As the wedding season is coming to a close and the holiday parties are about to commence, I just wanted to share some insider tips with you about a few of the places we’ve worked at. There are about a million places to host events in Los Angeles County, and every bride or event planner, wants to pick the perfect one. Jennie Cooks has been to too many places to count. Since I’ve only been doing this for a year, I’m still very impressed (or not) with event spaces.
The most recent place we went to was The Ambassador Campus, which used to be some sort of Christian college founded by a famous radio evangelist. The place is gorgeous. It is located in the old millionaire’s row in Pasadena right off of Orange Grove. They have Italian terraces, gardens, swimming pools and mansions with some beautiful architecture.
Garden Wedding
Mansion Reception
Mansion Walls
The only cons to having your wedding at an old abandoned mansion is that there is only one guest bathroom on the bottom floor with sketchy plumbing. The kitchen (made for the servants) is small and terrible. And this place makes the caterers sweep, mop and vacuum all of the floors upstairs and down (wtf? i know). Shouldn’t that be included in the very expensive event fee?
Moving on to one of my favorite spots is of course the Smog Shoppe. It’s one of the “greenest” event spaces, LEED Certified and all that jazz. It used to be an old automotive shop, hence the name.
The Vertical Garden (at our Halloween wedding)
Outdoor Courtyard and Dining Space
Great Indoor Lighting
They used over 90% recycled materials to build it. There’s a stormwater recycling system (super i know), solar panels, vertical gardens, an outdoor courtyard, and the biggest most awesome open kitchen . Sounds perfect, right? If it only didn’t cost $10,000 to rent out for 12 hours it would be. I hope the valet is included.
And in LA, beaches, friend’s homes and of course, sets, are very popular for any occasion. And why not? Comfortable, beautiful (with the right decor of course), sort of free & with no real restrictions.
My fair Wedding Set, SouthBay Studios
House Celebration in Pasadena
Wedding at Beach Home, in Hermosa maybe?
Santa Monica Beach
One note about the beach: it’s pretty & the sunset vows are quite romantic, but it’s hard to walk in, there’s a lot of wind and sand gets everywhere!
There are pros and cons to every place, but don’t get too stressed out! No matter what, your wedding is gonna be just lovely.
-Miranda