Thousand Oaks wedding venues rarely get the credit they deserve. Sherwood Country Club sits behind some of the most private gates in Ventura County, and one wedding I officiated there changed the way I think about why people actually get married.
Carol and Terry didn’t need convincing. They’d been together thirty-two years by the time I stood in front of them at Sherwood, longer than any couple I’ve married before their wedding day. In twenty-nine years of doing this, that’s the record.
They stood with me in an outdoor gazebo overlooking the golf course and the kind of individually architected, multimillion-dollar homes that make you stop and stare. They were celebrating their anniversary as a couple, not their wedding anniversary. Terry spent his career as a professional athlete, a player for one of Los Angeles’ favorite home teams. That career took him all over the country before he and Carol built their life back here. Their grown kids were there too, watching their parents finally make it official after everything the family had already lived through together. Nobody needed convincing. Everyone already knew.
Why the Wait Makes the Wedding Day Different
This has been my busiest year ever. I’ve started calling it the year of the wedding. More than thirty percent of those couples had been together over ten years before they finally married. Carol and Terry are the far end of that pattern, the couple who took it the furthest.
I’ve found that for a couple like this, the wedding isn’t a formality. It isn’t just an excuse to throw a party. Relationships like theirs carry some of the most emotional moments I get to witness. A couple has been through the amazing joy of making memories and laughing together. They’ve also seen the very worst of times. Instead of running from those difficulties, they locked arms. They looked at each other and said: let’s do this together.
Any couple who’s been together ten years or more has probably lived through more than a few seasons of real difficulty. They’re still standing there together, celebrating the joy of their wedding day. That’s why these ceremonies hit differently. I see it on their faces every time.
Thousand Oaks Wedding Venues: What Makes Sherwood Country Club Different
Sherwood is a private club, one of the most exclusive country clubs anywhere. It has a Georgian-style clubhouse, century-old oak trees, and a golf course view that stops guests mid-conversation. It’s the most awe-inspiring wedding setting I work in, and after nearly three decades in this business, that’s not a phrase I use lightly.
Here’s what most couples researching Thousand Oaks wedding venues don’t realize: you don’t have to be a member to get married there. The club books outside weddings regularly. Even before the reception starts, the open-air ceremony terrace overlooking the course and the mountains is worth the visit on its own.
Just Down the Road: Westlake Village Inn
A few minutes from Sherwood sits a completely different kind of venue. Westlake Village Inn is a multi-site property, which means couples aren’t locked into one ceremony spot. They get to walk the grounds and choose the setting that feels right to them, whether that’s the Tuscan Garden, the Waterfall, or the Lakeside Arbor.
My favorite of the three is the Lakeside Arbor. It’s the ceremony site that looks out over the lake the whole property is built around, and it’s usually where I point couples if they ask me.
The property also has nine event spaces total once you count the reception rooms, a working vineyard, and that same lake running through the middle of it.
One of my favorite things about the property: the whole wedding party can actually stay there, on or near the lake. Book the bridal suite and the bride can walk out of her own room and be standing at the ceremony site in under a minute. No car, no shuttle, no forty-five minutes lost to hair and makeup traffic. Just a short walk from getting ready to getting married.
Twenty-one years ago, I officiated a wedding at Westlake Village Inn with my daughter Kaylin in it. She was four, and she was the flower girl. I’ve done close to a thousand ceremonies since then, but that one stays with me. Watching my own little girl in a white dress, dropping petals just ahead of the bride, is not something I get to see twice. Every time I’m back at that venue, some part of me is still standing there watching her walk.
Two Venues, Minutes Apart
Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village sit only a few minutes apart, and for a wedding, that’s a real advantage. Guests can stay at Westlake Village Inn for the whole weekend, then drive ten minutes to Sherwood for the ceremony itself, or the other way around. Two very different settings, minutes from each other.
Common Questions About These Venues
These are the questions I hear most from couples looking at Thousand Oaks wedding venues, especially about these two.
Do you have to be a member to get married at Sherwood Country Club?
No. The club hosts outside weddings regularly, and you don’t need a membership to book the space.
How many guests can Westlake Village Inn host?
The property has multiple ceremony sites and reception rooms, so it flexes from small, intimate ceremonies up to several hundred guests, depending on which space you book.
Can the wedding party stay on-site at Westlake Village Inn?
Yes. The property has 156 rooms, including a range of suites, so the whole family can stay right where the wedding happens.
Do I need to handle my marriage license before the wedding day?
Yes, and if you’re getting married at one of these Thousand Oaks wedding venues or nearby in Westlake Village, that’s convenient news. The Ventura County Clerk-Recorder’s East County office sits in the Civic Arts Plaza, about five to ten minutes from Westlake Village Inn and roughly fifteen minutes from Sherwood. Either way, you don’t have to drive out to the Ventura office. It’s by appointment only, so I’d get that scheduled early.
One more thing to know: California marriage licenses are only valid for ninety days, so don’t apply too far ahead of your wedding date or it can expire before you use it. I’ve also put together a full guide to getting your marriage license in Ventura County if you want the complete steps.
What happens after we get our marriage license?
Once you and your partner have both applied for and received the license, your part is done. Bring it with you on the wedding day, and my signature plus a witness signature is what gives your marriage its legal standing. That’s it. One more thing worth knowing: Ventura County typically takes three to four weeks to process and record the license after the ceremony, so don’t be alarmed if your certified copy doesn’t show up right away.
Those are the questions I hear most about these two venues specifically. For everything else about hiring an officiant, here’s my full FAQ page.
Planning a Wedding in Thousand Oaks or Westlake Village
If convenience matters most, Westlake Village Inn is the answer. It’s a one-stop shop: your ceremony, your reception, and your rooms are all in the same place, so nobody has to get in a car on your wedding day.
Sherwood is different. Of all the Thousand Oaks wedding venues I work with, it’s the one that feels like the most awe-inspiring setting in the entire country to get married.
If you’ve been together for years and you’re finally ready to make it official, I’d love to help you write a ceremony that actually says so.
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