The Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles has to be one of my most favorite sites for a wedding of all time. Its architecture is just gorgeous and ornate and hails back to a time when we paid attention to details on walls, doorways, arches and other things that just blend into the woodwork for us now. I’ve done a few weddings at the Biltmore, and also have attended a few non-wedding events there — mostly journalism conferences. The place never diminishes for me, though — I love it being in the middle of downtown, which I love to visit, and the hotel itself is just so ethereal. It truly feels like a hotel you would think you’d find in Italy or some Old World-type of locale.

It so happened that I was just across the street from the Biltmore recently, to go ice skating at Pershing Square, a real treat for us Southern Californians who barely see rain, much less temperatures cold enough to create a pond you can skate on. And it also happened that we needed to get cash, off we went across the street to the Biltmore to use the ATM. Yeah, I know. It was just an excuse.

This entrance to the Biltmore is right off Olive Street, which separates the hotel from Pershing Square.

If I were having a wedding, I might be happy enough with this entrance area. And the way they had it decorated was so gorgeous. These planters were simply swathed in white cloth and topped with branches, silver and white ornaments and other shiny, sparkly things. I also loved the BoGo lights on the walls.

I’ve been meaning to look into where you can get bogo lights, which illuminate shapes or letters onto walls. Stay tuned, I’m sure I’ll have that for you in 2009.

This picture is a little fuzzy, but I didn’t want to use my flash and ruin the ambiance. (I believe there was also diners enjoying their dinner, and I didn’t want to disturb them either.) I believe this is a clear, plastic cascading tree, lit up from below with blue LED lights. Nice effect, huh?

And of course, the gorgeous Christmas tree in their front lobby (which is off Grand Avenue). This, of course, replaces the large tropical arrangement that usually adorns this space.

If you asked me how much it cost to have an event at the Biltmore, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. But I will tell you this — its a gorgeous venue, with some really spectacular rooms — one of them is literally a bowl, and another room has several balconies all along the room! — so you couldn’t go to wrong with having your wedding here.
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