Out and About

June 1, 2013 lisasimpsonweddingcelebrations
Tags: five crown restaurant wedding, hyatt newport beach, hyatt regency irvine wedding, intercontinental hotel los angeles wedding, lisa simpson wedding celebrations, lisa simpson wedding co-ordinator, lisa simpson wedding planner, lisa simpson weddings, maestros south coast plaza wedding, oc preferred wedding planner, OC wedding planner, portofino hotel wedding, portofino hotel wedding redondo beach, redondo beach portofino hotel wedding, surf & sand hotel laguna, Surf & Sand laguna wedding, warner brothers studio wedding, wedding at five crown restaurant corona del mar, wedding at hyatt irvine, wedding at hyatt newport beach, wedding at intercontinental hotel los angeles, wedding at maestros south coast plaza, wedding at portofino hotel, wedding at surf & sand hotel laguna, wedding at warner brothers studio, weddings at wyndham orange county, wyndham orange county hotel wedding, Wyndham Orange County Weddings

Part of what I do is to attend events/accept invites to go and see locations/vendors that I may not be familiar with, or get updated/new info on, this of course can be fun, but it does make me more valuable to you if you are wanting options/thoughts for your wedding location or even rehearsal/pre wedding dinners.
So for the past couple of months it has been tough fitting the lunch/dinners (I officially call them food tastings or quality control!! LOL) around my lovely brides whose weddings are coming up, but someone has to do it.  So here’s some of the latest ……….

Maestros Restaurant by South Coast Plaza, who knew that you could consider them for your wedding event. They have partnered with the courtyard behind their restaurant so you can have your ceremony there (quite modern, artsy look) then your guests go upstairs at Maestros to the balcony (passing the cool bar that is yours on the way, then you can either do dining tables inside and on the balcony or more of a cocktail table type setup in and out and the dancing is held indoors which has a cool club type vibe.

Warner Brothers Studios – I have checked out Universal and Disney for backlot weddings before, but didn’t realise Warner Brothers also had a cool backlot with a bunch of backdrops, jungle/outdoors, 50s, a NY city street with the stoops/steps folks sit on, a business/shopping street which you could via your table linens/florals/decor turn into Paris or the mid west and you can even personalise the shop windows. There are a couple of nice town square areas which have gazebos and grassy lawns, great for a ceremony or the cocktails or even the dining/dancing, and there is a really beautiful lawn area where you can do it all. You can arrange small trams to take the guests on tours during cocktail time around the backlot, how unique an experience and what great memories and after wedding talk your wedding would give the guests.

Hotel Portofino
I have done a wedding up here where you got married at the pool area (they had to close it to hotel guests) and then we went to the smaller banquet room overlooking the Redondo beach area. I have been to a wedding here, and I have stayed here. The great news is, they have really hipped up the restaurant/bar area and now are using a side lawn by the ballroom for the ceremonies. So if you are looking for water surroundings and great food, and a feeling of really being somewhere else, this could be the place for you.

Surf & Sand Hotel Laguna Beach – it’s hard to beat the ceremony backdrop at this property and the banquet rooms not having ocean views has always bothered me a bit, however if you do a sunset ceremony then when the guests go into the ballroom/banquet room, it won’t matter as it will be dark and now the focus can strictly be on the celebrating of what they just witnessed – you getting married. Why I bring this up is, I stayed the night and was really impressed with the quality of the room, the balcony and the view. We were overlooking the pool area with the ocean behind/beside, so I could see the cool cabanas around the pool, and see the waves crashing on the beach. We kept our balcony door open all night so we could hear the waves, being the water/ocean girl I am, that was heaven. So even if not considering having your wedding here, for some of your guests or even for a special night for you, do check this out, I don’t believe there is a hotel in S CA as close to the sand/waves as your room would be here and this level of quality.

Hyatt Irvine – they hosted a luncheon where they brought a lot of us in who had not been there for a while, so we forget. Their ceremony area which is against a back wall of the hotel was decored beautifully and the tent was setup/decored really well. Hard to beat their weekend rates for your guests and it is in such a central location right off the 405/Jamboree that you can do pre and post events anywhere.

Talking about Hyatt’s, Hyatt Newport was the location for an Assn event I belong to, always good to see Eddie. They are undergoing some remodelling which will bring the rest of the property into the cool vibe look/feel their lobby/bar area has had for the past year or so. This is really a boutique property where even if you weren’t the only wedding you would not know it and feel that you were.

Five Crowns, Corona del Mar, everyone knows of this restaurant, you have either passed it or eaten there. But not many people know they have a really sweet ceremony site in the back and a couple of dining/dancing options for intimate weddings under 75. I have had a couple of looks and now have a wedding that has booked there, can’t wait to show you the pictures, you will be suprised.

Wyndham Orange County (behind Performing Arts Center) has just remodelled their restaurant/bar area, everyone is going hip/cool, love it, you just want to sit back in a couch with a mojito and enjoy the chill music playing. Again, great for pre/post events and then use their lake backdrop ceremony site and go into one of their banquet rooms. They have a ballroom that gives the ballroom feel but is perfect for the wedding of 150 without the cavernous empty space.

Back up to LA, had another Assn event at the Intercontinental Hotel on the West side, always makes you feel big city hotel/cosmopolitan when you are here as opposed to the resort feel I am fortunate to spend so much time at. In fact the speaker at this event was from New Zealand, I had no idea until he started talking. You can’t forget that this hotel has a lovely ceremony location and some great banquet space also.

There were a bunch of other places I had been to/checked out, but this is enough for today.

If you are interested in knowing more about these properties, let me know, and if you are already booked at any of these or other properties don’t hesitate to make contact about my helping you with your celebration.
Till next time

Lisa
http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com
http://www.pinterest.com/lisasimpsonwdgs
714 305 7112

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized

Trackback this post  |  Subscribe to comments via RSS Feed