Wedding season is now
CITYWIDE With temperatures slowly rising and flowers in full bloom, it’s the time of year again when betrothed couples conclude months of planning for the moment to gaze into each other’s eyes and say “I do.”
Baseball season, hunting season, hurricane season — there’s a peak time for virtually everything, and that certainly applies to weddings.
Wedding season, at least in California, is typically defined as the period of time between May and October. During that six-month period, June tends to be the most popular month for tying the knot.
In California, where the line between the seasons is almost indistinguishable, the window of opportunity to get hitched outdoors is much larger, as opposed to other regions, such has New England, where cold temperatures can dominate three of the four seasons.
“There’s June brides, which is interesting in California, particularly (because of) ‘June gloom,’” said Nicole Hirsty, owner of Cobalt Events, a Santa Monica-based event plan-ning firm that offers services for wedding coordination.
The event coordinators at Cobalt Events are booked nearly every weekend through October, the majority of which are for weddings, Hirsty said.
“For the summer, most of our business is weddings,” Hirsty said.
The cramped schedule extends to the local houses of worship including Saint Monica Catholic Church where multiple wedding services are scheduled nearly every weekend through Labor Day.
This weekend is the exception as only one service is scheduled for today.
The church typically officiates up to six ceremonies each weekend — two on Friday evening and up to four on Saturday, said Veronica Gray, administrative assistant to Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson. The services are scheduled in two-hour increments.
Couples need not be part of the Saint Monica congregation to be married in the church.
Saint Monica holds a marriage information night once a month for couples to apprise themselves of wedding protocol in the Catholic Church. Most couples schedule their ceremonies at least a year in advance as the Archdiocese of Los Angeles requires at least six months of preparation before the ceremony is to take place.
While wedding coordinators and caterers are typically booked solid starting in late spring, those who run bridal salons, fitting brides and bridesmaids in their wedding day attire, are finally taking a breather.
As many couples become engaged around the holiday season, the brides start pouring into bridal salons starting in early January, said Charlene McKay, manager of the Montclair Collection on Montana Avenue.
It takes four to five months for bridal salons to receive a dress from the time they are ordered. Alterations take an extra couple of months, totaling about seven months for a dress to be prepared for the big day.
Many brides will start searching a year in advance for a dress, McKay said.
McKay expects her salon to be buzzing with business around July again as they start preparing for the 2008 wedding season.
“We have been so busy from the beginning of January until now,” McKay said. “Now it’s slowing down because the weddings we did last year have taken place or are taking place now.”
GONNA GET MARRIED In Santa Monica, couples are all about reaping the benefits of the beach.
The Open Space Management division of the city of Santa Monica requires permits for events with more than 150 participants. Beach permits mandate that the event involve beach related activity, whether it be a beach volleyball tournament or a sand castle building contest. Weddings don’t typically qualify under this requirement, said Wendy Pietrzack, senior administrative analyst with the Open Space Management.
Couples could hold such an event in Santa Monica if the ceremony involved less than 150 guests.
“It’s really then first come, first served,” Pietrzack said. “They would need to abide by beach laws — no cooking, no fire, no alcohol and no glass containers.”
In Santa Monica, the beachside hotels are a popular venue for wedding ceremonies and receptions, Hirsty said, naming Casa del Mar, Shutters on the Beach, and Loews as some of the locations at which she has coor-dinated the romantic events.
Weddings have also been held in the Loof Hippodrome on the Santa Monica Pier, which houses the carousel.
The space, located at the bottom of the pier ramp, can accommodate up to 500 people. At least three to four weddings are held every year on the pier, whether it’s in the Hippodrome or an adjacent space known as the “Arcadia space,” said Rachel Waugh, marketing and community relations manager for the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation.
“You get the convenience of having an indoor location, but with the beach environment,” Waugh said. “It’s historic and charming.”
The plethora of shopping and dining options throughout the city, from Main Street to Montana Avenue, also lend to making it a popular destination for weddings.
“For a lot of couples, when they have guests coming in from out of town, it’s a fun spot for their guests,” Hirsty said.
“A lot of times, even if they’re not having their wedding in Santa Monica, they’ll (arrange) to have their guests stay in hotels in Santa Monica.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 2, 2007. Read the original PDF.