help with planning in CA please, im lost

[pashmoloo]

Hi ,

I have introduced myself on another thread, but i thought i would ask here too for any help with planning my wedding. I have no idea how to go about it in the US. We are from the UK, and i think we do things differently here.
Anyway, i would love to get married at Laguna, Newport or Huntington beach. Relaxed, small (only 25 peeps) but still elegant. I just dont know where to look for venues and how the pricing works and things so confused!

Thanks
Nadinexxxx

[BJC777SRL]

Umm... Well I suppose first you should decide which beach you want to get married at. Then I'd get ahold of someone in the Parks department for that specific city and see if you need any permits or any fees to use the beach.

[pashmoloo]

Originally Posted by BJC777SRL

Umm... Well I suppose first you should decide which beach you want to get married at. Then I'd get ahold of someone in the Parks department for that specific city and see if you need any permits or any fees to use the beach.

Thanks hun, i did think of the actual beach but the thought of my 4 year old chucking the sand at me put me off! LOL

I would love a beach hotel though, one with a fab view. I was looking at the Ritz Carlton http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Proper...el/Default.htm

xxxx

[BJC777SRL]

Ah, well that's a horse of a different color!

I just found this site on a quick search..going through it now to look for help for ya!
http://www.myorangecountywedding.com/

ETA:
and the Ritz is BEAUTIFUL if you've got that kind of budget!

ETA Again: This looks pretty
" 21 Oceanfront Restaurant We specialize in small, intimate weddings of 10-75 people. Our Romantic luxurious surroundings are the perfect location to celebrate your big day. www.21oceanfront.com "

and this:
http://www.hotellaguna.com/weddings_meetings.html

and this:
http://www.casacamino.com/meetings2.html

[Sh@ks18]

Huntington beach Hilton has a gorgeous view as well. Ive seen them do an outdoor wedding on the balcony overlooking the water. It was gorgeous

[pashmoloo]

Originally Posted by BJC777SRL

Ah, well that's a horse of a different color!

I just found this site on a quick search..going through it now to look for help for ya!
http://www.myorangecountywedding.com/

ETA:
and the Ritz is BEAUTIFUL if you've got that kind of budget!

ETA Again: This looks pretty
" 21 Oceanfront Restaurant We specialize in small, intimate weddings of 10-75 people. Our Romantic luxurious surroundings are the perfect location to celebrate your big day. www.21oceanfront.com "

and this:
http://www.hotellaguna.com/weddings_meetings.html

and this:
http://www.casacamino.com/meetings2.html

Thank you so much for all that, its been really helpful
I wasnt sure if the Rizt was expensive or not really, to be honest the hotel i liked here was not much cheaper.

I dont have a budget yet, asi thought i would work that out when i get an idea of what things cost.

So the Ritz is classed as expensive in the US then? I could get cheaper but just as nice then?

Thanks hun xxxx

[pashmoloo]

Originally Posted by Shaks18

Huntington beach Hilton has a gorgeous view as well. Ive seen them do an outdoor wedding on the balcony overlooking the water. It was gorgeous

Just had a look. It looks lovely! Thank you for your help

This is such a lovely forum, and everyone is really helpful. Thank you xxx

[BJC777SRL]

I haven't personally checked around to all the hotels in the area, but any nice hotel on the beach is going to cost a pretty penny I think.

[pashmoloo]

Thanks hun. I dont mind it costing a little more really. I would be staying at my brothers house for the 2 weeks so that would save some cash, and heck i think after 16 years (or 19 by the time we get wed) i think i need to splash out if im not getting married in the UK traditional way! Thats my excuse anyway! LOL

Oh just had a thought, as we dont need anything gift wise i could always ask for the help of a little amount towards the flights, which would help

[pashmoloo]

I really hope you dont mind me pestering you like this, but i really am confused with the prices of things. This is what i got from the Ritz, does this mean that the section that says requirments for all weddings is included in the price, or will this be extra, and also does this mean that i would have to pay for the hire of the ceromony, hire of the reception and pay extra for the meal? Its just that we dont do it like that here, so im really lost.

Time Frames:

ö Afternoon: 11:00am - 4:00pm

ö Evening: 6:00pm - 12:00am

Ceremony Location Pricing:

ö The Monarch Bay Sunset Terrace (exclusive ceremony location for The Plaza Room): $4,000

Event Room Pricing:

ö The Plaza Room: $1,500

Food and Beverage Minimums (excluding August 8, 2008):

The Plaza Room (40 minimum – 70 maximum):

ö Saturday or Sunday Afternoon: $7,000

ö Monday - Thursday Evening: $6,000

ö Friday or Sunday Evening (excluding holiday weekends): $9,000

ö Saturday Evening: $11,000

Requirements for All Weddings:

ö Afternoon Events - four pieces of hors d’oeuvres per guest for your welcome reception, three course plated lunch or buffet, wedding cake or dessert station, hosted beverage service with meal.

ö Evening Events – six pieces of hors d’oeuvres per guest for your welcome reception, three course plated dinner or buffet, wedding cake or dessert station, hosted beverage service with meal.

ö All weddings hosted at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel are required to hire a Hotel approved, professional, wedding coordinator to assist you with the month leading into the wedding, conduct the rehearsal and be on premise the day of the wedding to coordinate your celebration. We will be pleased to recommend a professional wedding consultant to coordinate your special day.




God i hope you dont think im stupid, cos i really sound it , but i promise im not and once i get the hang of the way things are done i should be ok

[NovemberGal]

I *think* what this means is that there's a $4000 charge for the ceremony location, an additional $1500 room rental for the reception room, and then a F&B minimum (you may go over that, depending on your food choices, and if you're under it, you pay that much anyway) that varies from $6000 to $11000 depending on the day.

Those "requirements"--my guess is that the food requirements listed are included in your minimum...ie, you have a choice of that many hors d'oeuvres, etc. Now, some choices may ADD an expense (ie, shrimp is more expensive than chicken). My guess would be that the required wedding coordinator cost is NOT included in the previously listed costs.

However, if you're really interested in the place, you should definitely ask them to clarify before committing to anything. Hotels are often known for squeezing all kinds of costs and fees (like, some places will let you bring in your own wine, but charge a "corking fee" of anywhere from $2 to $15 per bottle).

ETA: I noticed that you mentioned early that you're thinking around 25 people, and the room lists a 40 person minimum. That doesn't mean that they won't let you hold your event there, but it does mean that if the prices are geared to 40-70 people and you have 25, you may have a harder time reaching your F&B minimum (ie, you pay way more person, since you have to pay the min. whether you've got 25 or 40). Also, a space that is too big for the number of people can be almost as bad as a space that is too small--it may feel like people are way too spread out. It might be that part of the room could be screen off or something to avoid that empty room feeling. But you might do better, cost-wise, to find a space that fits your group better.

ETA #2: Funny that they are already reserving out Aug 8, 2008. That will probably be a very popular date, the way 07-07-07 is this year, so they're already reserving the right to raise their prices!

[pashmoloo]

Ahhh right, i think ive got the hang of it now! Thank you so much, you have no idea how confused it made me and my friends! LOL I even had to take 2 pain killers in the end!

Thank you. Well its 1am here, and i think i should head off to bed. Its been lovely chatting.

Love
Nadinexxxx

[NovemberGal]

In case the idea of the minimum is confusing, I can use my wedding as an example. The restaurant we used set a food & bev minimum based on how many of the private rooms are rented out. We took the whole floor, although we didn't have the full number of people the rooms would hold, because we wanted one space for the cocktail hour, then have people move into a large space for dinner/dancing, and had a small room just for the wedding party off to the side. This also ensured that there was not another event going on at the same time as our reception, and also that we could declare the floor non-smoking.

Because the extra space meant a higher minimum, we were able to make some food choices that had extra costs (like $2 extra per person for salmon) without worrying about it--if we had a lower minimum that we could hit without adding those extra costs, we wouldn't have splurged, but because we had to pay it anyway we might as well. We actually still didn't quite meet the minimum, so the sommelier sent several VERY nice bottles of wine home with us. Which was really nice--he didn't have to do that, they could have had free money.

There were plenty of food choice in all categories (hors d'oeuvre, entree, etc) that had NO extra charge beyond the base per person cost.

That's really long winded and probably not any less confusing, sorry!

[pashmoloo]

Thanks for that NovemberGal,

In the Uk, you just decide on your venue and the meal you want, and all you pay for is the meal you have booked for the amount of people you have booked it for. So if you have invited 100 people then you can pick a menu that is within your budget and pay that for 100 people and then a drinks package per person too. If you get married at the hotel too, then you just pay for the hire of the ceremony room. If you want to have a night do (as we call it) then you usually just pay for an extra meal per person, the most popular is pie and peas, and you pay for the DJ or band. If you need to book rooms for the guests to stay in then they give you a discounted price as you are holding your wedding there, so even if you only have say 6 rooms booked its still at a discount rate (now not all hotels will do this, but most of them do) You also get lots of things thrown in, like the wedding night room for bride and groom is free, and maybe flowers.
This way it means you can decide just what you can afford and if you dont have enough for a drinks package then you can leave it, or pick the cheapest, and if its too expensive to have 100 people eating a 4 course sitdown meal then you can have the 3 course meal still with only 6 rooms booked.
Hope i explained it ok, even this sounds confusing now LOL
Thats why the whole thing was getting to my head cos of the way we do it

Now all i have to do, is find some more venues and see what they charge.

On a seperate note, how much are cakes in general. Do you think i could get a really nice cake for $100 for 28 people? Or would it be better to think along the lines of $300?

[NovemberGal]

As far as cakes, the cost can vary HUGELY, and seems to be very different in different places. Since I'm on the East coast, I have no sense of CA costs. Maybe Feb or one of the other Cali ladies can chime in? Around here, it isn't unreasonable to see $5/serving and up. I think mine was about $3/serving, but it was included with my package at the venue, so I'm not sure. That's another thing to check; not all places will let you hire any baker you want. Sometimes you have to use their services, or choose from a list of "approved" vendors.

[pashmoloo]

Originally Posted by disneybridetobe

Hi!

I love your name by the way. Are you Persian?

Anyway, if you like I can help you out with your wedding plans here in California. I am a wedding coordinator. I can do all of the research for all teh venues and vendors for you and find the best bargains and deals etc....so you dont have to worry about it. Check out my site and contact me if you like.

http://www.pennyrellaweddings.com/

HI,

Yes i was born in Iran, but left there when i was 10 after the war was just too much. My dad is Iranian and my mum is English, so we came to the Uk to stay with my grandparents till they would allow my mum out of Iran too.

Thank you for the offer, your web site looks great. Could you give me a little info on prices you charge for the service you could offer me.

Thank you

[pashmoloo]

Originally Posted by NovemberGal

As far as cakes, the cost can vary HUGELY, and seems to be very different in different places. Since I'm on the East coast, I have no sense of CA costs. Maybe Feb or one of the other Cali ladies can chime in? Around here, it isn't unreasonable to see $5/serving and up. I think mine was about $3/serving, but it was included with my package at the venue, so I'm not sure. That's another thing to check; not all places will let you hire any baker you want. Sometimes you have to use their services, or choose from a list of "approved" vendors.

Thank you again hun, you have been a great help to me, and i now understand a little about the way things work

Thank you MWAH xxxxxxxxxxxxxx