Site Seeing
By the time we got through the debacle that was setting a date for the wedding, it was already less than 10 months until said date. That put a lot of pressure on us to reserve a wedding location, stat. Since I was planning a wedding in L.A. from Boston, our expedited schedule meant that I had to book a venue, sight unseen. Well, this week I finally got a chance to visit our venue with wedding planner extraordinaire Angel Swanson, and we were giddy to discover that it's lovely. Check out this postcard-worthy view of Marina del Rey:
The only part of the venue that's kind of blah is the ceremony space. Since our wedding is large (about 300 people), we couldn't use the venue's usual ceremony location, which is a beautiful and intimate garden area. Instead, our ceremony will take place in "Marina Court," which is an euphemism for a converted tennis court facing the marina.
The space is basically a blank canvas, which is both exciting and scary, especially when one is worried about budget. Luckily, our wedding is after sunset, so we'll be able to use lighting to direct attention to the items worth focusing on (the chuppah) and away from the ugly bits (the adjacent tennis court and anyone practicing his or her backhand at 6:30 on a Saturday evening).
My thought upon seeing the space was to have the ceremony in the round, which focuses attention on the chuppah and brings an intimate, surrounded-by-friends-and-family feel to the event. Plus there's nice symbolism behind circular configurations, right? I haven't attended a wedding in the round before, but I'm guessing it'd be charming for the guests to be able to get a different vantage point on the ceremony. And it'd also reduce the number of persons staring at my badonkadonk -- I got big butt and I cannot lie -- for half an hour.
[Image source.]
I leave you with a photo of Angel and me with our "this venue kind of rocks" face on.
Did you book your venue without visiting it in person? Does your space require an unusual configuration or creative jiggling?
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Ok, this is weird. I was going to PM you on WB a little while back to tell you a little story about the Ritz MDR garden ceremony area. First off, it's such a lovely location and the hotel is b-e-a-utiful! Second, my friend had the garden ceremony back in late 06. It was great, but the garden is adjacent to the hotel pool and this lady in her bathing suit kept walking back and forth (at least a few times) during the actual ceremony/vows! She was quite visible to guests and all. It was kinda awkward. So, I'm happy to hear you are in the "Marina Court"! I hope that puts a positive spin on (what I'm sure will be) a gorgeous ceremony space!! Btw, the FI and I nearly booked the Ebell (site of the circular seating pic). I love that configuration!
LOL! I suppose if she were hot, guests would get a kick out of it. I can totally see the same thing happening with us and the tennis court.
Hahahaha! If memory serves me correctly, she wasn't exactly "bathing suit ready". :)
Most people were just baffled as to why she didn't move to another area of the pool. I understand that it's a hotel and guests pay for the amenities BUT if I were a guest, honestly, I'd move away from where guests could see me or wait until after the ceremony/vows to start my match or go swimming. But maybe that's just me...
Can't wait to see how you decorate the space. I'm sure it will be gorgeous. The view is absolutely breathtaking. My friend had her cocktail hour in a small patio directly next to the boats and the marina walkway. It made for fabulous picture-taking!!!