The Venue

I discovered that my frustration in finding a venue for our wedding was not unique. It's common for the budget-minded couple. And we did eventually find a venue. And I was relieved to finally have a wedding date. I was okay about the venue we had chosen...it wasn't my first or second choice, but it was my parents' favorite venue, and my fiance was actually okay with the cost.

The Irvine Hilton is where our wedding will take place next year. We're still not sure if we should do the ceremony there, so that's still up in the air. But we will be doing the reception and dinner and dancing there.


The picture above is the outside. It's very close to John Wayne Airport, which will be really convenient for our out-of-towners, and we expect a lot of out-of-towners. We were also able to get a discounted rate for our guests. Not to mention they're giving a honeymoon suite for the evening.

Here's a picture I took of the ballroom. There was going to be a wedding that day.



Here's a picture of the foyer where cocktail hour will held. I thought the chandeliers were interesting decoration pieces.


Here's what impressed me about the Irvine Hilton: the $10M renovation to the inside of the hotel.






The thing that did not impress me was the location of where the ceremony would be held: aka the patio area.





It's not a bad lounge area, but it's not a great ceremony area. The entrance is where the hotel lobby ends. So strangers would definitely be able to check out what's going on, and if I didn't pay for your butt to be there, I don't want you freeload watching my wedding. It sounds silly, but I want this to be about us and our guests. The other thing that really upset me was the cost, especially for our ceremony site to be right next to the pool and tennis court. What the freak Hilton?!

Anyways...there it is. We were able to get a discount by choosing a Sunday for our event. We got lucky and took the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend.

Next challenge: how to make it beautiful!

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A Favorite Venue...still not ours

The Orange County Museum of Art was a favorite of mine. I didn't even know that we had such a museum and that it was right down the street from where I work. It was such a cute place! I love the inside! It has so much potential. I wish it was a little closer to the water, but you can't have everything. The area where the ceremony would be held is alright, but again, here's where imagination really helps.

Pricewise...I didn't think it was hair-raising scary, but I think with additional costs of decorations, photography, and catering, the bill might go over our budget. However, what's nice, is that they don't charge more during peak wedding season, so it's a definite possibilty for my dream June wedding. Though i've come to terms to accept an off wedding season wedding...hence, the reason we are starting to look now.

The weather now is still a little bit too chilly for my tastes, however. I'm going to hope for a wedding between April and June (including June).

Pictures from OCMA (I apologize for the quality; these were taken with my phone camera):

The glass garage doors would be open for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and part of the reception. They would be lowered once the party started, i.e. music and dancing. The ceremony would be held outdoors.

I love how the bar looks!

The entrance hall or lobby (looking from the inside).

The cereony area. Chairs would be arranged to face the white backdrop.

The left side of the ceremony area (looking towards the white backdrop).

Looking at the OCMA building from the outside (white backdrop behind me).

Making a 360 turning left. There's my honey. He's holding my clipboard with all my questions. Hehe. Yes, he came. The coordinator was pleasantly surprised with his presence.

The glass doors would be open. This area would double as the cocktail hour and dancing. The projections screen and dj would be placed behind me. There was an art piece there, and we're not allowed to take pictures of them; that's why I couldn't show you the entire area.

So there it is. I wish I had better pictures. Pictures of the place decorated are awesome! I don't have any of those on hand.

One more picture...of the bar.

I called in late May to inquire about available dates next year, but I was told they were no longer accepting events for the rest of 2008 and for 2009. So...this is not our venue.

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Still not our venue...

The other venue was the Lido Isle Yacht Club. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but it's still a good contender.

Likes: It sits right on the ocean. The caterer said that it's got a great catering kitchen, and our food would come out really fresh. We can be in there until midnight.

Dislikes: It's a little smaller than what I have in mind. It's divided into 2 rooms. It's in a neighborhood, so parking might be a little horrendous.

I'm also having a bit of a hard time envisioning the place decked out for the wedding. So...some pictures:

The entrance.

...to the right of the entrance. The ocean behind...

Looking out the window...towards the ocean.

The back room. This is where the ceremony would be held. Or we could do the ceremony right on the beach. But I don't really want to walk on the sand, and I want to wear my shoes.

The bar.

The main room.

More of the main room.

The patio outside.

The dock right outside the club.

The other side of the club.

Looking across the street. Guests would park alongside the curb. Love that street lamp though. This neighborhood is so gorgeous!

But...still not our venue.

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A Pretty Venue

Alright...so I probably can't afford my dream venue, but I suppose I could get close???

At first, we were looking at places we really wanted, but could definitely not afford. So now, we've (when I say "we", I really mean "I") created a list of criteria to which our affordable venue needed to meet:

1. complimentary parking
2. outside catering allowed
3. low venue fees and low minimum food & beverage
4. holds 1 event per day
5. can hold ceremony and reception
6. noise constraints are minimal
7. must be in OC
8. 11:00PM ending time

Park Prive in Costa Mesa met almost all of the criteria. The only one it did not make was the allowance of outside catering. But we hear that the food is pretty good, so I'm not worried about that. No venue fees for Park Prive either, which I liked! The location isn't as close to the water as we like; in fact, the location is a bit unorthodox, but it's also kind of unique as well. It's in the middle of a business park, and next door...a small vineyard. When driving there, you would totally think you're lost or going the wrong way, but when you get there, you are pleasantly surprised.

Here's the thing though...I've crunched the numbers, and with taxes and service fees, for a guest list of 150, we hit right under our budget. This is not including photography, florals, a dj, favors, and the photobooth I soooo want to have (could double as favors though). I'm estimating we would need another $10k (I'm including tips we would have to pay to servers for the day...are tips really necessary?) for the rest of that stuff.

Some pictures I took on the day I went to tour the site:

The outside courtyard.

The park in which the ceremony would be held. You can also have the reception outside.

1st room

where the reception would be (this set up was for a meeting they did earlier)

This would be the dance floor.

The bridal suite. With climate control and natural light.

The groom's suite. With climate control and TV.

And two of these rooms for the kids...both have TVs in there. I love this.

Fi has never seen it though. And we received an actual proposal with some surprise fees that were never mentioned before...like staffing and the ceremony site fee (what happened to no venue fees???).

I've had put 2 dates on hold...but budget restrictions prevailed...and Park Prive is out of the running.

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More venues

Saw 2 venues during my lunch hour a while back; it took a little bit longer though. A friend of a friend (who happens to own her own catering company) picked me up and took me to see The Cafe at Techspace in Aliso Viejo and the Lido Isle Yacht Club in Newport Beach. I explained to her our budget and situation, and she has obliged to be very mindful of it. I feel so restricted though in what we can and can't do...but as my wonderful hubby-to-be says, it's the marriage we need to look forward to, not the wedding. *sigh*

The Cafe at Techspace in Aliso Viejo has a corporate office setting. During the day, The Cafe is a cafeteria for the buidling's employees, and on weekends, it turns into an event facility. Pictures from http://www.herecomestheguide.com/:

Things I liked...the space was large and versatile. It didn't really look like a corporate office building inside. Lots of free parking. Guests could choose to hang out in the garden (which has a small waterfall and pond) or inside where the dance floor (won't have to pay extra for this) is. Also, if I chose, I could keep the pool table inside and allow guests to play if that's what they wanted to do. Weird, I know...a game of pool at my wedding? Tables and chairs are already provided, and they're not really at all hideous. Oh, and the bar is big! Me likey that!

Things I didn't like...It is a corporate office setting. The garden is quite small; ideally it would be where the ceremony would be held, but there's a tree smack dab in the middle where I would walk down the "aisle."

Some of my pictures:

The bar.

I like this lounge-y area.

better picture of the space.

Here's that tree...

Some garden shots below:

So that's it. I'll save the Lido Isle Yacht Club for another post.

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