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Venue Woes - Please help!

gpautazzogpautazzo member
First Comment
in California-Los Angeles
Hello Brides to Be,

We need help in finding the right venue. What I thought would be a long engagement has now turned into a short one. Last week my fiance and I decided to have the wedding next May. I started a mad search for something in the LA area that would fit our styles and came across The Smog Shoppe. I FELL IN LOVE only to find out they are booked. It is exactly what we want, and now we're hooked into having something similar. ANY HELP in finding a venue that is similar in style (vintage/modern/indoor-outdoor space) in the Southern California area would be greatly appreciated. 


Thank you so much for your help in advance!

Gina
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Re: Venue Woes - Please help!

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    phiaskaphiaska
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    1)  be sure you are comfortable with the amount of time you have to plan this wedding.  I originally thought I could do it in six months and started having panic attacks, so we bumped it to nine.

    2) I loved smog shoppe too.  they have another one, is that booked as well?  Marvimon, it's called. 

    3)  I ended up at the City Club on Bunker Hill, which is different but still awesome.  Top floor of the Wells Fargo building downtown with very impressive views and a good wedding package.

    Good luck!
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    gpautazzogpautazzo member
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    edited December 2011
    The reason we decided on a date sooner rather than later is we wanted our wedding date to be signifiant to us. It was our first date and the date he proposed. Next year it falls on a Sunday, and doesn't hit a weekend again until 2015. So we feel its now or 5 years from now.

    Really nice place! Thanks for your help. I will be looking into that site.
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    lala90lala90 member
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    edited December 2011
    Did you look at the AVIA hotel in Long Beach? It is really modern looking and has amazing decor.
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    gpautazzogpautazzo member
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    edited December 2011
    I loved the rooftop pool area - but it will only allow 75 guests and I think we are planning on 100. Luckily I live down the street and should be able to check out all of their event space soon. Thanks so much for your help!

    Also looking into Palm Springs - have already contacted ACE Hotel but it's somewhat pricy.
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    breleficentbreleficent
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Have you looked into Seven Degrees in Laguna Beach? I wouldn't call it "vintage" but it is definitely modern. You can always incorporate vintage decor. The ceremony is outdoors on the roof top and the reception is indoors.

    Major bonus for you...they don't have any minimums on Sundays!

    www.seven-degrees.com

    image
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    gpautazzogpautazzo member
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    edited December 2011
    Seven Degrees looks nice, but not quite us.

    We are planning on seeing Avia today, as well as some wine bars that allow weddings.

    I'm still feeling bummed out over the SmogShoppe - and it's sister site is booked as well. Almost thinking of pushing the wedding back to 2015 (next time the 29th falls on a weekend) just to have the SmogShoppe and more time. But by then I'll be 29........grrr.
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    Mellie35Mellie35 member
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    edited December 2011

    It sounds like you really want the Smog Shoppe and you will compare everything else to it. I understand why you chose the date you did, but I am thinking you might want to consider another date rather than waiting five years!

    Whatever day you get married, it will be amazing - trust me! :)

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    gpautazzogpautazzo member
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    edited December 2011
    Just had lunch with the girls at work - they agree whatever day we pick will be special and we should go with the venue if that's what will make us happy. One said 15 years from now I wont care about the details. They all agree we should get married next year since we've already been together for 5 years. I'm going to talk to my lover later. We can still celebrate our anniversary on the 29th, even if we did get married a week or two later.
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    CurlyGirlyGirlCurlyGirlyGirl
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    edited December 2011
    We were married within 2 days of our dating anniversary, so we had our rehearsal on the day of our dating anniversary.  Perhaps you could rehearse that day and get married the following weekend?  Then you would have two anniversaries to celebrate!  
    Honestly, I liked our rehearsal a ton b/c we were surrounded by a small group of people we were really close to, and the vows we practiced seemed so heartfelt that day.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
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    gpautazzogpautazzo member
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    edited December 2011
    lala90  - We checked out AVIA yesterday and it is a VERY nice hotel, but it's still not us. But we might enjoy going to the pool sometimes and visiting the bar when they have wine tastings since they are not too far from where we live.

    Mellie35  - Thanks for your help =) It made me realize that it doesn't matter what day you get married - all that matters is the fact you're getting married!

    CurlyGirlyGirl - Aww how cute! I really like that idea if it can work out for us.


    Right now we are going to see if we can get the Smog Shoppe for 6.5.11 and we like the date since it adds up. We're nerds. It was hard to let go of 5.29.11, but we realized we really want the wedding to showcase US and every other venue doesn't quite match. We did see a wine bar in LB that will let you rent the whole patio area for $750 (Sunday quote). We were sorta thinking, hey lets go cheap, but walking around out there it didn't feel right. Price - awesome, venue - very cute, feel for our wedding - way off. But if anyone is looking for a budget wedding and has a smaller party attending (we are est. 80-100) it would be perfect. It's called The Wine Crush off of Broadway in Long Beach.

    Thank you everyone for your time and help. I really apprecaite it and I'm so glad I joined The Knot. It's proving to be a very useful website.
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