Keough Estate Used For Weddings

Post from OC Register.

This home in Coto de Caza belongs to Jeana .
Photo:COURTESY OF DIANE MERRISS

By ELYSSE JAMES

Diane Merriss is a romantic. She loves a good fairy tale and helping other women make their wedding dreams come true.

Merriss is the founder and owner of Tustin-based Event Wedding Planning. She also plans weddings at two estates – one in Santa Ana and the other an already-famous estate in Coto de Caza belonging to Jeana Keough, one of "The Real Housewives of Orange County."

Merriss helps couples have their dream wedding, but she has a dream life of her own. She's planning her own wedding to fiancé Robert Gutierrez.

One day, Merriss wants to buy her own venue along the coast where she could host the weddings she helps plan. To get there, she went to school to become a wedding planner. Then she started her company in 2008.

"I love where the prince comes to rescue the princess, or the damsel in distress," she said. "I love being (at a wedding). The whole room is about this moment, this love story, about two people. I want to make each one bigger, better and more glamorous than the one before."

When the economy and her business began to slow, Merriss started planning estate weddings. She's also planning corporate events and parties. She gained the rights to Keough's estate the old fashioned way – by calling.

"I had watched the show and remembered her mentioning that she sells multimillion-dollar estates," Merriss said. "So I contacted her and asked if she had clients who could rent out for weddings and she said she's had them at her estate."

The Keough estate can hold 250 people, has a pool, basketball court, bridal room and a large kitchen you can walk through to the lawn. Villa Serena, in Floral Park, Santa Ana, has a Spanish feel. The smaller estate can handle up to 75 guests and also has a pool, fountain and lawn. Merriss is the exclusive planner for weddings at both homes.

Estate weddings are trending, plus the space is more intimate and personal, Merriss said. One of her favorite weddings was on a yacht. Another played the "Mission Impossible" theme.

"It's all about making it perfect and exactly how they envisioned it," she said.

Information: 949-940-8884 or http://www.eventweddingplanning.com/