Wedding Venue: Almansor Court in Alhambra

If there is one venue I have been to repeatedly as a wedding decorator, it would be Almansor Court in Alhambra. For my mom and her clientele, its location was ideal — right in the middle of the San Gabriel Valley, not far from the 10 Freeway, but also not overlooking the freeway.

Almansor Court is essentially the banquet facility of the Almansor Golf Club. It’s popularity is partly due to what you see here — its perch overlooking its gazebo, which sits on the edge of Alhambra Lake. What you don’t see is that the lake and the banquet facility are also the immediate neighbors of Almansor Park.

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Weddings are expensive

File this under “Stuff We Already Knew,” but its still shocking to see just how much we end up spending on weddings and all the other wedding-related stuff. I’ve run into several really great graphics illustrating exactly why the average cost of a wedding is inching toward $30,000. I hope its known that $30,000 would be a pretty great down payment on a house in most of the U.S. right about now.

TheKnot.com has been busy posting graphics money and weddings. First off, let’s look at the top 25 most expensive places to get married.

Graphic by TheKnot.com

I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that it is so incredibly expensive to get married in Manhattan at $76,687 (!), but I was surprised to see Chicago so high up, above Long Island ($49,002), North/Central New Jersey ($48,496) and Rhode Island ($47,399) — it costs a whopping $49,810 to get married in Chicago. Seriously, I would have expected Los Angeles ($35,308) or San Francisco ($35,344) to be higher up, but compared to the East Coast, getting married in California seems like a deal. Plus our weather is better.

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Budget-friendly Southern California wedding venues

Getting married is so expensive these days, but there are at least a few ways to cut down on the expenses. The biggest expense by far is your guest list, so if you can have a small wedding, that will make a big difference on your wedding budget.

Your next biggest expense is your wedding venue. To keep costs down, look for a venue where you can hold both your ceremony and your reception. Another thing to keep in mind to save money — think all inclusive. Just like an all-inclusive resort, where you can get your room, food and a few activities in one package, there are some venues that provide everything — the venue, the linens, the food, the cake, the decorations, etc.

Since last year, I’ve been compiling a list of Southern California wedding venues that brides say have given them a great deal, or have contacted me for consideration as a venue that offers a great deal — and I’ve seen evidence online to support it. I haven’t had personal experience with any of these venues, so take these suggestions as just that — suggestions for wedding venues you should check out.

Highland Springs Resort

Highland Springs Resort in Cherry Valley (Riverside County) is home to olive fields, an 1,100-year-old oak tree and a lavender farm, which makes me think it must smell wonderful out there. A recent Yelp review notes that “resort” is a bit of a stretch, but that could work in the favor of a budget-conscious bride. Going back to 2011, a poster on WeddingBee says she was quoted $8,000 for a party of 200, including the venue, tables, chairs, linens, flatware, cake and food — quite a deal.
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Trends in 2013: Do-It-Yourself photobooths and backdrops

I should’ve known this was coming. My friend Michelle (a blogger/journalist hybrid like myself) is much more of a trendsetter than I am, so I should’ve known, when I blogged about how she created her own photobooth for her wedding a few years ago, that it would be come a trend.

Michelle & Matt posing in their DIY photobooth

Photobooths have taken off, but they’re expensive. So, seeing as how people can be innovative when it comes to saving money, DIY photobooths — basically a wall set up so you can take photos in front of it — have taken off, and there’s no sign of that trend abating.

I’ve done plenty of backdrops, but they’ve all been for behind sweetheart tables, head tables and cake tables — there’s less traffic in front of these backdrops, so you can use fluffy material like organza.

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Trends in 2013: Mint

When it comes to color, I think mint green will be popular in 2013’s weddings. I can’t say exactly why, but I’ve seen it at a couple of weddings this year, and it makes me think that as a color, it will just continue to grow in popularity next year.

In terms of flowers and decorations, mint green (or light green, if that’s your preference), its an easy color to work with. Probably the flower most closely matching mint green is the green cymbidium orchid, like the one in the little silver cup at the base of this tall arrangement. When choosing flowers for a mint green wedding, you really just need lots of greens and lots of white flowers. And you can mix in a few green cymbidiums and green mums, too.

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Trends In 2013: Flying Wish Lanterns

I remember seeing flying wish lanterns in the animated film “Tangled.” I’ve never seen flying wish lanterns in person, but the film was so great, I felt like I’d seen them close up. Then I saw someone had pinned a flying wish lantern on Pinterest, and it was over. It’s my wish that they become one of 2013’s hot wedding trends.

Flickr photo by elizaIO

Flying wish lanterns, also known as sky lanterns, are Chinese in origin, according to Wikipedia. They work kind of like mini hot air balloons, with the hot air from the flame lifting up the entire lantern to the sky, like a balloon. When used singly, it is quick to disappear. But when you light dozens into a dark sky, the effect is breathtaking.

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Trends in 2013: Garlands

I worked with garlands very early on in my “career” decorating weddings with my mom. In fact, I’d say that garlands were the first thing I draped. For us at the time, garlands were silk flowers and leaves that I would use on pretty much anything — church pews, reception tables, gazebos. This was back in, gosh, 1994, 1995? So it doesn’t surprise me that garlands are making a comeback, with a modern twist.

Fresh garland as aisle decorations

This garland, which my mom had made, for a friend’s wedding in Pasadena, was made of fresh greens — lemon leaves and another green leaf that is thorny and itchy — for the aisle decorations. It’s very traditional. But I think 2013’s wedding garlands will be very DIY.

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