La Mesa, CA, USA < change city >

I'm quite partial to Balboa Park. It's my favorite part of San Diego. My fiance and I are getting married in the loggia room at the prado restaurant. It's historic, romanic and perfect for an intimate wedding. Seperately, the loggia room (which is on the second floor ) has 2 terraces that overlook the entire park.

Hi Nicole,

Those are all great venues. If you are looking for a wedding photographer - I highly recommend Alan Smith. His website is www.alansphoto.net
He was our wedding photographer and did an excellent job. He has a nice style and he's laid back and very unobtrusive.

Blake.

I got married at Kate Sessions Park - it has the most beautiful view of the harbor, bay, ocean, & inland San Diego. There is a nice little club house-type place across the street for the reception. It is called the Soledad Club. Both places require a little more do-it-yourself work, but the views are worth it!

The Leo Carillo park in Carlsbad is also a nice option with garden areas and old adobe buildings.

Hi Nicole,
The locations you mentioned are all quite beautiful. Depending on the size of your wedding, and what services you want included, one of my favorite venues is the Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park. It's a courtyard type setting with trees and fountains and such, but you would need to bring in just about everything. The upside is, it rents fairly cheap.
Here's a website for it:
http://www.sandiego.gov/park-and-recreation/parks/balboa/casadelprado.shtml
It's got pictures and such, it's quite beautiful!

If your heart isn't set on outdoors, another location I absolutely love at a great price is the San Diego Women's Club.
http://www.sandiegowomansclub.org/
They have full service catering and all kinds of other services. The catering company there, Armstrong Catering, catered my wedding and it was fabulous!

I'll be happy to tell you more about either of these venues or the caterer or any other vendors I used in my wedding (October '07).

Good luck plannign your wedding!
Annie
www.spiffingjewelry.com

Hi Nicole,

Take a look at www.bridalinsider.com there are tons of reviews of various locations and other wedding related vendors on there.

Good luck with your planning!
Megan

If you are looking for something closer to the water and budget friendly, I would suggest checking out the following places:

The Catamaran- http://www.catamaranresort.com/
The San Diego Rowing Club- http://www.sdrc-row.org/

Both locations are gorgeous and right on the San Diego bay. I live right down the street on the bay and couldn't think of a more romantic place to celebrate. Good Luck!

A friend of mine was just able to book her ceremony on the beach in front of the Hotel Del Coronado for 50% of their standard booking rate. If you're into the historical significance of the Hotel Del and the beauty of Coronado's beaches, the Hotel Del Coronado might be worth looking into.

My husband and I got married in Ireland, but our first choice in SD was the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. Keep in mind that you need to book very far in advance, and they have pretty strict rules re: caterers, times, etc.

I'm just getting into the destination wedding planning business, so if I can be of any further assistance, don't hesitate to email me at dreamabigdreamwithme{at}gmail.com. I'd love to help you get in touch with the right people. Also, my blog is located at http://wantloveneed.blogspot.com. Enjoy and best of luck to you! :o)

We got married at Kate Sessions Park (La Jolla, on the PB side of Mount Soledad). It overlooks the ocean, bay, Sea World, downtown, etc... Gorgeous views & pictures! We had our reception at the Soledad Club across the street(last minute venue change from the Thursday Club in Point Loma). Reception venue was ok, but it needs a lot of decorating. If you have your wedding on a night that Sea World does fireworks (every Saturday, more often in summer) then you get a fireworks show to cap off the reception!

Oh my god, you are all amazing! Thank you so much. This is so incredibly helpful!

If I may, I'm going to add a bit more info so those of you who have a better sense of the area than me (i.e. everyone!) can have more of an idea of what we're seeking.

Hopefully, the wedding will have about 100 people. We are hoping for a place that will provide a lot of the stuff for us, given the extra challenge of coordinating everything from out of town. We're not really fussy. Not looking for anything very frilly or over the top with lace and hearts everywhere (not that there's anything wrong with that ;) ). Just classic, elegant, relatively simple, and as stress-free as possible.

I hope that helps. Honestly, thank you so much. If I can ever return the favour, I would be so pleased to do so (if anyone needs ideas for the Rocky Mountains and area).

Cheers!

Nicole

Hi,
I am a wedding planner, and I have worked at Japanese Friendship Garden a few times. They have a beautiful venue, and the people there are very nice. Email me and I would be happy to provide more feedback:
alma@loveisinthedetailsevents.com
www.loveisinthedetailsevents.com

Happy Planning!