. THey are very helpful. Beautiful pictures!!
The Venue was aweome! It was beautiful and more than we could have ever imagined. From the first meeting to our big day, we were so impressed with how caring and helpful all the st...
aff and event coordinators were with every detail. They truly made our special day flow perfectly and allow us to really enjoy our day. We were also amazed at what a beautiful venue we could get for such a bargain.
Val Vista Lakes is a beautiful outdoor ceremony, indoor reception venue. We got so many positive comments about how pretty it was, and the reception room was the perfect size for ...
our wedding of 95 guests. They are great to work with, and there are a lot of options to add your own decorations and personal style. They do a lot of weddings there, and really know how to help a bride and groom put together their perfect day. The cost is very reasonable as well, but you do have to bring in all of your own vendors, which was fine with us as it saved us a lot of money. I definitely recommend checking out Val Vista Lakes if you're looking for an outdoor ceremony in the nice weather months in Phoenix.
Val Vista Lakes was amazing! We originally chose the venue because it reminded us of the beach and I am so glad we did! We just got married there in December and though it was a li...
ttle chilly (it ended up snowing a little when we were taking pictures outside!) we still had the ceremony outside and it was beautiful! Our guests were told to have sweaters, so everyone was comfortable and our pictures ended up amazing because of the clouds and weather! Janet is the coordinator there and she is so helpful! I called her periodically through the year we were planning and she was always helpful recommending vendors and helping with the layout. She even runs the rehearsal! She is amazing, all of the people there are extremely nice, and the location is beautiful inside and out! I have gotten so many compliments on how beautiful the site was and we didnt have to do too much extra inside or out since it was already so beautiful! I LOVE this venue and cant stop raving about it!
Both coordinators were super helpful before and during the event; I really like how the property is very well maintained outdoors and that inside, it is very ornate such that much ...
is not needed to be added to make it event-ready. Also, the room for brides is roomy and has a lot of mirrors and the staff around the venue on the day was very helpful and we never had a bad experience; The only thing I wish were different was the fact that during Dec, they have silly Christmas figurines and lights everywhere outdoors and so our photographer had to accommodate this by taking photos in different spots that didn't have the silly reindeer or Santa in the background. Also, they lit up and played a song after 6pm, so luckily our wedding was indoors by that time. Other than that, I really liked doing business with them.
I was so pleased with the prices, the staff, and the venue. The wedding was gorgeous and the staff helped everything to run smoothly. The value is great for everything that you get...
when you rent the facility. I can not say enough great things about Val Vista Lakes!
I had a great overall experience here! it was a beautiful venue!!! I would have given it 5 stars but i did not like the fact since its a comunity the people can roam around, conten...
ue to swim ect while your ceremony is taking place! & I had people walking straight thru my reception, also while setting up the day of there was someone taking a tour! Also only thing included besides the site is tables & chairs!
I loved the picture taking area's there were waterfalls and the lake. Also it had a roomy area for the actual reception and an outdoor area for the ceremony. We were able to hire o...
ur own vendors and bring our own alcohol which saved us a ton of money!;Kids and the water might be scary but other then that there really isnt anything
Contact
1600 E Lakeside Dr, Gilbert, AZ
Val Vista Lakes