Location

We knew that neither of us wanted to get married in a church, so we began looking for all-in-one places where we could have a ceremony and reception at the same location.  My first thought....

:)  haha..ok not really.  I knew we could never afford this.  Although it would be amazing.  So after I came back down to reality we made some appointments and this is what we found...

La Venta Inn - Palos Verdes
Beautiful views, great reviews on food but waaaay to expensive.

Verandas - Manhattan Beach
Nice, great reviews on food, same thing as PV..waay to expensive.

Garden Room - Anaheim
Sorry just plain ugly.  Gaudy chandaliers and flower wallpaper everywhere.  It looked my grandmas bedroom.  Mirrored walls and a very tiny room for reception.  Oh and no garden ceremony.. it's indoors in a small little room.  Blaaahh...  (super cheap though)


Scott Lindley House - Azusa
Cute and very inexpensive, but the mansion looked a little run down when we saw it in person.  We liked the gazebo area and the bath house where the reception would be held but it was very small and it seemed like it would be a little cramped.

Torrance Women's Club - Torrance
Almost went with this venue.  The cheapest we found and they let you bring your own booze! The only thing we didn't like was that the party had to end at 10 and we couldn't find a ceremony place nearby.  Otherwise we would have went with them.

Padua Hills Theater - Claremont
This was actually the first place we looked and we loved it sooo much we were about to book that same day without having even looked at other places.  The ceremony area was beautiful and the theater was so nice for a reception.  It had a cocktail area and tons of trees with little lights hanging down.  It was perfect.  The food prices were reasonable and our date was available!  We couldn't believe it!  Steve was about to get his checkbook out when the lady started telling us about the Friday, Saturday minimums.  Basically their prices were so affordable per person but you had to spend a total of at least 21,000 on a Sat. night.  This was just way beyond our budget.  We'd have to find another 100 people to invite. What's worse is that Steven's dad's bakery is where the caterers go to get the handmade tortillas they were bragging about when they gave us the tour.  Not even a little break?? Really??  His dad freakin supplies you with your amazing tortillas!  Oh well.. We were so sad that we had to pass on this place.  :*(

So after many weekends a searchin.... we finally came across this place..

Erhart's by the Sea @ Fort Macarthur - San Pedro
It had a gazebo ceremony area outside and then a choice of two rooms inside.  We liked the larger ballroom.  It's a little older building but has nice views of the ocean and was right in our price range.  So we decided to book our date!  :)  Here are some pics...