Christmas at the Millennium Biltmore

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.

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Wedding Venue: Hearst Castle

You’ve probably heard about Hearst Castle. But if you haven’t been to Hearst Castle, then you probably don’t know exactly what I’m talking about when I say the place is spectacular. Wait, spectacular doesn’t even do it justice. Let me just say that the natural surroundings of Hearst Castle will take your breath away, but Hearst Castle itself will engulf you.

My husband and I went on a road trip up the Central Coast of California for my 30th birthday in the last week of May, so of course Hearst Castle was on the itinerary. Hearst Castle, if you don’t know, was once the residence of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Hoo, boy, if only newspapers were as profitable now as they were when Hearst was around… But not only did Hearst know his newspapers, he knew his prime real estate and he knew his architecture.

My husband and I were fortunate enough to visit in late May, after a rare, gloomy weekend in L.A., so we arrived in time for a great show of color from the gardens between the estate’s guest houses.

And of course, always thinking of this here blog, I asked our tour guide whether weddings can be held at Hearst Castle. Basically, if you can afford to have a wedding at Hearst Castle, you probably aren’t reading this blog.

Just to rent the place, you need to pony up $15,000. California Weddings has more, specific information:

…it’ll cost you $7,500 to reserve the Castle for 1 to 50 people for up to 3 hours, and $15,000 for parties larger than 50 people or for weddings lasting longer than 3 hours. That doesn’t inlcude the nonrefundable deposit of $500 to $1,000, as well as a $50 scheduling fee and the cost of staff reimbursement. Oh, and insurance for up to $1 million is required.

If you do decide to have the wedding of American quasi-royalty (which I think is fair to say about the Hearst family), then you probably want to have your reception on this patio, in front of the main guest house (which is pictured before the Neptune pool, above). This patio seems to have the most flat open space ideal for more than 10 round tables. Check out that gorgeous ocean view.

Also, I would recommend working with a florist or decorator with experience with Historic National Landmark like Hearst Castle. With a cursory search, I found at least one who has done a party here — Camilla Svensson Burns of Santa Barbara. You can find a few pictures of her work at Hearst Castle on her Events page.

The information in this post was accurate when originally published in 2008.

Budget brides should beware Craigslist

I love Craigslist, believe me. I’m constantly on it, checking out writing gig listings and seeing whats out there in terms of rentals in my area. And with the tough economy, and everyone being all the more budget minded, you may be tempted to take advantage of Craigslist when it comes to planning your wedding. But, as with all things online, its buyer beware.

There are a lot of wedding-related services offered on Craigslist, but the most common seem to be photography and venue related. Are these ads a way to find something unique and totally unknown to anyone else, or simply a cheap way of advertising?

I found at least three ads for venues in Southern California. Here’s one for the Enchanted Manor in Valley Village:

Incredible grounds to host your party, charity event, children’s birthdays, or wedding. Property features a children’s play house that is a mini version of the main house. Very unique. Price depends on amount of guest and what your needs are. The property has a lagoon type pool with 3 waterfalls, a fire pit, Gazebo Bar, Jacuzzi, Large deck, 2 grills, tree house, play house. Photo’s on request by emailing me.
Stuntlady@aol.com 818-508-7618. SEE HTTP://ENCHANTEDMANOREVENTS.COM
You can also see photo’s on my website by clicking on “On Location” from the main page. www.performancetwo.com

Of course, I checked out the site, and the place looks like a pretty house. (However, as a voracious online consumer, I really hate the site’s design, especially the moving clouds. Yikes.) And actually, the place looks more like an urban bed and breakfast, with daily, weekly and monthly reservations. There’s no information available about actually holding a large event like a party or wedding, so again — bride beware.

One ad was basically the image of a flyer for Matteo’s Restaurant. So I did a Google search for Matteo’s and found Matteo’s LA. (If you decide to click, turn down your speakers if you’re at work.) The site itself is pretty nice, the restaurant pictures look cozy and elegant, and the food looks good. (Although, I detest all-flash sites.) When you click on events, they tell you that they can provide decorations, flowers and music for a party of up to 70 guests, apparently, but for cocktail parties, they can accommodate up to 120 guests. And actually, what they’re advertising on Craigslist is a wedding/event planners party on May 21st, so if you’re planning a tiny party and want little to no fuss, that might be something worth checking out.

Still another ad tells us nothing:

THE TRENDY PALMER ROOM LOCATED IN WEST HOLLYWOOD IS THE PERFECT LOCATION FOR YOUR NEXT PARTY!!

ARE YOU GETTING READY FOR A:

*BIRTHDAY
*ANNIVERSARY
*BACHELOR/ BACHELORETTE
*CD RELEASE
*WEDDING
*HOLIDAY PARTY OF ANY KIND!!

AWESOME SOUND SYSTEM, DANCE FLOOR, STAGE, BAR & FOOD SERVICE AVAILABLE AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE!!

CONTACT ME TO BOOK YOUR NEXT PARTY TODAY!!

Checking it out via Google, it looks more like a bar/club, than an actual place to have a wedding. Meh.

The other majority of ads on Craigslist are service-related — makeup artists, photographers and wedding planners. I cannot stress enough — buyer beware. Its already hard enough getting reliable service from people you find in the Yellow Pages or even from recommendations.

Don’t get had — follow these common sense tips:

Wedding coordinators should work for a flat fee, not a percentage of the total cost of the wedding. If they work for a percentage, that’s incentive for them to find you even more expensive vendors.
Get recommendations for photographers, caterers, limousine services. For florists, ask to check out a wedding they’ll be decorating (if they aren’t decorating any weddings between now and your wedding, that’s not a good sign).
Don’t pay up front. Duh! Pay in payments, with the balance paid on the day of your wedding.
I’ve seen some experts say that you shouldn’t pay cash to vendors. Well, yes, and no. In the case of florists, I’d say cash is not a bad thing, since florists have to go to their flower vendors and bargain. I know this from personal experience. As with everything in life, you have more bargaining power with cash.
Make sure you have a contract that spells every minute thing out, down to the labeling of personal flowers.
Pick a photographer and videographer you’ve seen in action (again, recommendations!).

That’s all I can think of now, but if you have more tips to add, please leave it in the comments!

Now, I don’t want to make you think Craigslist is evil when it comes to weddings. I found this lovely story about a couple that met via Craigslist extend the theme to their wedding:

We decided to take the next step. We started planning our Craigslist wedding. Again, it started as a joke. We were making out (yes, engaged people still do that), and I mentioned how weird it was to be making out with my Craigslist fiancé on my Craigslist couch in my Craigslist apartment. She asked if I got her ring on Craigslist. I responded that I wish I had, I would have splurged on something that wasn’t made out of hard candy.

Then it got serious. At the time, we were poor — I was finishing up my last year of law school, and she was an artist — basically, we were living in debt. Craigslist discounts/donations could help defer costs. She’s English — the bulk of her family lives across the ocean. Most of them would not be able to make it to our wedding in SF. Craiglist guests could help fill her side of the isle.

Could Craigslist be used to set up a wedding? The same impulse that led me to answer her original Craigslist personal ad led us to give it a shot. You never know. It could be fun, right?

We ran with it. Our first post looked something like this:

“Like weddings? Want to meet some new people? Do you own a suit/nice dress? Can you fake an English accent better than Madonna? Want free champagne and cake? Are you available January 15th? In 500 words or less, describe why you’d make a great wedding guest. Best responses get an extra slice of cake.”

First off, let me tell you that San Franciscans are fantastic. We received over 2,000 responses. One man volunteered his restaurant in North Beach for a reception — another volunteered his strip club on Mission for the bachelor party. One woman said she’d baked a 7 layer cake for her sister’s wedding, and could do it again, this time with raspberries. Another woman said she was a florist and could get us a deal on flowers.

These four people got extra slices of cake, even though their English accents were, in all honesty, absolute shite.

Our post/wedding became the hottest ticket in town. Two tailors volunteered to help with dresses and suits. Six separate caterers offered to set up a four star buffet. A couple offered to let us borrow a pair of their horses so we could gallop into our new life together after our vows (though we did not borrow the horses, these folks did receive an extra slice of cake which they brought home for the horses, Mandy and Sprinkles).

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Wedding Venue: Adamson House in Malibu

I’m always curious about how people find venues for their weddings. I’m thinking most people choose their wedding sites based on weddings they’ve attended in the past. I try to help people out by always identifying the spot where my Wedding Decorator pictures were taken. But since I’m not doing many Wedding Decorator jobs now, I’m thinking I may just start visiting venues on my own — or crashing weddings. Won’t you let me crash your wedding? *wink*

I figured that my recent “field trip” to Adamson House in Malibu would be perfect to share here. The spot is spectacular — 13 acres overlooking Surfrider Beach. The house is a National Historical Site and a California Registered Landmark, so yeah — you can’t have your party in the actual house. But if you do opt to have your party on the grounds, you can opt to allow your guests take a tour from official docents.

There is not a lot of room at any one section on the Adamson grounds, so don’t think you can have a 500-person party here. This lawn was probably the largest, flat grassy area, with that nice little nook next to the tree perfect for a sweetheart table, but the drawback to this area is that there is not much of an ocean view from here. It sure is quiet and peaceful, though.

The lawn next to the iconic star fountain is probably where most of the weddings are held. This is also the area with the most direct beach access.

Check out that view.

So here are the dirty details. Weddings are held at the Adamson house from April to October only — I think. The cost to have a party on the grounds is ~~$6,500~~ $7,000 and they don’t provide anything — you would have to bring in your own chairs, tables, caterers, etc. But check out that view! Call (310) 457-8185 for more wedding information

Want to get married on the beach? Check out a state park

Everyone wants to get married on the beach. In California, its totally possible. It can get expensive though. One way to get around that is to take advantage of the vast number of California state parks.

Photo by Flickr’s steveroake

There are a few in the metropolitan Los Angeles area that you can take advantage of, including San Clemente State Beach, pictured above. San Clemente State Beach is probably most often used for engagement and wedding photos, but did you know they have a Historic Cottage? Yeah, its available for rent for weddings, receptions and special events.

Photo by Flickr’s Sonia and Anil

Adamson House in Malibu is another one of those spots. Its owned by the state parks system, so its probably a bit cheaper than other spots in Malibu. The grounds of the house overlook the ocean, and probably makes for a chilly evening reception, hence the portable heaters in the picture above. I’ve actually been planning to visit Adamson House for months, so I’ll take tons of pictures and share them on flickr.

Photo by Flickr’s rbenjaminross

Again, down south in Orange County, another spot I’ve been wanting to visit (for camping, really) is Crystal Cove State Park. Apparently, there are bluff tops perfect for beach weddings. For receptions, though, I’m not sure what facilities are available. Maybe the Interpretive Center? Who knows. You gotta call them to find out.
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