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SMALL wedding in SD, venue needed

JennarationXJennarationX member
First Comment
in California-San Diego
Hi! I'm getting married New Year's, and we're planning an extremely small, intimate wedding (12-20 people). This limits our venue options, since most places have minimums of 50 to 100. However, I also think it gives us some nice alternative options for smaller, more intimate places to hosst the wedding and reception.

Here's what I would prefer for a venue:

Traditional setting
Ceremony & reception at same site, if possible
Possible outdoor ceremony location
Budget-friendly

I'm thinking the following site styles could work:

B&B
Vineyard
Garden
Estate

PLEASE let me know if you have any ideas of a good venue for us. I'm not from SD (moving there next year), so I'm at a real disadvantage for knowing any of the good lesser-known and smaller location options. Thank you!
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Re: SMALL wedding in SD, venue needed

  • kkeltnerkkeltner member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Tom Ham's Lighthouse and The Prado both have smaller rooms for smaller banqets/events with adjacent ceremony locations.  Another option is to do a Hornblower dinner cruise.  The cool thing about The Prado and Hornblower is that they are pretty much all-inclusive (chairs, cakes, toast, catering, linens included).  Tom Ham's is a beautiful location that offers a bunch for a very reasonable price - but beware of hidden fees.  If you are looking for other stuff on a budget, let me know! 
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  • nancyskisnancyskis
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hi,  You may want to consider renting a house in a nice location, either the mountains or by the beach and having the wedding in the yard and inside for the reception incase it is cold.  You will also then have the rooms for out of town guests to stay in.  Try VRBO.com.  They list hundreds of private homes available for rent.

    Congratulations,

    Nancy
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  • JennarationXJennarationX member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll check all of those out. We're planning a trip to SD in a few weeks (6 hrs drive from Phoenix) so I can see some spots in person and hopefully book one. Fingers crossed!
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  • jasperessjasperess
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    So I'm planning a wedding for probably 30-40 people (inviting 55 or so, but most are out of town) and I looked at Tom Ham's Lighthouse.  What disappointed me about the place is they had the same food & beverage minimum for either room (large or small), and so even with our number of people we had to spend A LOT of money to meet the minimum.  Very disappointing.

    We also looked at the Bay Club Hotel & Marina, which is definitely better budget-wise but didn't like the wedding venue available... We did see a wedding there though, so to each their own.  Maybe it's worth checking out for you?

    We ended up going with the Island Palms Hotel & Marina, which is operated by Best Western.  They have a little garden outdoors where you can get married and then various size rooms for the reception.  Ours is the Harbor room and holds 50 people max; it also has a lower minimum than the larger rooms on property.  Although I haven't had my wedding there yet, I was really happy we chose this place, and we happened upon a great food & beverage minimum deal.  Definitely a recommendation.  And Shelter Island is just beautiful during the day and night!  :)

    Good luck with all your planning!  Feel free to PM me or ask in this thread if you have additional questions!
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  • JennarationXJennarationX member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thanks for the input Jasperess!

    We called Tom Hams and got just a few basics, set an appt to see it next week as we'll need to drive into the city and look at some of the options. The food looks great and prices seemed very reasonable - but then, he didn't mention anything about minimums... so I'll have to ask about that when we're there. It's very hard to tell what the reception area might look like from the website pics, not sure if that might be too casual.

    We're also looking at Humphrey's Half Moon Inn - which I think is right next to your location on Shelter Island. They have an enclosed garden/atrium which is gorgeous and very affordable for the outdoor ceremony, plus their room rates are very reasonable for guests. Two major disadvantages, though - their restaurant is closed on New Year's Day, so we would have to have the reception elsewhere, and they don't have any honeymoon suites. So I'm not thrilled with having 3 different locations for the day - easier the better!

    I agree with you, Shelter Island is gorgeous (and it's where we got engaged!). I'll have to give Island Palms a call.

    We also really liked the Prado pics from their website, but I haven't gotten a call back on pricing yet so can't say if it's in our budget. The grounds (especially exterior) are certainly gorgeous.
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  • JennarationXJennarationX member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Oh, regarding the Hornblower cruises - they look fantastic! Especially for an out-of-town or destination wedding.

    However, my only sister did a boat cruise (in NYC) for her wedding reception, and I don't want to look like I'm copying her. Is that petty?? :p
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  • jasperessjasperess
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Yes, Shelter Island is definitely pretty :)  We have a room block at Humphrey's for guests, and they are actually the most affordable option for guests, which is definitely a plus.

    Island Palms offers a complimentary honeymoon suite as part of the package, which is definitely a plus.  You can find a lot of information on the website http://www.islandpalms.com. They unfortunately don't have a nice place indoors for weddings, only outside though...

    Yes, I agree when I first saw Tom Ham's it was one of my favorites - the prices are indeed reasonable until I saw the minimums.  Boo.  Maybe you'll have better luck?  I did end up eating there for lunch right prior to the appointment and the food was quite good, so I do agree on that point.  I'm not sure what you want as far as what would be too casual, so sorry I can't give you much help there :)  

    Are you doing it on New Year's day?  Interesting.  I wonder if places would up the price (or minimum) since it's a holiday?  Since that would be a Saturday, that's also going to make it more expensive.  Doing it during the day would also be less expensive (or on a Saturday or during the week, but it already sounds like you have the day set).

    Let me know what you think of the places when you visit!  :)
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  • FlawlessBeautySDFlawlessBeautySD
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Please check me out if you need a hair/makeup artist www.flawlessbeautyonline.com
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  • jlgalasjlgalas
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hi!

    We were looking for the same thing...and checked out most of the places above. We got married 2 weeks ago at Ferry Landing in Coronado. We had our small reception at Candelas on The Bay, which is right at Ferry Landing. Kim Maniero, the banquet coordinator there, took care of everything we needed for the ceremony on the beach and for the reception. It was fabulous! Also fantastic to have it all in one spot. Our guests loved Coronado! We all stayed at Glorietta Bay Inn (great to work with and a beautiful place). If you need any other suggestions, let me know! : )
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  • JennarationXJennarationX member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thanks so much for all the input - I looked at ALL of these options and just got back from a trip to SD where we visited with catering managers at several.

    We selected the Prado at Balboa Park for an outdoor ceremony, with a second floor room and balcony for cocktails/luncheon. Doing it in the early afternoon makes it affordable, though with our small group it's a bit tricky to meet the minimum food & drink requirements - they agreed to work with us on putting together the menu and I guess we'll upgrade to a more expensive champagne! lol Anyway, the location is so gorgeous that we'll find a way to pony up the minimums.

    Humphrey's room rates are too good to pass up, we'll use them for our guest accommodations.

    I really wanted to rent out the Britt Scripps Inn, but it's a tad out of our budget. Absolutely gorgeous, though.

    Finally, I'm thinking we'll do the rehearsal dinner at Tom Ham's. They're a bit too casual for the wedding itself, but perfect for rehearsal dinner. They have a small private room on the 2nd floor with great bay views - no deposit required - no order minimums - sold!!!

    Thanks again everyone for the suggestions.

    Flawless - thanks for the link, I will indeed need a hair stylist! Will look you up. :)
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