Getting married on the beach in Long Beach

This is a very late post, but better late than never. My friend Sam above got married on the beach in Long Beach in July 2007. I think I initially didn't post this because I didn't anticipate blogging her wedding. Lo and behold, here I blog. As with most of my friend's weddings (since they'd like me to be able to enjoy the wedding), I did not do these decorations. The bridal flowers were by a florist whose name Sam couldn't remember the other night, Sam and her bridesmaids did the table arrangements and most of the draping decorations were done by the venue, La Palapa Delmar Restaurant.

La Palapa Delmar's location was spectacular -- right on the sand in Long Beach. But it being July, it was quite hot. La Palapa was a visually interesting venue, but perhaps not well ventilated. Thankfully, its right on the beach, so it wasn't hard to get out and catch the ocean breeze.

Sam's parents escort her to the altar. One of the things about getting married at the beach is that you might end up with an audience not included on your guest list. Unless you somehow end up on your own private beach; if you've got game like that, then you probably don't need this blog anyway.

You can tell I wasn't expecting to blog this wedding by the complete absence of overall room pictures. I'm usually pretty good at that. Anyway, if you look past Sam's very adorable mom, you'll see the draping that's already included in the room, from the chandelier in the center of the room. There are a few other restaurants that have similar ceiling drapes, like Almansor Court. But the room, in my opinion, didn't need much in terms of decoration -- check out those burgundy drapes and the fancy sheers. Plus, the room itself was not your usual blank canvas hotel banquet room -- like I said, visually interesting on its own.

Sam and her maid of honor with their yellow rose bouquets.

The places of honor, decorated with fancy netting and candelabra.

The places of honor, occupied.

Finally, the newlywed couple's first dance.

It was a great wedding, with great music deejayed by my buddy Moonie -- yes, Moonie, whose wedding was once also featured here. It was also my first time at La Palapa -- seriously, I was surprised I'd never heard of the place before.