Hi!! Congrats on your engagement!!
We are having our ceremony on Marine Street beach in La Jolla, which is a small, intimiate beach. To reserve any park or beach area through parks and rec, it's $273 and super easy! You can do WindanSea. We were told on the phone ALL beaches for our date were taken, but I found Marine Street on their website and was able to book it that day. We wanted WindanSea and took too long discussing it (two days). Someone grabbed it in that amount of time. We are then having our reception on the roof of La Jolla Cove Suites, which has a FANTASTIC view of the entire coastline and the site fee was comparable to others (we're having it on a Friday and it's nearly 1/2 price). Regarding beaches/parks: You can reserve one spot, just to make sure you have it and pay $50 to change locations if you change your mind - wish we had done that.
You COULD do a beach ceremony and reception but you have to go through the State Beaches. At Torrey Pines, one section of the beach was "under construction" or something odd, but they did ask me if I wanted just a ceremony on the beach, or a ceremony and reception, so it IS possible.
We are spending about $15,000 not including the dress and the rings. I would tell you to consider the packages as the costs and delivery fees add up faster than you think. If we did a package thing, we'd be saving about $4,000 in rentals and delivery fees.
We have decided to do the following:
1. We found a deal through 1lookback photography which was absolutely reasonable! They had a deal which wasn't on their website or something.
2. We're using flowers from the farmers market guy who has tons of flower fields. We're telling him what colors and giving him maybe $300 for centerpieces and bouquets. My friend spent about $900 on flowers for her wedding.
3. We told a video company what we wanted to spend and they made a package to fit our budget.
4. Edelweiss Bakery is the best deal, super tasty, and we're getting the concept we wanted for our budget (other cakes were nearly twice as much).
5. We had a friend design our invites and had them printed on high quality paper instead of going through a stationery store.
6. We're having a Mexican buffet (very San Diego right?) and they're having a lady come make fresh tortillas :). This was less than the chicken/steak thing everyone offers and it's less.
7. We are doing beer and wine with a champagne welcome drink. Better than hard liquors.
I hope this helps!
Written on Jul. 25, 2012
