|
NEAT PLACES FOR CEREMONIES
Why spend like Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones renting out Buckingham Palace for your
wedding, when you can get married in a beautiful place for free? You're in California! Think about it! We
have gorgeous beaches, stunning mountains, and verdant public parks. Combine that with perfect
weather and you have the recipe for a wonderful wedding site, absolutely free!
Some parks and beaches require you to take out and pay for a permit, but it's a free country isn't it? If
you're having a barbecue and you choose to say 'I do' between the burgers and the jello mold - how can
this be illegal?
Exceptions (2/1/01)!
Your guests might have to stand for your vows and you won't be able to reserve your site, but that's a
small risk for a big payoff - an unforgettable, unique, wedding!
SAN DIEGO
- The Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach is one of my favorite free wedding ceremony sites. Originally
built in 1927, the old wooden pier is an historic landmark. Its twenty quaint white cottages (each with
its own private fenced porch) are built on the pier, out over the Pacific Ocean. At night the pier is
locked and reserved for hotel guests, but from 8 AM to sundown, the pier is open to the public and
free. No permits are required for those wanting to marry there. Imagine reciting your vows at sunset
on the end of the pier with the waves crashing below! Breathtaking!
- Do it on the sand at Pacific Beach, Del Mar Beach, or the very quiet (almost abandoned)
beaches surrounding Mission Bay. Have a wedding/picnic, a Luau, or a potluck. Put up a portable
awning or make one out of PVC pipe and palm fronds. Have your wedding at night under the stars.
Build a giant bonfire in one of the many permanent fire pits and light a few rows of tall torches to
delineate your space.
- The Cabrillo National Monument is a 150 acre preserve on the tip of Point Loma. Get wed with
unparalleled views of the San Diego, Coronado, North Island Naval Base, the Pacific Ocean, San
Diego Bay and even Tijuana. There are numerous hiking trails and nature displays. There's a
sheltered observation deck near the very quaint Old Point Loma Light House - which was built in
1855 and is 442 feet above the ocean. The park is open from 9 to 5 for about $5 per car. Ample
parking.
- The Cove at La Jolla is a huge, verdant park set on cliffs overlooking the Pacific. There are
several sheltered wooden lookouts built out over the water. You could easily invite two or three
hundred guests for your ceremony and their biggest problem would be parking. Just make sure no
musical concert is being given on your special day.
- The Children's Pool Seal Preserve is a narrow but beautiful park on a cliff overlooking the ocean
seal hang-out. It's located directly below the stunning San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art and
has several wooden look-outs, perfect for a small ceremony.
- Old Town's Heritage County Park is an ideal wedding site. This eight acre park is dotted with
Victorian and Spanish style historic buildings. Have your wedding guests gather on the quaint
green lawn of the central plaza or on the grassy slope in front of the synagogue (built in 1880).
Open from 9:30 to sunset, the historic church is also available for rent. Call the County Parks
Department at (619) 694-3044.
- Say 'I do" on the rolling green lawn of the Embarcadero Marina Park North, which is located
directly behind Seaport Village. Enjoy breathtaking views of San Diego Bay, the Coronado Bridge
and Coronado Island.
- The bluffs of the Torrey Pines State Reserve have huge trees and breathtaking views of the
coastline. You could glide into marriage from this stunning setting.
- There's a small, quiet, lovely green park next to the Ferry Landing Marketplace on Coronado
that offers a fantastic view of the San Diego Bay and San Diego skyline and Convention Center.
There's also a busy family type picnic park on Glorietta Blvd. with similar view, but none of the
tranquility of the Ferry Landing.
- The beach on Ocean Boulevard and Orange Avenue directly in front of the many stately mansions
is just perfect. Why spend a fortune renting a wedding space at the Hotel Del Coronado when you
can have the beautiful hotel as a backdrop for your free ceremony?
- Take your minister (Reverend Karyl, of course) and your guests on the Palm Springs Aerial
Tramway! At a cost of about $25 each, you and your friends can ride to the top of a mountain and
recite your vows as you ascend in the gondola! On top of the mountain the wedding couple can
wash each other's faces in snow, instead of the usual wedding cake face-wash. ( It's way less
fattening!) Treat your friends to hot chocolate before you descend back to the sun-drenched desert
to begin your honeymoon.
- The Griffith Park Observatory Lawn is a way cool place to say 'I do.' With it's stunning art deco
architecture and view overlooking Hollywood, it's an unforgettable location for your vows.
- The jogging path around Lake Hollywood directly under the Hollywood Sign would be a great
place for an intimate, bucolic wedding - Hollywood without the Hollywood.
- Try the Venice Beach Jetty which separates Venice beach from Playa Del Rey. It's at the very
end of the skate path. You can say your vows on skates while ocean waves crash around you and
all manner of boats cruise by.
Know of a great free wedding location not listed here? Let me know!
|
|