Weddings
A Mountain Wedding Venue 2 hours 30 minutes From Santa Monica
Sunstone sits on forty private acres at 8,200 feet in Big Bear, about 115 miles from Santa Monica. Far enough that your guests feel they have left the city. Close enough that they will actually come.
Getting here from Santa Monica
The full width of the basin, then up. Worth it for the quiet on the other end.
The drive is about 2 hours 30 minutes, roughly 115 miles. It is a drive, not a flight, which is the whole reason a destination wedding works here. Guests who would never book a flight for a Saturday will happily make this trip, and once they arrive they stay for the weekend rather than leaving at the end of the night.
Distance
115 miles from Santa Monica
Drive time
About 2 hours 30 minutes
Elevation gain
Up to 8,200 feet
Why Santa Monica couples choose a mountain venue
A Sunstone wedding is a full-property booking. Forty private acres, one gate, and no other guests. Up to 200 people attend the ceremony and reception, and 40 of them sleep on the property, which means no shuttles back to a hotel and no hard stop when a ballroom's next booking arrives.
At 8,200 feet the summer temperature runs twenty to twenty-five degrees below the basin. The Pacific Crest Trail runs through the land and Cienaga Creek runs through the middle of it. The property has hosted hundreds of weddings over twenty years and is now under new management.
Styles of wedding we host
Outdoor Wedding Venue
Ceremony under old Jeffrey pine beside Cienaga Creek, reception outdoors at the Lodge, dancing under a sky with no city in it.
All-Inclusive Wedding Venue
One point of contact instead of eleven. Catering, bar, tenting, florals, sound, photography, lodging, all coordinated through us.
Private Estate Wedding Venue
Forty acres and one gate. No other guests, no shared lobby, no wedding starting in the next room.
Weekend Wedding Venue
Days, not hours. Welcome dinner Friday, wedding Saturday, farewell brunch Sunday, everyone sleeping on the property the whole time.
Mountain Wedding Venue
Real elevation. 8,200 feet, national forest on the boundary, the Pacific Crest Trail through the property.
Forest Wedding Venue
Old-growth Jeffrey pine, sugar pine, white fir, incense cedar, and California black oak on forty private acres.
Start with your date
Tell us your date and rough guest count. We will confirm availability and get you up from Santa Monica for a site visit.