Marvimom House located in Downtown Los Angeles is green conscious and heavy on the green backs.
For a country that laments about the lack of marriages, why does it cost so much for a decent wedding?
One of the green initiatives should be discounted weddings for a better environment.
Sun-Ra and I swore not to be broke the day after our ceremonies. Yes, I did say plural because we are having two ceremonies to accomodate my West Coast family and his East Coast family.
This concept is in line with many couples who have multiple weddings for multiple reasons. Not only are we doing this to include as many of our people as possible, but we are embracing the neo-African tradition of having a village wedding (traditional) and a church wedding.
Our two ceremonies are as followed: the first one is called, "Uniting the Families," which will be where we receive our parents' blessings; the second will be the official ceremony of "Jumping the Broom."
The budget-conscious, recession-proof soirees are taken a lot of creativity, thoughtful compromise, and yes frustration.
The first ceremony will be in New Jersey, and will be at the home of Sun-Ra's parents. His mother and I have started working out some of the details. She is a culinary guru and party planning diva. And she totally respects our flavor of eccentri afro-chic, a cross between cultural, cosmopolitan, and spiritual, but with swagger.
As for the second ceremony in Los Angeles, I am still in the beginning stages and have been scouting out a venue for the last five months. My dilemma is normal, what I fall in love with is too expensive, and what is in my budget can handle is not attractive...at all. Another issue is that I am finishing my PhD in Jersey, and have little time and money to go to Los Angeles.
But to give you an idea of where I went, I am listing some of the places that I loved, but did not fit.
Marrakesh House - is a beautifully renovated, eco-pimped out house in Culver City. I loved the space with its poolside altar and Morrocan-inspired decor, but the price was a little costly for me. It was $3700 for the whole day and the whole house, but I had to supply table, chairs, linen and other things such as heated lamps before I even got to the catering and decorations. Too much headache and hidden costs.
The Sky Room - OMG this was my dream. It is a floor that sits on top of historic Long Beach Hotel with almost 360 degress of windows. You got the space when ordering the menu which started at about $4200 per person. The minimum was $7800, but you got food, seating, and dj equipment. I would've paid, but the date I wanted was booked in early 2009.
Little Tokyo's Japanese Botanical Gardens off of Main street was quite a deal, $2750 for the gardens, reception room and tables and chairs. It was a ceremony and reception hall wrapped into one. The reception area was a little blah, but who made up with the beautiful garden and cheap price in a clean and funky part of the revival of downtown LA. Unfortunately, I was beat to punch and lost the deal because someone, put there deposit down before my sister was able to check out the spot; however, I did not lose my head because it was a little over budget.
The Barn - Also located in Culver City seemed like a true gem. Another Moroccan-inspired hall that was original a hangar for airplane parts in the Warehouse district of the little seaside city on the west side of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the description is not as glamorous as the actual building. The area it is situated in an unattractive area with limited parking and the place shares space with a flower shop that limits the movement of guests. The price was definitely right, $750; however, the owner went up $250 in several months and I was NOT feeling that.
San Antonio Winery - is a family-owned and operated restaurant and winery in Los Angeles. If I remember correctly, you had to pay at least $10,000, but it comes with food, cake, wine, dj equipment, iPod player, linens, tables and chairs. All you had to do was show up with your iPod. Sadly, it is going through renovation during the time of my inquiry.
Huron Substation, a renovated historic building that used to house high voltage equipment for Edison electric company. They tood too long to respond so I moved on.
Victorian/Mansion Rentals - I really am into the retro, vintage luxe look, so I attempted to check out some Victorian homes right outside of downtown Los Angeles. These homes are around USC in the Jefferson district that used to be called Bubble Hill. A number of these homes have been renovated to bed-and-breakfasts. I also called some fantabulous homes in Hollywood Hills and nestled on the shores of a couple of pretty beaches. However, when I gave them my budget they did not call me back. Oh well, on to the next one.
Rose Gardens of Exposition Park - tucked between several museums including the California African-American Museum, it is an ideal location for fall and spring weddings. I visited the place when I visited home and the landscaper told me that Southern California botanicals enjoyed two blooming seasons, one in the spring and one in late fall. Nonetheless, the site was about $1,000, and I had to find a separate reception hall. I wanted to do the Af-Am museum, but the rude reception coordinator forgot to tell me that they don't do wedding receptions. You would think that the fiscal situation of California, the city of LA would welcome receptions. Now I must admit there was a senior center that could be rented out, but it was too small. Then there was the Natural Museum that started at $20,000, oh hell naw.
Marvimom (downtown LA) and The Smog Shoppe (Culver City) are green spaces with funky herbivores and urban-chic atmosphere. Marvimom seats about 200 while The Smog Shoppe is about 100. There prices though were too much over budget, but they do discount when events are on Sundays and week days. Marvimom is $6000 and The Smog Shop was about $4000. I know greening costs more, but dman.
Earl Burns Miller Japanese Gardens in Cal State Long Beach is absolutely stunning, but hte price was high and the conditions for catering were too strict. This is a picturesque venue with great views, but if you have the $$ I recommend.
Frustrated by the lack of success, I called oen of my sisters about three weeks ago. I told her of the upcoming event and asked for her help in planning the wedding. Since she had this southern sweetheart wedding several years ago that had many kinks, I thought she would make a perfect fit for pitfalls.
We settled on the Cabrillo Beach San Pedro Bathouse. It is a historic Spanish building overlooking the waters. It is very picturesque with a playground area that will be good for the oodles of children that will attend. It is a very spacious second-floor banquet hall with a stage, a closed in verando with huge windows facing the beach, and an area that is designated for caterers.
It is picturesque outside and the inside has potential. There are some down sides with this place.
For one, it does not have a kitchen so caterers have to be prepared. Then the horrible paint job, OMG. Since it is owned by LA County someone had the bright idea of using ugly green institution paint for the wood paneling inside. And finally, the BS liquor policy only permits a company called Monterey Concession Services to serve liquor, and cheap liquor at that. For the beer selections there are Miller Lite and Bud Lite. Then for the soda, Cola, Diet Coke and 7UP are all it has to offer. We spoke to a nasty representative from the Monterey Concessions and hopefully we can work this out.
Oh well, we shall see, but I am claiming little stress on this.
love and romance
darker than blue
No comments:
Post a Comment