The Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows

The Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows

Simply Weddings by Brit Bertino Southern California Wedding Planner

This month Brit had the pleasure of visiting the Beverly Hills Hotel in southern California. This beautiful hotel is to Beverly Hills what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. It’s a must-see!

Located on the classic Sunset Boulevard, the Beverly Hills Hotel has been a favorite star-sighting spot for the past century. With rooms “bathed in soft tones of peach, mauve, sage, yellow, and beige” it will be the perfect getaway from the busy streets below. For an even more luxurious stay, bungalows are available. With a bedroom, living room, and private porch, you’ll be able to enjoy yourself in the privacy of your own bungalow!

Its rich historical timeline makes the Beverly Hills Hotel one-of-a-kind. The hotel was opened by Margaret J. Anderson and her son, Stanley S. Anderson on May 12, 1912. Beverly Hills was literally built around this famous hotel after the Anderson’s agreed to leave their secure spot in Hollywood. Because of the hotel, in 1914 Beverly Hills officially became a city. After being forced to close its doors during the depression, the hotel is reopened and in 1948 it is painted the famous pink color. In the 1950’s many celebrities stayed in the posh hotel, including Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren. In 1959, Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand called bungalows 20 and 21 home while filming “Let’s Make Love”. In 1972 Charlie Chaplin stays at the hotel. In 1978 the hit movie, “California Suite”, was filmed at the property. Wanting to remain a top-tier hotel, the famous pink hotel closes its doors on December 30, 1992 for a two and a half year complete restoration. In 1995 the hotel reopened, looking better than ever. Just six months from now the Beverly Hills Hotel will be partying for its Centennial Celebration!

With three dining options you are sure to find something to satisfy your appetite. Enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the Polo Lounge. On certain nights you can even catch some Jazz entertainment. For some poolside dining head down to the Cabana Club Café. The Fountain Coffee Room is a gem of the Beverly Hills Hotel. The classic venue features shakes and floats from the 1950’s. Its even home to 19 restored bar stools that originally surrounded the classic curved soda fountain counter built in 1949. Bar Nineteen 12 is the hotel’s lobby bar with a terrace overlooking Century City. You can enjoy an evening on the terrace while munching on light fares and sipping unique cocktails.

From a ice martini bar with an ice luge, to a Kosher Sushi Chef, to a children’s plated menu, the Beverly Hills Hotel has everything to delight your guests’ appetites.

Guest services include dance floor and staging, a complimentary wedding night stay for the bride and groom, and special room rates for your wedding guests.

The Beverly Hills Hotel has 22,000 square feet of indoor and 4,800 square feet of outdoor space. Lush gardens are home to a white wedding gazebo, while the property also contains three ballrooms, each with a private foyer.

The Crystal Ballroom was the first ballroom at the Beverly Hills Hotel and features a beautiful rose chandelier. Your guests can enjoy the view; it looks out onto a Crystal Garden.

The Sunset Ballroom features hand-painted murals of an enchanting sky, along with a one-of-a-kind chandelier creating a celestial theme.

The Rodeo Ballroom also features chandeliers, with French doors that open to a Spanish tiled terrace.

The Polo Private Dining Room is also available, which features an intimate patio space perfect for private gatherings.

Photo Source: The Beverly Hills Hotel, Top10BeverlyHills.com

11/11/11: A Once in a Lifetime Wedding Date!

Many couples have chosen special dates for their big days. Dates in the past include 8/9/10, 10/10/10, etc. Well, the mother of all special dates is here: 11/11/11. It is special for many reasons: it is all ones, everyone makes a wish on the clock at 11:11, etc. The next time a date will come up like this, more than a decade will have passed: 2/2/22. Across the United States, tens of thousands of couples will tie the knot tomorrow. Lucky for a recovering Las Vegas economy, a good amount of them will be doing so in Sin City.

As of yesterday, at least 3,500 couples had pre-applied for marriage licenses in Clark County for tomorrow. Stacy Alsen of Boise, Idaho explained that "it's a once in a lifetime chance." Her and her fiance will say "I do" at 1pm on 11/11/11 at Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas.

Clark County Clerk Diana Alba has called in reinforcements in preparation for the onslaught of applications they are going to receive. She has temporarily reassigned staff to process applications, which they've been trained to do within the average of 20 minutes.

The office usually gets less than 1,000 pre-applications within a 60-day period. As of Tuesday, the clerk's office had 3,500 pre-applications for Nov. 11, 2011, and were expecting hundreds more today and Friday.

Welcoming the boost of business are the Las Vegas wedding chapels. There are over 100 chapels promoting 11/11/11 packages. David Nye from the A Elvis Chapel is expecting 40 couples on Friday, a huge number compared to their average of 40 couples a week.

As a UNLV student, I've received a few emails through our Hotel College group, from hotels such as the Venetian, asking for student volunteers to help out with 11/11/11 weddings.

Reasons behind choosing such an unusual date? Many couples believe it is good luck; we all remember the Vegas wedding scene on 7-7-07 (many planners believe that Nov. 11, 2011 will crush 7-7-07 numbers). For other brides, they're hoping that 11-11 is a day that their soon-to-be hubbies will never forget!

Many couples are also choosing to say their vows at a particular time on Friday. Candice Seiler is holding her ceremony at 11:11am. For Candice and her fiance, Brad, the number 11 is everywhere in the relaitonship. They have also been together for 11 years.

Whatever their reason for choosing the special date, we want to wish a wonderful day and future together for all of the couples saying "I do" tomorrow, 11/11/11!

Source: "Thousands Flock to Las Vegas for 11/11/11 weddings" by Sevil Omer, published: 11/9//2011. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45194144/ns/today-today_news/t/thousands-flock-las-vegas----weddings#.TrxPJ-CJXh8

Photo Source: guardian.co.uk

DIY Idea of the Day

These yarn covered bottles make great centerpieces! They would be extremely inexpensive. You could add different dimensions by using different sizes of bottles. Yarn of any color can be used so you can match them perfectly to your color scheme!

Carly and Alan 10-14-11

Carly & Alan said “I do” at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas on October 14th. They had a simple but elegant ceremony.

Candles hanging from trees made for unique decor.

Later at the reception, highlights included a cigar bar, which made for some unforgettable photo op’s.

Not only did guests have the amazing cake to munch on, which was done by Four Seasons, but they also got to enjoy a donut station!

To wrap up the evening, a pizza station provided the perfect late-night snack!

The beautiful floral was done by Foxtail Floral. The linens were supplied by Creative Coverings. Planning done by Simply Weddings by Brit Bertino. Thank you to Ron Miller Photography for the fabulous pictures!

In honor of Halloween...

October is a popular wedding month. Many climates create the ideal weather for a wedding. Las Vegas is one of them. With temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and almost always clear blue skies, an outdoor reception could be fantastic. There are many ways to incorporate the always enjoyable holiday, Halloween, into your October wedding.

Just adding a black accent can do a lot. This wedding dress is beautiful with the black lace sash.

These orange bride's maids dresses would create the perfect effect next to a wedding dress with black details.

Colors like purple, orange, green, yellow, and black can add the subtle hint of Halloween. Orange bride's maids dresses with a purple flower girl dress would get the Halloween ball rolling.

When it comes to centerpieces there are hundreds of ways to incorporate pumpkins, fall leaves, candles, etc. to go along with the trick-or-treating holiday.

If you're going for a not-so-subtle Halloween theme, check out these amazing wedding cakes.

Happy Halloween Weekend!

Photo Source: Discount-Wedding-Dresses.net, community.babycentre.co.uk, weddingbycolor.com, fashionlookbetter.info

Flower Girl Tutus

Idea of the day: Flower Girl tutus. This is a very inexpensive and creative way to dress your flower girl(s)! The outfit can be created with a leotard or shirt and a tutu! You can add a ribbon for a belt or flowers as embellishments. I saw a lot of pictures that had made an adult sized tutu into a dress for a toddler. You can just add straps to the dress with ribbons and glue some flowers on the chest to add some detail!

Photo Source: Sedona Wedding Blog & Posh Baby Store

Postrio

Last week Brit and I had the pleasure of meeting with Leah Gulla, the Catering Sales Manager for Wolfgang Puck Private Dining & Catering, at Postrio in the Venetian. No thanks to the G2E Convention crowd, we made it and enjoyed a wonderful lunch.

For an appetizer we ordered to-die-for Truffled Potato Chips. These freshly made potato chips covered in truffle oil and bleu cheese made for a delicious appetizer. For lunch, I ordered Ricotta Gnocchi with Sweet Fennel Sausage Bolognese. It reminded me of my summer trip in Italy. Leah recommended any of the wood oven baked pizzas. She added that Wolfgang’s signature pizzas are ideal for tray pass items at receptions; they are cute into small squares so they make a great finger food! A big thank you to Executive Chef Mark Sandoval.

Leah has been with Wolfgang Puck for five and a half years. The dining group includes the restaurants Spago, Lupo, Postrio, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, Cut, Pizzeria & Cucina, and Pod’s. When we asked her what she liked most about the company, Leah replied that she loves their branding and that they provide high quality food and service, whether its a small event or a large banquet.

Along with Wolfgang Puck’s exquisite dining, each of the restaurants have their own pastry chef, who can tailor any of their six standard designs to create your dream wedding cake. Postrio does not provide wedding floral but will be more than accommodating with outside florists. The pastry chefs will also work with you if you’d like flowers on your wedding cake. Postrio also provides a sign-in table and white linens.

One thing that is very unique about Postrio is that it is one of the few restaurants on the strip that can fit a DJ and dancefloor in their private dining rooms.

Postrio also has amazingly inexpensive open-bar packages. For just $46, your guests can enjoy four hours of Premium open-bar. This includes cocktails, house select red and white wines, imported and domestic beer, soft drinks, and fruit juices.

Postrio has several spaces available for private events.

For Lunch/Dinner:

• Banquet Room I: Up to 60 guests
• Banquet Room II: Up to 100 guests
• Cafe: Up to 125 guests
• Main Dining room: Up to 175 guests
• Entire Restaurant: Up to 300 guests

For a cocktail reception:

• Banquet Room I: Up to 75 guests
• Banquet Room II: Up to 150 guests
• Cafe: Up to 150 guests
• Main Dining Room: Up to 400 guests
• Entire Restaurant: Up to 600 guests.

Located inside of the Venetian, Postrio is the perfect place for a wonderful reception. They often work with the chapel, which is a quick and easy transition for your guests!