The Proposal Chronicles: Themes and Ideas and Venues, Oh My!

After Jordan proposed on December 8, 2018, I wasted no time in rounding up my team. My mom, Jordan’s mom, and my sister Amanda and started to talk about visions and inspiration for the big day. There are so many styles that I could go with, rustic, vintage, casual, bohemian, the options are endless. At that point, none of them were off the table. I had a few venues in mind and each of them was unique. You’ll eventually find this out sooner or later, I’m a bit indecisive, just ask my husband, brothers, mom, dad, or anyone who knows me. I remember being asked, “What do you want?” I laughed and said, “I want everyone to have fun and be happy!” What a typical Alex response.

I spent a lot of time researching ideas and themes, looking at inspiration for what I wanted the big day to look like. I mainly used Pinterest, Brides.com, Instagram, and google. It’s amazing how much you can find by simply typing a few words and adding “wedding” at the end. I spent countless hours looking at ideas and saving the ones that piqued my interest. Looking back at the album and my Pinterest board makes me feel absolutely crazy. I was all over the place when it came to themes and ideas.

However, I had a secret inspiration for my vison for the ceremony. I may sound cliché saying this but I really love the Twilight movie ceremony. The scene is woodsy yet elegant, with lush greenery and beautiful strands of flowers draping down over the aisle and guest seating. It is not only gorgeous to look at but also makes you feel wrapped by nature. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, I encourage you to look up “Twilight wedding.” Tell me it doesn’t look beautiful and dreamy.

It seemed like other people had it all figured out. They knew the exact color palette, the perfect venue, and the most amazing theme but all I had were albums full of screenshots and a million Pins. Eventually, I realized the only way I was going to narrow it down was by visiting venues, standing in the ceremony area, and walking through the reception hall. As I suspected, narrowing down ideas and themes became much easier.

The first weekend of venue visits included six different venues in San Diego and the surrounding areas. Each venue had its own unique charm but not all of them were the right vibe for Jordan and me. The first venue, The Cuvier Club, is near the cliffs in La Jolla. The ceremony would take place on the cliffs, overlooking the ocean and the reception would be up the hill from the ceremony area. It is a beautiful place but didn’t quite fit mine and Jordan’s style, although we live near the beach a beach wedding didn’t feel like our scene. The second venue, La Jolla Women’s Club, was similar to the first venue so we quickly ruled it out. The third venue, The Prado, was a front runner. It is a fantastic location within Balboa Park in San Diego. The location boasts a beautiful ceremony area overlooking the Japanese Friendship Garden, a cocktail area within the Prado restaurant, and a grand reception hall. The Prado was almost perfect. The fourth venue was the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas. It had the floral and earthy feeling I was looking for but didn’t provide catering service. It would have been a lot of work and coordination. The last two venues of the weekend were sister venues with very different aesthetics. We instantly fell in love with Los Willows but they were removed from the shortlist because they didn’t have a date we were looking for. Their sister site, Paradise Falls, was also stunning but it was unavailable for the preferred dates. On our way home we convinced Ramon and Amanda to go to Stone Brewery in Escondido for a bite to eat and to check out their garden as a potential venue. While it didn’t end up being the right choice we loved it so much we found a way to incorporate it into our wedding weekend. Stay tuned for a future post where it makes an appearance.

We also considered a wedding at the San Diego Safari Park, which thinking about it now would have been really cool. Could you imagine eating dinner, looking over your shoulder and seeing a giraffe? (Totally wicked!). We looked at a few wineries online and even considered a few historic homes around San Diego but were unable to visit in person. So after finishing up the first weekend we had only a couple venues in the lead.

The weekend following was Christmas, so instead of focusing on wedding planning, we spent time with family. BUT we did squeeze in one tour on our way to Pismo Beach, CA. Jordan and I toured the Temecula Creek Inn. This venue had two sites with different options and although the sites were beautiful the one I was most interested in had no weekends available (sad face). At the time I felt like every place we liked was unavailable on the dates we were interested in. I learned that 8 months in advance is late on the venue search for an end of summer/fall wedding. Note to any future brides, September is a popular month to get married. I highly recommend you start looking early and make a decision fast because come December a lot of popular months and dates will be gone.

I’m thankful I listened to everyone around me that said I would find the perfect place because the weekend following Christmas, Jordan and I went on two more venue tours with his mom. We visited the Rancho Bernardo Inn and Vista Valley Country Club. At the Rancho Bernardo Inn, I was greeted by the sales coordinator with a small bouquet that I got to hold as we toured the various sites. It was a nice touch to be able to walk around holding a bouquet while I envisioned what our wedding would look like at the Inn. There were a lot of aspects that I liked about the Rancho Bernardo Inn, one being it’s a hotel so guests would be able to stay and not worry about partying too hard. The other aspect I liked was the simplicity, however, it didn’t feel like the right place. It didn’t have the greenery I was looking for that naturally draped over the altar area or looked quite woodsy enough for me. So on we went to our last and final venue tour on the list, Vista Valley Country Club. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot of the clubhouse, I fell in love. It was gorgeous! We took a short golf cart ride to the ceremony site and as we approached the gorgeous, tall, historical gates, I got the first glimpse of the ceremony site and I was sold. It was absolutely perfect. We visited during winter so the greenery was dead but I could visualize it in September when everything was still green and it was perfect. The trees surrounding the guest seating area were inviting and as one approached to the altar, the foliage arched over the pergola. The cocktail hour would be held in a quaint outdoor area lit with market lights to provide a romantic ambiance for our guests and the reception hall was absolutely stunning with its high ceilings and beautiful architecture. It had large windows with tons of natural lighting that overlooked the golf course and mountains, and a wraparound balcony for guests to enjoy the sunset and cool evening breeze. Not to mention it had a sweet bridal suite and awesome library for the groomsmen.

It didn’t take us very long after visiting for us to make our decision, this was the perfect place for us. We put the deposit down, signed the contract and went to dinner with Ramon and Amanda to share and celebrate the good news, little did we know, they were also celebrating some good news too * wink *.

When you look up Vista Valley Country Club you’ll notice the clubhouse looks like a castle taken from Tuscany. And just as beautiful as it is outside, it’s also beautiful inside. With this venue, my theme was chosen. I was going to not only get my woodsy ceremony, but also an elegant, romantic reception.

So, how does an indecisive person make up her mind with all the options? Well… it’s a feeling. There was something at each place that was special but when we visited Vista Valley Country Club we knew it was the one we wanted to be at with our friends and family celebrating our love.

Below are some pictures of the venues we were looking at. Pictures 1-2 are from Los Willows, pictures 3-4 are Temecula Creek Inn, 5-7 are Rancho Bernardo Inn, 8-12 are Vista Valley Country Club.

Stay tuned for the next post on the Proposal Chronicles.

XOXO Alex