The Northstate's Newest Venue: Lassen Gardens If you’re recently engaged, or know someone who is, you’ve likely heard how significantly different the wedding industry is now than it was two years ago. Costs have risen, availability has all but disappeared, and the once possible year-long engagement seems to be a total impossibility, assuming you have any specific wants for the big day. Hearing that a caterer is booked solid for the next two years or a venue having only mid-week reservations available would have drawn doubt two years ago, but these days, it seems to be the norm. It should come as no surprise either, considering how much every industry has changed due to the pandemic, though it does seem that the wedding industry was hit rather disproportionately.
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1928. Conveniently located off of Highway 99 in Vina, the location provides year-round opportunities for just about any event, and with a capacity of up to 200 people, it is truly able to accommodate most. Best of all, it provides an atmosphere that exemplifies the region, and now more than ever, there are few available venues quite like it. “When we started thinking about purchasing Lassen Steakhouse, we had no idea what the area was like aside from the restaurant itself,” said new owner Joni Samples. “We stopped by for our first tour of the property, and we were just blown away by the grounds—they were unbelievable! The restaurant itself was beautiful, but once we walked the rest of the property, we knew it would be perfect for what we wanted to do.”
Between the loss of venues in the Camp Fire, the delayed weddings due to the fires in years that followed, and the pandemic, a bottleneck has occurred and the local wedding industry has been impacted on all levels. Luckily, new venues like Lassen Gardens are emerging and slowly but surely easing some of the burden on the wedding industry. Perhaps more importantly, at a time when costs are at an all time high, it is also providing an affordable alternative.
Though Joni’s daughter, Jenn, and her husband Wes were both excited to open a restaurant together, this particular property granted Joni and Jenn the additional opportunity to open an event venue. The two loved nothing more than throwing a memorable party, and both had experience with coordinating, logistics, and management. Just like the property, the opportunity was the perfect fit.
Set on 2.3 acres of beautiful lush landscaping, Lassen Gardens provides rustic charm and a rich history dating back to
“Over the past two years, we kept hearing from friends and family about how difficult it was to reserve a venue—small or large;
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indoor or out,” Jenn said. “Once we saw the property, we started calling around to confirm, and they weren’t kidding, nearly every venue we called was already totally booked for 2022, and this was in the fall of 2021! Some were even booked well into 2023. We talked it over and quickly realized it was exactly what the area needed. We decided we would launch the venue once we got the steakhouse off the ground and humming along.” It didn’t take them long to do just that. Officially opened on January 8th, the restaurant quickly made a name for itself due to their focus on quality ingredients, exemplary customer service, and affordability. With wedding season right around the corner, and the restaurant firing on all cylinders, they’ve decided to launch the next phase of their business and open their venue to reservations starting this month. “We’ve just seen so much support from our community over the last few months,” Jenn beamed. “It’s truly been more than we could have ever imagined. We’re hoping to return some of that support by bringing the same focus on quality, service, and affordability to the wedding venue industry, and alleviate some of the bottleneck couples have been experiencing when trying to set a date to get married.”
