Hotels in Laguna Beach?

kellyh87

Hello - I'm looking for hotel recommendations in the Laguna Beach area. We are getting married at seven-degrees in Laguna Beach and have had a hard time finding a decent hotel nearby. The choices seem to be highly priced (the Ritz, Montage, Surf and Sand) or very old and run down. Any middle of the road suggestions? Thanks!

breleficent

I'm getting married there too and had the same problem. 

The best one I found with the most decent price is 8 miles away in Laguna Woods. It is the Ayres Hotel. We blocked off rooms there for our guests because they offer a discount for people getting married at SD ($109 per night). FI and I checked out a few other ones around LB but they were all old and ugly. The second best we found was Laguna Cliffs Inn ($169 per night). On the outside it looks whatever but the rooms are decent and newly renovated. 

Also, if you email Alyssa she will give you a list of hotels nearby. However, most of them were the higher priced places.

kellyh87

Glad to hear I'm not alone! We also checked out the Ayres and I agree its a good option. Because my fiance and I are not taking our honeymoon right away, we were hoping to stay close to the beach to spend a few extra days down in LB for some alone time. Another hotel to consider that I found this weekend is the Capri Laguna Inn. Its right next to the Surf and Sand so your getting the same view/experience however the hotel is of course a little older. They have started to renovate/update the rooms so we are considering this as well. Best of luck!

newportlightphotography

I would agree!  My wife and I have stayed at the Ayres in Laguna Woods and it - like all the other Ayres Hotels are very nice!  Very reasonable, lots of parking and quiet!  When you see the hotel you will wonder why they don't charge more!

And...if you are still looking for a photographer!!!  NewportLightPhotography.com

MissMex

there are tons of great small hotels in laguna as well as the surrounding areas. The Best Western las Brisas and Holiday Inn are overly nice for being budget hotels. In Dana Point there Is a Holiday Inn express, the Doubletree and The Marriott Laguna Cliffs. In Newport The Marriott Vacation Club Is a great Value for the location. Also the Bayview in Newport. The Hotel Laguna is right in the heart of down town. Check out Trip Advisor and Kayak too.

breleficent

kelly- Thanks for the suggestion. FI and I will check out that one next time we are out there! So, what day are you getting married at SD? I think  you might have PM'ed me a long time ago but I took a really long time to respond so I don't know if you got it back Did you figure out your menu yet?

missmex- Thanks for all the options!

kellyh87

Hi Breleficent - we are getting married on October 15th of this year - so excited! Keviann and Alyssa are our coordinators and we will be meeting this month to go over the menu and overall design. Any suggestions on the food? Are you going through SD for flowers?

breleficent

We are getting married May 29th We haven't gone over our menu yet! lol. We are lazy. I figured we can hash that out in the next month or so. Alyssa is always emailing me asking when we want to do our next concept meeting! lol. She probably either loves me or hates me cause I'm so "whatever" about it. So, you will have to recommend food to me!

No, we are not going with SD for our flowers. FI use to work in San Clemente and would buy me flowers at this little shop out there called Downtown Flowers. The owner, Krista, has some a-mazing talent. She has unique flowers, an even more unique style and has fantastic prices. Plus, she still remembered FI after years of not seeing him Check out her website Krista Jon Couture if you aren't using SD for your flowers.

I'm excited to have another SD bride that I can talk with It is always nice to bounce ideas off of each other.

Are you using any of their in house vendors? Do you have a photog yet?

kellyh87

I know exactly how you feel! I keep thinking I'm behind the ball and not getting things done fast enough! I'm thinking of using one of their recommended DJ's but haven't looked into that yet. The two tasks I'm working on right now would be to secure transportation and an officiant - any recommendations?

We have a photog - he was a referral from a friend and took pictures and video when my FI purposed. Check out his website and our engagement video if your interested: www.duncanstewart.com/kellyryan">http://www.duncanstewart.com/kellyryan 

breleficent

We aren't using any of their in house vendors. We are getting married on a Sunday and they don't have any minimums on Sundays. If we were getting married on a Friday or Saturday I would probably use their in house vendors so that I could try and reach their minimums though.

We aren't using transportation because we are doing both our ceremony and reception there. Plus, we live an 1 hour 45 minutes away so I don't want to rent one to take us out there. I did look into getting a classic Rolls Royce for our "get away" vehicle but spending $500 for a 5 minute car ride just sounded stupid to me.
As far as officiants, we are using Reverend Michael. I found him on weddingwire.com. He had really good reviews and still had our date available so FI and I made an appointment to meet in person so we could get a feel for his personality. We really liked him. He said he lives in walking distance to SD too...which brought me comfort for some reason. I guess cause I knew he would be stuck in traffic or anything!

www.reverendmichael.com

Aw, such and awesome video! I love that! You truly did have and engagement shoot! lol. I was going to recommend our photogs if you didn't have one yet but you have that under control.