Is Big Sur Walkable?

weddings in big sur california

• We live in salinas, 30 plus miles from Big Sur, Calif. Our 26 year old daughter from Santa Rosa, Calif. wants to visit here around July 4th, and have a very small, very simple, wedding ceremony near the ocean, on a beach or cliff overlooking the ocean, somewhere between Moss Landing and Big Sur. Then a brunch/dinner at a nearby restaurant and a motel for them for the night. We are nondenominational, no church affiliations. So (# 1) who do we get to perform the ceremony and; ( #2) where, how, do we find a wedding site, plus a close by restaurant and hotel for them. We are well off financially to cover the hotel restaurant costs and to pay handsomely whoever could perform the ceremony. We are willing to pay a price to have some half way easy decent ceremony pulled off!!!! The exact day could be negotiable, I don't think it HAS to be on the 4th, i.e., the 3rd., but sometime close to that date. Or if some great other location has good potential, that would be considered, up towards Santa Cruz sounds nice also.

• Answer:

  rintin-ga: Congratulations! As someone whose own wedding is coming up this summer, I have a reasonable understanding of both the highs and the lows involved with planning this joyous event. The first and most important step that your daughter will need to take, is to obtain a marriage license so that the wedding can actually happen. In California, marriage licenses are issued by County and City Clerk offices. A license issued by any California County or City Clerk can be used for a wedding anywhere in the State of California, with the requirement that the license be filed with the issuing Clerk after the ceremony has been performed. The following web pages provide you with more information on this: ---------- How To Get a Marriage License and Get Married in California - About.com http://gocalifornia.about.com/cs/californiamenu/ht/cagetmarried.htm California - Marriage License Laws http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/california/index.shtml ---------- Now, the best option for your daughter to take is to obtain the marriage license from Sonoma County, as that is where you mentioned she lives. This is because one must apply in person for the marriage license. The Sonoma County Clerk's website with information on this can be found here: ---------- Sonoma County - Birth, Death, and Marriage Certificates http://www.sonoma-county.org/Clerk/HTML_Documents/BDMCerts/Frameset_BDMCerts.htm (click on Civil Marriages and Licenses link in left menu to get to...) http://www.sonoma-county.org/Clerk/HTML_Documents/Marriages/Marriages.htm ---------- That second link above about Civil Marriages is the most important one, as it mentions the requirements (photo ID, bride and groom must appear together in order to apply), specifies that the license is valid for 90 days from date of issue, and states that there is a $70 cash fee required. The second link also provides an interesting option for you and your daughter to consider, as far as an officiant goes. The Sonoma County Clerk has a "Deputy Marriage Commissioner for a Day" program, whereby a friend or family member of the bride or groom can make an appointment to appear at the Sonoma County Clerk's Office, go through a short training meeting, and be sworn in as a Deputy Marriage Commissioner for a Day (the Day being the day of the wedding, so they'll need to know the exact date before this deputization can occur). In my opinion, this option will provide you with the greatest flexibility in planning the actual wedding, as a friend or family member should be able to accommodate any schedule restrictions that result from booking the location, whereas a marriage commissioner might already have other weddings scheduled throughout that weekend. As well, a friend or family member will know the bride and groom better than any 'stranger' would, and thus would be able to make the ceremony much more personal and meaningful... but again that's just my opinion. If you would prefer to investigate hiring a marriage commissioner from the local area instead, then here are some located in Monterey County that advertise their services online: ---------- Soaring Starkey http://www.bigsurceremonies.com/ Ken Robins http://www.weddingsinbigsur.com/ ---------- The cost to use a marriage commissioner will vary depending on the amount of work and travel required for the officiant. If you do choose to go with a commissioner, and if both of these commissioners are already booked, they should be able to refer you to another commissioner who may be available. Now, for the location. For a simple wedding ceremony, you will not need any large, elaborate facility or location. However, it is still important to note that just about any location will require prior booking and the payment of some form of location fee in order to assure that you have the use of the location at a pre-agreed time. Since the July 3-4 weekend is a holiday weekend, one problem you may run into is that many of the resorts and parks where the most scenic ceremony locations are found, will already be full or nearly fully booked. With some phoning around, though, you may be able to find one that can accommodate a small day-time ceremony in an outdoor location. If it were me, I would start with these: ---------- Ventana Inn - Weddings http://www.ventanainn.com/weddings.htm Ragged Point Inn http://www.raggedpointinn.com/weddings.htm http://www.beachcalifornia.com/ragged.html Captain's Inn at Moss Landing http://www.bbonline.com/ca/captains/ ---------- Any of the Ventana Inn outdoor locations would be a dream wedding, on a sunny July day... Even if these locations are unavailable, the coordinators listed on their webpages would most likely be able to give you additional ideas about spots where a small, simple ceremony can take place on an otherwise busy holidy weekend. An interesting twist for the Captain's Inn in particular would be to have the "Captain" officiate the wedding for you! With each of these resort options, you would be able to take care of the location, restaurant, and accommodations with one call. The Big Sur Chamber of Commerce maintains a webpage that lists some of the resources that I have provided above, along with other supporting services that you may be interested in: http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/weddings.html Finally, if all of this is too overwhelming, then you might want to consider the services of a local wedding coordinator; as long as you limit the use of such a service to site selection, the costs should not be outrageous. The one mentioned on the Chamber of Commerce website appears to be quite knowledgeable: ---------- Diane Allen - Wedding Coordinator http://www.bigsurweddings.com/ ---------- I hope that this Answer helps get you and your daughter started with planning the wedding. Your options range from having your daughter's favorite adult relative officiate a simply ceremony at a secluded lookout off of Highway 1, to having a more elaborate, yet still simply, ceremony and reception at a beautiful resort like the Ventana Inn. Good luck, and please let me know via the "Request Answer Clarification" button above if any part of this Answer is not clear. Thanks, aht-ga Google Answers Researcher