L.A. or O.C. beach wedding...

[sera]

I''m looking to have a small, informal beach wedding and I would like to keep the cost down. I would like it on the beach with a simple bamboo arbor with flowers... though I may have to go with a restaurant or hotel that is overlooking the beach (but I would want pictures on the beach too). I would like an hors d''oeuvres/dessert reception to follow; I do not want a formal, full meal and dancing and all that. Does anyone know of a good ceremony/reception location??? I''ve searched and searched and still not any closer to a location than when I started.

Any ideas?

 

[so cal girl]

I actually went to a rehearsal dinner last week at a place that i think would make a lovely ceremony site. It is called the Chart House in Redondo Beach. It overlooks the harbor, and they have their own little private beach. I have seen pictures of ceremonies there, and it looks absolutely amazing. They do the actual ceremony on the beach, and then you can come in and have whatever food and drink you would like.

 

[sera]

Great... I will check that out... sounds similar to Gladstone's in Malibu maybe.

The Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach looks nice, but I'm not sure how informal I could have that- will have to check it out.

I know some beaches you can't put up any arbor or tent but I can't recall which ones they were... maybe it was Malibu and Laguna.

I was even thinking of renting a beach house like in Newport... having the ceremony on the beach and then coming back to the house for an informal reception.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 8/17/2007 12:05:29 PM
Author: so cal girl
I actually went to a rehearsal dinner last week at a place that i think would make a lovely ceremony site. It is called the Chart House in Redondo Beach. It overlooks the harbor, and they have their own little private beach. I have seen pictures of ceremonies there, and it looks absolutely amazing. They do the actual ceremony on the beach, and then you can come in and have whatever food and drink you would like.

This is where I had my reception. A couple of things to note...

I personally think their "beach" is kind of meh. It borders the boat docks/harbor and it costs a bit to have it there. If you want to use Charthouse''s entire facility, you may only have a daytime wedding. For evening weddings, they have a room available, and their outside beach area to rent. Of course, then you have to deal with all the other patrons in the restaurant. Their minimums also probably won''t be low enough for you, depending on how many people you have. If you have a large wedding, you could probably easily have a appetizer/dessert/drink thing. I believe we were off season and on a Friday, so our minimum was $5000. The great part was that the venue rental fee ($1300) can go toward that amount, so the food and drink minimum was only $3700. The rental fee also includes your wedding cake from either Meyers or Torrance bakery. I''d highly recommend Torrance...way better cakes and it was actually awesome cake!

I got married on the public beach directly to the North of charthouse (just a couple minutes walk. I think the beach is prettier and I had a very low key wedding. It''s right where Hermosa Beach starts) You can see photos of my wedding on another PS thread which is here.

On any public LA beach, you do not need a permit if you have 49 people or less. You can not have any amplified sound equipment, nor can you bring in chairs/decor. If you have 50 or above, or want chairs/sound, you must get a permit. I am not sure what is the case with OC beaches.

If you can do the Charthouse, I would definitely recommend it. The lady there is not overly coddling, which I actually appreciate. It''s just "yes we can do that" or "no we can''t" with most of her answers to me being yes. It''s also only a $500 deposit to hold your wedding day, whereas at most wedding venues, it is normally several thousand with the remainder due before the wedding. At Charthouse, you get a bill at the end of your wedding, restaurant style and you can just pay by credit card, which I loved....got points that way! It''s totally casual and beachy and exactly what we wanted...not to mention their appetizers are the best part (so you really may want to look into that). If you have a daytime wedding, your guests have access to convenient parking too.

Any questions, give me a holler.

 

[so cal girl]

I''m glad someone had more information on the Chart House for you. Lots of good info.

As for the Hyatt, that is a very fancy place, and quite pricey. I am actually having my wedding at the Waterfront Hilton, which is next door. The food and beverage minimum is high, even at the Hilton, and I believe the Hyatt''s is even higher.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Selflove had her wedding reception at one of the restaurants on the water in Redondo last spring. I cannot for the life of me remember the name! Do a search for "selflove" and I'm sure you'll find it.

 

[sera]

Thanks for the info TravelingGal! I like the looks of the Charthouse and the beach to the north of it is nice. Your flowers (and those blue plates!) looked great... your wedding looked lovely! Very nice pictures, too!

$3700 food/drink minimum isn't bad at all. I am really not sure how many people we would need to invite. Under 50 people would be nice, but it might be a bit more- he has a large family. This is my second wedding, so I would only invite just my family and closest friends. Having done the whole formal wedding, I don't want to do it again... so, it just seems kinda hard to find a beach venue for what I want. (Another option would be a destination wedding to somewhere like Cabo...but not sure how my family would feel about that- will ask them when our engagement is formally announced but we would still need a local reception).

I will definitely check out Torrance bakery... I think I might have come across it while searching and have it bookmarked already.

 

[rockzilla]

There is also a Chart House in malibu with a very nice beach (actually saw a couple taking engagement photos the last time I was there) Have no idea what their wedding policies are but another option.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 8/17/2007 3:47:26 PM
Author: sera
Thanks for the info TravelingGal! I like the looks of the Charthouse and the beach to the north of it is nice. Your flowers (and those blue plates!) looked great... your wedding looked lovely! Very nice pictures, too!

$3700 food/drink minimum isn''t bad at all. I am really not sure how many people we would need to invite. Under 50 people would be nice, but it might be a bit more- he has a large family. This is my second wedding, so I would only invite just my family and closest friends. Having done the whole formal wedding, I don''t want to do it again... so, it just seems kinda hard to find a beach venue for what I want. (Another option would be a destination wedding to somewhere like Cabo...but not sure how my family would feel about that- will ask them when our engagement is formally announced but we would still need a local reception).

I will definitely check out Torrance bakery... I think I might have come across it while searching and have it bookmarked already.

Thank you and you''re welcome!

Keep in mind my food minimum was because it was a Friday AND the off season. Normally their food minimums are about 5-7K on Friday''s and that is just for food, not alcohol. Saturdays are much more pricey. Our total wedding bill, including tax, service charge and a ridiculous bar bill came to just over 7K, which I thought was great.

My wedding was very low key. I didn''t pick any of the flowers...in fact, I had no idea who was going to do them until about 2-3 weeks before my wedding. A friend of a friend did them and I told her just to do whatever. I think she did a lovely job...and she wouldn''t even take all the money I wanted to give her...which wasn''t all that much!

I hope you have a wonderful wedding...wherever you choose to have it.

 

[rockzilla]

Traveling Gal - who did your photography? It is beautiful!

(Would have posted in the orginal thread but it is closed now)

 

[sap483]

My cousin got married at Laguna Village in Laguna Beach back in 2005. It was absolutely breathtaking.

 

[fansynancy]

Sera,

I have stayed at the Hyatt in Huntington Beach many, many times. It is REALLY nice. I love HB and actually bought a house there, so we don''t stay at the hotel anymore, but it has a gorgeous lobby, outdoor areas and you can see the ocean because the publice reception places are on the second floor. I''m pretty picky about this kind of thing and I have seen incredible weddings at the Hyatt.

Nancy

 

[surfgirl]

I personally think the beach and grounds of the Montage Resort in Laguna are to die for! And you can have a reception on the lawn overlooking the ocean and cliffs, or use their private house right on the cliffs. I''m sure it''s very expensive but I''m also sure it''s worth it! You might actually be able to have a reception elsewhere but still use their beach as it''s public property if I''m not mistaken, and it''s a gorgeous stretch of beach.

Would you consider coming a bit south to San Diego? There''s Chart House and a place called The Beach House (I think) both next to each other on the beach in Cardiff. There are also several hotels that are on the water in various locations down the coast that do weddings. And you could also do a cruise reception like SDL, using Hornblower...

 

[sera]

Thanks for the replies... I will check them out.

San Diego would be possible and I have a lot of good memories from there, but I would really prefer to stay up here. Huntington Beach also holds a lot of good memories.

I also do not want to go to a huge expense as I was married before and did the whole fairy tale wedding already- I would much prefer a simpler wedding (being older now and previously married, my FF and I are paying for it ourselves).

I would love a cruise reception, but that''s out because 2 family members who must be there get sea sick. It''s too bad because that would be a lot of fun. Some years back I had gone on a Reggae Boat Party... SO fun!

I''ve been so obsessed on trying to decide on a setting for my e-ring, I have not been searching venues lately.

I think once we are "formerly engaged" next month, I can get some help/suggestions from my family.

 

[fansynancy]

The Montage is incredible and I have been there and seen a wedding. I was keeping it in my book of dreams for a location for my daughter''s wedding (Back to reality, she is only 10!) until I saw that. . . the wedding is not really separate from the rest of the hotel and dinner guests. If you do the Hyatt in HB, the wedding is separate and hotel and dinner guests (and even pool guests at the Montage) do not come traipsing through.

Can you do a small, elegant wedding at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica?

 

[sera]

The Montage is a beautiful venue- but right now out of our range. I guess the Hyatt is also, I just caught a glimpse of it on t.v. and liked the look. Shutters is very nice, so is Laguna Village.

So many options... I had wanted to search online first before driving around and seeing these places, but I''m really not coming anywhere close to a decision yet.

The Sunset in Malibu is also another nice venue. Once we announce this to our families, I think I''m going to ask them how they would feel about us just getting married on a cruise to Cabo and having a small reception after.