Encore Event Center 8253 Ronson Road • San Diego • CA 92111

Encore Event Center in San Diego is an all-inclusive, full-service venue, so most of the big pieces come from one place. Packages can bundle partner catering with tray-passed appetizers and buffet or plated service, complete bar service, wedding DJs and MCs, photo booths, decor packages with custom linens and centerpieces, lounge and barnwood furniture, changing areas for the two of you, and full planning and coordination. Every order is itemized, so you'll see exactly what you're paying for. One thing to budget for outside the package: you'll need event cancellation and postponement insurance from a third-party provider before your date.

Yes, you can have both at Encore Event Center, and nobody has to get back in the car. The venue has dedicated indoor and outdoor ceremony spaces, including a courtyard ceremony option, then a lounge for cocktails and appetizers, a grand ballroom for the reception and a soundstage studio for the after-party. Outdoor ceremonies seat up to 170 guests and indoor ceremonies up to 80, while indoor receptions seat up to 300. The ceremony fee runs $575–$1,250 per event.

Encore Event Center works mainly with its own vetted catering partners, who offer more than 30 menus, and some of them offer Glatt Kosher and Halal menus. An outside caterer needs Encore's preapproval plus liability insurance and the proper licenses or permits, and the venue may decline certain dishes, such as curry, tandoori and fish sauce. Bar service is in-house, though you can bring your own alcohol with a corkage fee; self-serve alcohol isn't allowed. Your own planner is welcome too, and every outside vendor has two hours after the event to clean up.

At Encore Event Center in San Diego, weekend wedding packages start at $100 per person and cover ceremony and reception space, dinner, open bar, DJ, decor and service. If you'd rather build it piece by piece, hall rental runs $1,000–$2,750, the ceremony fee is $575–$1,250, meals are $25–$45 per person and there's an 18% service charge. And yes, there's a minimum: food and beverage starts at $1,000 per event, every weekend booking and certain seasons carry a minimum spend, and each hall has its own guest minimum. Your hall, day of the week and season are what move the number most. Encore doesn't add a wedding surcharge, and you'll get a fully itemized estimate, so a tour is the easiest way to see your real total.

Encore Event Center's standard rental blocks run 10am–3pm or 6pm–midnight, with one hour for setup before and one hour for teardown after. Not ready to call it a night? Your party can keep going until 2am, and extra setup time is available for an additional charge. Amplified music is allowed indoors and outdoors, and the venue has its own club-quality sound system, dance lighting and professional DJs for the late-night crowd.

Encore Event Center puts everything in one place: it's an all-inclusive San Diego venue where your ceremony, cocktails, reception and after-party all happen on site, and the party can run until 2am. The complex fills the former XETV 6 television studios, with more than 30,000 square feet of themed indoor and outdoor event space, from courtyards and a garden terrace to a grand ballroom and a soundstage studio. It holds up to 300 guests for cocktails or a seated indoor reception, and some catering partners offer Glatt Kosher and Halal menus. Good to know: Encore can host more than one event at a time in separate halls, and it's built so sound doesn't carry between them. If a big guest list and a late night are on your wish list, it's worth a look.

Yes, you can tour Encore Event Center seven days a week by appointment, including some after-hours weekday slots, booked through the online calendar on the venue's contact page. While you're there, ask which hall fits your guest count and what its guest minimum is, request menus and floorplans, and walk the route from the ceremony space to the ballroom. Encore follows up with a fully itemized estimate, so bring your date and rough guest count.