San Diego…Home of Fabulous Destination Weddings

With a climate that’s the envy of every city, a low rainfall total and glorious beaches, mountains and hills, San Diego hosts thousands of destination weddings every year. In fact, nearly one of five of the 20,000 plus weddings held here is a destination wedding. The bride and groom may have gone to school here or been stationed here in the military or they may have moved away but still have family and friends locally. So they know what a perfect setting San Diego is for the most important day of their lives.

If you’re thinking of a destination wedding here in “America’s Finest City,” here are some things to consider:

Book early! The most popular wedding and reception sites are usually booked over a year in advance. If you don’t live here, how do you find the right spot? Well, you can pick up a copy of San Diego Bride & Groom magazine at the newsstand at the bookstore or supermarket. It lists hundreds of ceremony and reception sites with descriptions of each so you can make a list to check out. If you book a wedding planner (you can find one listed in San Diego Bride & Groom), the planner can do much of the legwork for you and find great resources like caterers, photographers, cake makers and more.

Plan to make it an occasion. There’s something for everyone here. Your guests can surf, play golf, take in the zoo and SeaWorld, take the kids to LegoLand, play in Mexico or head to Orange County and Disneyland virtually all year, go to the big county fair or nationally famous horse racing, baseball and football games (depending on the season). So you can plan a combination wedding/vacation for them. If it’s snowing  back east, and you have a January wedding (the temperature could be in the 70s), guests  will thank you for it.

Think about making it a California-style event. While your wedding can still be formal, there is a certain lightness about a Southern California wedding. It may be in the brighter colors, the freshness of the food, the touch of informality, the lighter fabrics of the clothing and the mood of the guests.  Particularly if most of your guests are from out-of-town, this would make it an especially memorable event.

Pick up future copies of this magazine for more tips on your destination wedding. There’s also a coupon for a free copy of San Diego Bride & Groom in the center of the magazine.