CALIFORNIA OFFERS UNIQUE DESTINATION WEDDING VENUES

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.)—Because of inexpensive airfare and resources readily available via the Internet, more couples are foregoing traditional ceremonies and instead booking destination weddings that also serve as the honeymoon locale. With many couples becoming engaged over the winter holidays and Valentine’s Day, most are already actively planning weddings that capture their personality and taste.

"A destination wedding allows brides and grooms to be creative," Executive Director Caroline Beteta, of the California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC), said. "California offers a number of interesting venues for that special ceremony, while also providing settings that fit the more traditional wedding template."

Castles are not just for celebrity weddings. The Mt. Woodson Castle in San Diego, part of the San Diego County Region, is a stone mansion built in 1921 with 27 rooms and 12,000 square feet. Located at the Mt. Woodson Golf Club, the castle provides an elegant setting for weddings with its handcrafted tile and wood floors, stone fireplaces, wood-beamed ceilings, French doors and hand-painted etchings. Oak, eucalyptus and hickory trees border the multi-leveled garden. Additionally, expansive lawns accommodate 800, and rose gardens surround the castle and overlook the golf course.

For visitors interested in something a little more action-packed than a standard wedding, the Lakefront Wedding Chapel in South Lake Tahoe, located in the High Sierra Region, offers Adventure Wedding Packages. These packages provide couples with skiing, hiking, cycling, snowboarding, dog sledding, mountain biking and rock-climbing guided wedding excursions. Lake Tahoe itself, the largest alpine lake in the country, is also an ideal venue with many ceremonies regularly held on yachts and historic paddle wheelers. In Yosemite, the historic Ahwahnee Hotel, built in 1927, offers a grand wedding venue in a grand, mountain setting. The property’s striking granite façade, log-beamed ceilings, massive stone hearths and richly colored Native American artwork make it one of the best locations to say "I do" in the Yosemite area.

For nuptials with an ocean view, many visitors tie the knot at the Boardwalk Grove in Pismo Beach, part of the Central Coast Region. Boardwalk Grove is a grove of cypress trees to the west of the boardwalk that runs from Grand Avenue north towards North Beach Campground off Highway One. The grove is ideal in that it provides shelter from breezes and is slightly elevated, offering amazing views of the ocean. Nearby is the Pismo State Beach Golf Course, which has a huge tent perfect for wedding receptions.

Many brides and grooms choose to experience the total tranquility that comes while exchanging vows in a hot air balloon ride over Temecula, part of the Inland Empire Region. Some couples invite friends and families to the landing site to celebrate the special occasion. With more than 20 wineries to choose from, the Temecula Valley Wine Country is also ideal for weddings. Many visitors get married overlooking rows of lush vineyards, while others pick a barrel room filled with aging oak wine barrels.

The Cocoanut Grove Santa Cruz, located in the San Francisco Bay Area Region, is a 100-year-old facility, which boasts a colorful history, oceanfront setting and spectacular charm. This wedding location, on the beach and next to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, was designed by California architect William H. Weeks, who also designed hundreds of Mission-style public buildings throughout California between 1892 and 1936. This California Historic Landmark offers 2,000 square-feet of banquet space, including the elegant Sun Room with its retractable glass ceiling.

In the Central Valley Region, there are a variety of California Delta facilities perfect for weddings, varying from a simple setting on the patio at Windmill Cove Marina, just outside of Stockton with sailboats and rust-bucket freighters passing by out on the Channel, to the elegant 58-room Grand Island Mansion or the 32-room Ryde Hotel, both located in Walnut Grove. Nestled among acres of lush wine grapes, Harmony Wynelands in Lodi also provides a picture perfect setting for weddings.

Overlooking the majestic Pacific Ocean, the Trump National Golf Course Los Angeles, part of the Los Angeles County Region, offers a perfect venue for a destination wedding. Originally designed by Pete Dye as the Ocean Trails Golf Course, the property was purchased by developer Donald Trump, who spent more than $250 million to redesign it with lakes and waterfalls. Located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the course has a 45,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style clubhouse, three dining options and a grand ballroom that accommodates 300 guests for an elegant seated dinner.

Trinity Mountain Resort at the Village of Pinegri-La, just west of Castella and in the Shasta Cascade Region, is a venue specifically tailored to offer all the luxury amenities of an urban wedding with the rugged awe of Mt. Shasta’s lush greenery, waterfalls and snow-capped mountains. The resort sits at an elevation of 5,500 feet and provides acres of alpine meadows and lakes, old growth pine forest and wildflowers. The resort also provides fully furnished cabins for guests within its spectacular setting.

Couples can exchange vows in a beautiful outdoor setting overlooking green fairways, swaying palms and the majestic San Jacinto Mountains or for a more formal setting they can choose one of the many ballrooms at the Doral Desert Princess Resort Palm Springs in Cathedral City, located in the Deserts Region. From an intimate dinner with 10 guests to a lavish ceremony for up to 400, the Doral Princess Resort offer flexible banquet space and catering, as well as diverse wedding packages. For onsite weddings, brides and grooms can also escape to the Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells, which boasts luxurious accommodations in an idyllic Tuscan setting that includes Italian fountains, fine-crafted stonework and gently curved arches.

With two AAA four-diamond beachfront resorts, Huntington Beach in the Orange County Region is ideal for brides and grooms in search of a destination wedding by the ocean. Both the Huntington Beach Resort and Spa and the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort offer full-service wedding planning services to help couples plan their grand affair or intimate gathering. Staff can also advise on menus, florists, photographers and music. Guests attending the destination wedding and staying at the resorts can take advantage of nearby surfing, cycling, shopping or relaxing on the beach.

In the North Coast Region, couples head out in tranquil waters with many getting married aboard a chartered yacht as it cruises along the historic Petaluma River, following the ceremony with a picturesque reception in one of the many restaurants or meeting venues in downtown Petaluma, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Another unique setting is Goltermann Gardens and Country Inn, a 1913 historic farmhouse in Petaluma, with its more than six acres of designer country gardens that include a natural lake, wisteria-covered pergola and koi pond. In Fort Bragg, the Dahlia Garden, set among the 47 acres of Mendocino Botanical Gardens, is filled with more than a hundred varieties of colorful dahlias of different forms, sizes and shapes, which makes for a spectacular wedding venue especially in mid-summer when the flowers peak.

In Nevada City and Grass Valley, part of the Gold Country Region, brides and grooms, as well as their wedding guests, enjoy award-winning wineries, historic Gold Rush sites, art galleries and many lakes, rivers and trails that offer year round recreation. Located in the heart of downtown Nevada City, Miners Foundry retains the character of Gold Rush days with its rough-hewn beams, heavy metal doors, antique fixtures and furnishings, providing a unique and historic setting for weddings. The Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley is also perfect with its garden setting for small weddings.

The CTTC is a non-profit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs - in partnership with the state's travel industry - that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. California is currently the number one travel destination in the country. According to the CTTC, travel and tourism expenditures total $88.1 billion annually in California, support jobs for 911,800 Californians and generate $5.3 billion in state and local tax revenues. For more information about the CTTC and for a free California vacation packet, go to www.visitcalifornia.com.

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Contact: Jennifer Jasper, 916-319-5428 or Sam Caygill, 916-319-5424