San Pedro...We love you!

So here begins the postings of our process. I have already been researching for the past 2 months…well, almost two months. I am pretty sure we have decided on a venue for the reception. It was by far one of the cheapest options here in San Pedro, CA and it has a lovely view. We didn’t have a long list of wants, just an approximate number cap, space, and what can give us the most for our money. It has always seemed ideal to have the wedding ceremony and reception in the new city we have begun to love. San Pedro, from what I’ve heard, has and/or has had a negative connotation. I for one cannot call myself a true Californian; therefore my opinions on these matters are all hearsay. Like any other city, San Pedro has its rough parts, but it has so many beautiful spots. Now I will say that I have looked in many places around the area, but nothing has compared to our choice. From my research and approximations, this is what I found (take into consideration that I am approximating the number for 150 guests):

Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor Hotel – San Pedro, CA

- $14,000 including reception and ceremony site, buffet, estimated tax & gratuity, tables, chairs, choice of linens, cake, dance floor, mirrored tile & two votive candles per table, hotel self-parking for guest, complimentary suite for bride & groom, champagne/cider toast, lights and fancy draping for head table and cake table, and my estimated $1500-$2000 cap for hosted bar (seems nice, don’t like the price, venue doesn’t seem to fit our personality)

Occasions – El Segundo, CA

- $13,500 including reception and ceremony site, buffet, tables, chairs, basic linens, estimated tax & gratuity, and unlimited soda/juices/water/coffee; I would have to pay an additional $2/person for cake cutting fee; need to provide own alcohol (no corkage fee) (eh…not impressed)

Sepulveda Home – San Pedro, CA

- $7500 including food, estimated tax & gratuity for food, and a small staff for 6 hours. Does not include event package price or drinks (I say, if you desire a plantation style home for your wedding, then this is the place….beautiful, but out of our budget reach)

The Plaza at Cabrillo Beach Marina – San Pedro, CA

- $1899 plus $500 refundable deposit including facility cost for reception (8am-12am rental – there’s a kitchen on the premises). I would need to provide everything else – caterer, tables, chairs, dance floor, table linens, alcohol, etc. You get the picture. (If you have a great/cheap caterer in mind or want to have a pot luck wedding or such, then this is a great location…right by the water).

Redondo Beach Historic Library – Redondo Beach, CA

- $18,700 including 4 hr site rental, 3 traypassed or stationary Hors d’oeuvres, 2 entrees, 4 hr hosted beer/wine/soft drinks/juice bar, champagne/sparkling cider toast, 3 tier wedding cake, customized floor layout, votive candles, disc jockey, tables/chairs, floor length linens, gift & cake table, check-in table, valet parking, staff, event manager, ceremony rehearsal, and estimated tax/gratuity. (looks like a beautiful place, but way over our budget, especially considering the amount of time you get).

Ports O’ Call Restaurant – San Pedro, CA

- $10,705 including site, tables/chairs, linen choice, complete set-up, cake, 3 hrs of hosted well bar, unlimited coffee/tea/punch, champagne toast, parking, and estimated tax/gratuity (pretty…right on water/harbor)

Los Verdes Golf Course – Palos Verdes, CA (I think?)

- $14,012 including site, tables/chairs, food, estimated tax/gratuity, 3 hr hosted soft bar, unlimited punch/coffee/tea, cake, reception set-up with choice of linens, parking (eh?)

Dalmatian American Club of San Pedro – San Pedro, CA

- $8000 including 6 hr hall rental, security, the setup/cleanup fee, evening rental deposit, buffet, coffee, and tables/chairs (I believe?). Still would need to put in for drinks and alcohol. (Doesn’t seem worth it.)

Palos Verdes Art Center – Palos Verdes, CA

- $1500 including site rental fee for 8 hours and tables/chairs. 150 people is pushing the limit for this place and you need to provide your own caterer (approved by them)

Harbor Masonic Lodge – San Pedro, CA

- $6000 including 6 hrs of reception time, 2 hrs of set-up time, 1 hr for clean-up, round banquet tables, chairs, complete bar set-up (no host), linen table clothes (wht or ivory), linen napkins (your choice of color), white china/glassware, buffet, fruit punch/tea/coffee, 4 hrs of hosted soft bar (wines, imported & domestic beers, soft drinks, bottled water, coffee), cake cutting/serving, and staff. (We were highly considering this place. It has a decent view of the San Pedro Harbor and is a good size.)

Well, this is our list so far. I have a few more places, but these are the only ones I bothered calculating. Others were way over our price range (as a few of the ones I posted are as well). We don’t know exactly how many guests we will have – 150 is a tad to high, even though I based my numbers off of it…you never know, but we do know that we have many friends and families we want to invite, yet many that we cannot.

It can be such a tiring process finding a reception venue, but it can be fun too. Now we just need to hone in on finding a ceremony spot. We got some places in mind, but are a little undecided over renting chairs for a 15-20 minute ceremony or not. This seems to be a hot topic for many, but it doesn’t get us any closer to our decision.

Well, like I said...we love it here, and therefore are working hard at keeping the wedding in our new love, San Pedro.

WHY now?

My fiancé said I should start a blog of wedding plans. I thought it sounded interesting, but didn’t really know where to start. Being behind the times with this whole blog frenzy, it intimidated me a little.

Well, with the help of Johann, I hope to share step by step our wedding plan moments and everything else it entails. We’ve seen and heard people trying to plan a wedding for $10,000, and that’s what we hope to achieve, or at least something close to that, give or take a couple thousand. Do you think it's possible? There's no harm in trying and hoping for the best. Here we go.

The basics.

HIS Proposal.

It was just a normal day. Thursday March 4, 2010

Our Engagement began with...

love declarations written on torn pieces of note paper. It felt like a normal Thursday and I certainly had no notion that a proposal was going to take place by the end of the day, yet it wasn't a normal day and a proposal would take place.

If you ask me, Johann has always been and will always be the sweet man who wants nothing but to make me happy. Knowing that, I had thought little of the love notes he nonchalantly placed throughout our apartment that day, except for the fact that it proved I had found a great man. Starting in the morning up until he arrived home from work, I would receive text messages leading me to the hidden spots of these special notes. Texts I received were vague and to the point, and not so sweet...just "you might want to.." notes, such as "I was grabbing out a pair of shoes this morning for work when I noticed your tennis shoes smelled. You might want to check them out and clean them" or "I noticed that it was dirty under the DVR player. You might want to dust under it." These are just examples, but you get the point. Some of the declarations were:

* Little by little our dreams are becoming reality!

* You are beautiful, amazing, and practically perfect...in every way!

* Te iubesc foarte mult! (translation "I love you very much!")

and the list goes on.

When Johann arrived home I made sure to bombard him at the door with a big kiss and hug for making me feel special that day. During my bombardment he once again nonchalantly threw a piece of paper on the couch, claiming I had forgot one note. It was during my stretch across the couch to reach for the paper that found him kneeling on the floor and holding a ring as I read the note of "Will you marry me?". Of course I said yes...one of the easiest questions I ever had to answer.

If that wasn't enough, the funny thing is that he had me make reservations earlier that day at a nice Italian restaurant "Neil's Pasta and Seafood Grill" here in San Pedro, CA. You would think I should have seen something coming, but little do you know that we had been planning on trying a few fancy restaurants to find a good place to take my parents to when they came to visit us on March 14th. I assumed this was the first place we would try...nothing special, just a trial restaurant that would get us closer to our decision on where to take my parents. You can say that it was a nice addition to a day filled with love notes and a marriage proposal. I recommend the Fettuccine Carbonara dish....delish!

And so our engagement began.