Elegant Beachfront Wedding in San Diego — An Eventective User from San Diego, CA

With miles of beautiful coastline, abundant natural beauty and mild year-round temperatures, San Diego has no shortage of exceptional wedding venues. After visiting many of these potential sites, we chose the Hotel del Coronado. Years later and looking back, we have no doubt that it was the best possible experience for our special day. The Wedding: Their on-site wedding coordinators are knowledgeable and friendly. We weren't selecting the most expensive options for each part of our wedding and reception, but you couldn't tell by the royal treatment we received. Options for the ceremony include sites such as the fragrant garden, the lawn in front of the beach and the beach itself. We booked the beach although as we started considering the logistics, we wished we had chosen the lawn. We had already met our budget though and committed to making it work. Some time before the wedding we got a call from our coordinator/liaison at ""the Del"". She said that no one had booked the lawn and we could be upgraded -- free of charge! This was a savings of several thousand dollars AND we got the setting we decided we really wanted. Amazing! Appetizers and beverages were served to guests on the lawn after the ceremony while the wedding party was having photos taken. Perfect. Service was efficient and professional and the portions were generous. The Reception: We chose an appropriately sized room inside for the reception. For 70 guests, we did not need the Grand Ballroom. The dinner was 5 or 6 courses and was absolutely one of the best dinners we've had. As a trade-off for a Hotel del Coronado wedding, we decided to keep it small to make sure it was intimate and affordable for us. My friends rave about the food and service years later. The food did not taste or look mass-produced. It felt like I was taking 70 of my friends to an exquisite gourmet restaurant. Truly fantastic. From beginning to end, the experience was amazing. The detail oriented and accommodating coordinators, the perfect and historic venue, the beach, the outdoor cocktail party and the dinner all were exceptional. I also recommend splurging and staying in one of the beach-front rooms on your wedding night. Waking up married to the sound of the ocean is a memory I keep near to my heart to this day.