2 Weddings, 1 ritzy wedding venue with an ocean view

A friend of mine often works weddings at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, and whenever she does, she snaps photos for me. It’s a nice peek into the world of very fancy weddings — I don’t think I ever got a chance to decorate a wedding at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel (although I have decorated weddings at other Ritz-Carlton locations).

The first was a Pakistani-Bulgarian wedding, but you would never know it from the decorations. These are just a few photos from what my friend sent.

An overview of the setup. I love the simplicity.

The vases holding the flowers are no doubt glass, but I would bet that the stands are clear acrylic. I would also bet that the frosting effect was achieved with either baby powder that’s easy to wipe off, or possibly just a result of condensation from the grass they’re sitting on.

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When planning a wedding, secure a venue first

Planning a wedding can be a bewildering experience. But once you’ve secured the fiance and figured out a date, I firmly believe the first thing you should tackle in planning a wedding is finding a venue.

Stock image by katman1972

Why the venue first? Because it’ll probably be your biggest expense. And when it comes to big expenses, its generally better to secure the best price you can get early on, rather than get hit with exorbitant fees the closer you get to your wedding date. It’s pretty much impossible to book a wedding venue three months in advance, and you have to be wicked lucky six months out. A good rule of thumb is to secure a wedding venue a year in advance.

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Wedding Venue: Cal State Fullerton’s Alumni House

I’ve known for quite a while what a lovely campus Cal State Fullerton students enjoy, and I never even got out to the Arboretum! I was a student at Fullerton for about two and a half years, and while I didn’t actually live on campus, I did spend a good deal of time there, especially during my semesters on the Daily Titan staff. So when a tidbit about a wedding at the Alumni House came across my Facebook newsfeed not too long ago, it piqued my interest.

Photos by Karlos Ramirez, Courtesy of Cal State Fullerton Alumni House

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Wedding Venue: CBS Radford Lot in Studio City

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, or even read the About page, you already know I’m neither a full-time wedding decorator or wedding blogger. My day job (so to speak, since I work the night shift) is online news production for CBS 2 / KCAL 9. So I happen to work at the Studio City Broadcast Center, which is located on CBS’ Radford Lot, where it so happened a reception was happening one recent Saturday.

Of course, being as nosy as I am, I had to peek in, see how it was done, and of course, take pictures. It happened to be a somewhat slow news day, so I was able to use my breaks to indulge my nosiness….er, I mean, curiosity. FYI, I just want to make it clear these are not my decorations or flowers. I’ll give you the florist’s information at the end of this post.

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Budget-friendly venues in Southern California

It amuses me that my friends now come to me as a sort of sounding board for upcoming wedding planning. One of those friends includes Bryan Frank, a news photographer for my station and a fellow blogger. Turns out his oldest daughter is engaged and is turning to mom and dad for help finding a wedding venue that only an economist (the daughter) could love.

So he stopped by my desk the other day and picked my brain about which, in my experience, wedding venues in Southern California give you the most bang for the buck. Now, seeing as how I didn’t exactly get married in a traditional manner, I don’t exactly have a bride’s experience with shopping wedding venues. But I do have secondary experience with brides on a budget. My mom’s clientele was in general all budget minded, but they all liked things to look nice, too. So, I’m going to share with you an alphabetical list of the venues I’ve decorated at least four times or more, which indicates to me all these venues are budget-friendly.

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