MemberI’ve been around many public weddings. Most people are pretty respectful and would not sit in your seats or drink your drinks. You can’t shoo them away though. If you want the beach (and cheap rental!) that’s kinda what you deal with.
MemberI’m local to San Diego and just keep in mind that October is usually one of the nicest months of the year (weather wise) so if you’re on a beach on a weekend there absolutely will be beach goers, bikini wearers, events, parties, kayakers etc. If you have questions let me know, happy to give insight (not sure if you or fiance are from here or planning from out of town)
Memberclaroquesi : I have always wanted the ceremony to be outside and in the fall. I have always preferred a bouquet with orchid like flowers that drape down. I hate wearing sleeveless dresses. I never really thought through all the other details about the ceremony itself until FH and I started talking about our vision. So a lot of the ideas are FH’s suggestions, and I am very much on board. The irony is he wanted to get married at the courthouse and have a huge party after, and I said absolutely not, I don’t want to get married at a place that reminds me of work. So here I am, fussing about things like uninvited guests taking up our seats and silly things like that. 🙂
I think the clubhouse is really beautiful, but a little pricy. We think it will be worth it for the photos and the ambience, though. The other clubhouse is smack in the middle of foot traffic, so it would be much more hectic to have a waterfront ceremony there. It’s also not as scenic and the interior didn’t blow me away. FH didn’t “veto” that location, that was a strong word. He was the one who picked up on and pointed out the drawbacks.
Mission Bay is special to us, we paddleboard/kayak there. I love the idea of getting married in front of the water with an arch made of our paddles and orange flowers. (The paddle arch was my idea.) And the clubhouse is a women’s rowing club with a gate made of paddles, so how cool is that! The orange and blue color scheme was his idea, and I was skeptical until I googled “fall beach wedding” and saw how pretty orange accents look against the blue sky and ocean and white chairs.
When I say FH will get what he wants, I mean that in a tongue in cheek, affectionate way. Like our cats get whatever they want (within reason). I have a hard time saying no to this man when his eyes light up and he gets that wistful tone in his voice. That’s how he got a second box of chocolates when I meant to take that box to coworkers instead, haha.
To address your concerns, yes, we are equal partners in this. We are working as a team to have a wedding with nice photos, happy memories, and well fed, comfy guests. The hard part is saving up for a wedding as well as a new kitchen while maintaining a monthly subscription for cat toys. 🤣 Thank you for picking up on my (unintended) innuendo and checking in.
Memberbeemack : Thanks! We are local, and I read somewhere that October is the slowest time for the bay. (Maybe the website simply meant that it’s not crew season? Haha). I am fairly oblivious, so I don’t remember/keep track of when the weather is nice and when it’s busy. We are aiming for either September or October. November has too many holidays. We are doing Saturday at 4 or 5 pm to accommodate out of town guests and because of the time slot the clubhouse is available. I am hoping it won’t be too crazy then? I’m more worried about pedestrians than boats.
MemberBuzzedBumblingBee : Very glad to hear it’s a joint project, and how important your guests’ comfort is. Hope you have a very sunny and happy wedding day!
MemberThanks, all!
We talked to a wedding planner, we asked her about this, and she said you can’t actually kick anyone out, but if you offer them a free drink they’ll usually move. However, most people are very considerate.
Having everyone’s input here made me confident in this planner’s experience. If she had given me some false bravado about being able to keep out non-invitee’s, I would have known she was full of it.
MemberI had our wedding in the park where we met!
i remember being worried about some of these things, and a moment thinking: oh no, what if an ex boyfriend is in this park right now?!
NONE of those things happened. Everyone was extremely respectful and kept their distance. We had our photos in the park and no one talked to us and everyone in the public was lovely.
We also had a food truck and I think I might have heard that one group from the public tried to buy food but the truck said it was for a private function. Honestly, I don’t even know if that actually happened, I think I just heard it third or fourth hand.
I was worried about so many of these little things and it all turned out perfectly.
MemberI got married in an outdoor public space – and in the middle of London no less – and whilst it was kind of U shaped, the public could still wander up. Nobody did. A few people stood and watched at the other end of the U, and our DOC planted staff there to ask people to wait.