Wedding

This page will serve as "Information Central" for this long-awaited event. Most of the information will be more useful for out-of-town guests, but there should be something here for everyone. After the event, select Wedding, Reception, and Honeymoon photos will be posted.

The wedding will be held on Saturday, October 30th, 2004 in the late afternoon, with the reception continuing long into the evening. The location is the Santa Monica Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey, CA. where the bride & groom have kept their sailboat for some time, and have recently become members.

Formal invitations will be sent out this summer.

Accommodations: Marina Del Rey	Maps	Accommodations: Santa Monica
Event Details		Area Information
The Original Announcement		Gift Registry
Ceremony & Reception Photos	Rings	Honeymoon Photos

ACCOMMODATIONS: Marina Del Rey

The hotel closest to the event location is The Marina Del Rey Hotel. It's about two blocks away from the Yacht Club and within 10 minutes' easy walking distance. The Wedding Discount is no longer available, but they are still reasonably priced and by far the most convenient hotel for the event. The hotel is full-service, very nice, but not ultra-luxurious. The hotel will provide free shuttle service to and from LAX, but it's not a regularly scheduled service, so you must request it when you make your reservation. 1-800-882-4000.

There are several other hotels in the nearby Marina Del Rey area.

The most luxurious (and the Bride & Groom's choice for the wedding night) is the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey. Basic Room rates seem to start around $239/night and go up. The Ritz is a rather long walk around the marina to the Yacht Club, but it is a pleasant walk by the waterside.

Two other full service hotels are an even longer walk, but are less pricey. The Marina International Hotel & Bungalows start at $99/night. We've never been into this hotel but it seems nice from the outside and from the website. There's also The Marina Del Rey Marriot with everything you'd expect from that chain, starting at about $169/night.

The Best Western Jamaica Bay Inn starts around $159/night. Despite the price, it's more of a motel than a hotel. The Foghorn Harbor Inn is similar but less expensive, with rooms starting at $109/night on the weekends. These motels are near the Marina International & the Marriott and are quite a walk to the Yacht Club. Naturally any of these would be less than five minutes away by car or taxi, but there's no convenient bus service.

For the best combination of quality, convenient location (for the wedding) and price, The Marina Del Rey Hotel looks like the best choice. But you may also want to consider staying in Santa Monica, where we live. This would obviously be more of a consideration if you plan to arrive several days before the ceremony and want to be able to hang out with us at some point before the wedding. Santa Monica is about 6 miles from Marina Del Rey and takes about 10 - 15 minutes to drive in normal traffic.

Naturally you may be able to find better prices through any of the discount travel websites like Travelocity, Expedia, and Hotels.com.

ACCOMMODATIONS: Santa Monica

The cheapest place to stay in the area also happens to be one of the closest to our apartment and in a quaint neighborhood. The Seashore Motel is $75 - $90/night. It's clean, relatively quiet, in the chic, historic "Main Street" shopping area, and only 3 blocks from our apartment. Almost as close, but more upscale is the Four Points Sheraton , a full service hotel that starts at $219/night.

A few blocks further, but still within walking distance of our place is the Doubletree Guest Suites which seems very nice, but is right by the freeway entrance so might be a little noisy. Their rooms start at $169/night. About the same distance from our place, but a world away is Shutters On The Beach. This is probably the nicest, most upscale hotel in Santa Monica, and as the name suggests, it's right on the beach. Naturally, you'll pay dearly for this.

The hotels above are the ones within walking distance of us, but naturally there are many more hotels in Santa Monica than we could possibly list here. After all, this is L.A.'s beach town. For more information, try http://www.santamonica.com. The Loews Beach Hotel is corporate but upscale and The Georgian has old world charm.

AREA INFORMATION

MAPS

General L.A. Area Map

Santa Monica Map

GENERAL INFO

Airport:

If you're flying into the area, be sure to book your flight into Los Angeles International Airport, better known as LAX. The other area airports like Burbank, Long Beach, and John Wayne, are all too far away. LAX is less than a 15 minute drive from Marina Del Rey and about 20 minutes from Santa Monica. Expect to pay $20 - $25 for a cab to Santa Monica and $15 - $20 to Marina Del Rey. But many hotels in the area have their own complimentary shuttle buses which pick you up at the airport and drop you at your hotel. If you rent a car, be sure to check with your hotel ahead of time to see if they charge for parking.

Traffic:

Getting around L.A. is relatively easy and quick due to our excellent freeway system. That is, until rush hour starts. Morning Rush Hour begins around 7am and lasts until 10am. Lunch Time Rush hour begins around 11:30am and lasts until about 2pm. Evening Rush Hour begins around 3pm and lasts until 8pm. On Fridays the Morning Rush hour is rather light, but the Evening rush hour begins at noon and ends around 9pm. During any Rush Hour a typical 20 minute drive will take at least an a hour. Nothing in this paragraph is an exaggeration.

Weather:

As the old song goes, "It never rains in Southern California". From June through October this is absolutely true. The end of October does occasionally get a light sprinkle, but they're pretty rare. The odds are that the days will be warm and sunny (in the 70's near the coast) and the nights will be cool (low 60's). The ocean water never gets very warm in this area, rarely above 70 - 72 degrees in late summer. By late October the beaches will still be nice, but actually jumping in the surf will be... brisk! In the fall we sometimes experience "Santana" conditions wherein very warm dry breezes blow from the inland deserts out towards the coast. This phenomena usually lasts several days at a time and can raise temperatures along the coast into the mid 80's during the day and keep it warm at night as well.

Attire:

California, and L.A. in particular, are famous for their casual lifestyle. Only the grayest of corporate drones (and lawyers) wear business suits here. There are very very few restaurants that require a jacket or tie for men. In fact, there's almost no place in L.A. where clean jeans and a decent shirt won't be sufficient. Residents seem to wear shorts and T-shirts more than anything else. You will need at least a light jacket once the sun goes down.

Of course, for the wedding, we'd appreciate it if you dressed up!

Activities:

If you arrive several days before the wedding, there's the possibility we could take you out sailing on our boat, "Earendil". Be sure to contact us well ahead of time to make plans as we'll obviously be rather busy in the days leading up to the wedding. On the other hand, there's very little that Thunder enjoys more than sharing his favorite pasttime with friends.

If you'd like to visit the bride's place of employment, the J. Paul Getty Museum, while you're in town, please contact Debbie and she'll make arrangements for your visit.

Other Area Attractions Include:

Hollywood. About a 30 minute drive.
Beverly Hills. About a 20 minute drive.
Disney Land. About an hour's drive.
Universal Studios. About a 30 minute drive.
Knott's Berry Farm. About an hour's drive.
The Queen Mary. About a 30 minute drive.
Six Flags Magic Mountain. About a 45 minute drive.
San Diego & Tiajuana. About 2.5 hour drive.
Palm Springs. About a 3.5 hour drive.

...And the Mann VIllage Theater in Westwood.
Probably the best all around movie theater in the world,
it's home to most of the big premieres these days, and was
the site of our famous six week campout for the opening
of Star Wars - Episode One in the spring of 1999.
This is about a 15 minute drive from Santa Monica.

SANTA MONICA

Santa Monica is a lovely small city surounded on three sides by Los Angeles, and on the fourth, by the Pacific Ocean. In recent years, the city has become more upscale as many smaller film production companies have moved to the area for the cleaner air and reduced traffic and stress level. The small Downtown area has seen a revitilization due to the popularity of the 3rd Street Promenade; a pedestrian mall of chic shops, restaurants and movie theaters. Other shopping areas include Main St. and Montana Ave. which is like a smaller, friendlier, less pretentious Rodeo Drive. The city's night life has really perked up in the last year or two as well, with several clubs attracting the "in" crowd.

But the thing Santa Monica is most famous for, is of course, the beach! Santa Monica Beach is where the Baywatch TV show was filmed. During good weather you really will see supermodel-looking women in bikinis and the lifeguards in their famous red shorts. But what they don't tell you of course, is that the water is too cold for swimming nine months out of the year and is only marginally warm enough during the summer. The beach has ample parking at about $6/day. You'll see surfers riding the waves during daylight hours almost everyday of the year and pods of Dolphins are frequently spotted just offshore. The Bike Path runs from the northern border of Santa Monica, south along the beach for 25 miles, through Venice with its famous boardwalk, Marina Del Rey with its harbor and boats, quaint Manhattan Beach, and ending in the town of Redondo Beach. It's a very nice ride and bikes (and rollerblades) are available for rent at many places along the beach. But be warned: If you ride south from Santa Monica, it will seem like a very nice easy ride. When you turn around to come back, you'll be riding directly into the prevailing wind which really picks up in the afternoon and will make it feel like you're going up hill the whole way.

Our city is also home to the famous Santa Monica Pier. It stretches out into the Pacific Ocean and is home to several burger/snack bars, one nice Mexican restaurant, the traditional beach/tourist shops, Pacific Ocean Park (a small amusement park complete with Ferris Wheel and Roller Coaster), a fishing pier, and the old fashioned carousel used in the movie "The Sting". Check out the Pier Webcam!

For dinner out we recommend Ocean Ave. Seafood (expensive), Michael's (very expensive), and The Enterprise Fish Co. (moderately priced and within walking distance of our place). Toppers, on the top floor of the Radisson Huntley Hotel is a great place for drinks and to watch the sunset. We also particularly like the Chart House (expensive) restaurant up the coast in Malibu. It's perched right along the ocean with a great view, good food, and wonderful exotic drinks.

MARINA DEL REY

Marina Del Rey is the largest man-made small craft harbor in the world. In addition to having lots of boats, it's home to several yacht clubs, two movie multiplexes, three shopping malls, many boating-related businesses, and a whole bunch of restaurants. The MDR Chamber of Commerce claims that Marina Del Rey has more restaurants per square mile than any place in the U.S outside of Manhattan. Frankly, we find this hard to believe, but there are a few nice places we recommend. The Warehouse (moderately expensive) and Shanghai Red's (moderately expensive. 310-823-4522) both have water views and good food (although we haven't been to Shangai Red's in several years). Tony P's (moderate) is another waterside restaurant, but they're better for drinks and bar food (try their Onion Rings!) than dinner. There's a Chart House restaurant here too, but it's not as nice as the one in Malibu.

Fisherman's Village is a small touristy place along the main channel with gift shops and restaurants. This is home to Shanghai Red's restaurant, but the best thing about this place is the Orange Julius in the imitation lighthouse!

There is a small beach, called "Mother's Beach" because it's so calm, actually inside the Marina. However, it's known for having some of the most polluted water in the state. There are Kayak rentals available here on the weekends. There are very nice ocean beaches just north and south of the Marina. Burton Chace Park is the centerpiece of Marina Del Rey. It's adjacent to the Santa Monica Yacht Club, has boat docks, a snack bar (open on weekends only), picnic areas, nice grassy lawns, and wonderful views of the boats going by.

EVENT DETAILS: The Day Before, The Ceremony, The Reception.

The Day Before

If you're in the wedding party you'll need to attend the Rehearsal on Friday afternoon (Oct 29th) beginning at 2pm at the Yacht Club. This will be an informal run-through with no meal. We'll all go out for an early dinner afterwards at El Torito, a nearby Mexican restaurant.

On Friday Evening there will be the Bachelor Party. Details will be provided if you're amongst the lucky few to be invited!

An informal Bachelorette Party is tentatively planned for Saturday night, Oct. 23rd. A Wedding Shower is tentatively planned for Sunday afternoon, Oct. 24th.

The Ceremony

The Wedding itself will take place on the deck at the Santa Monica Yacht Club and will start at 4:30pm and shouldn't last more than half an hour. There will be no entertainment or refreshments. Invitations have been mailed out. If you haven't RSVP'd yet, please do so immediately via email to ThunderAndDebbie@verizon.net.

The Reception

Immediately following the Ceremony, there will be a 1 hour Cocktail Reception at the Bar of the Santa Monica Yacht Club. Appetizers and Cocktails with a view of the boats!

Around 6:30pm guests will enter the main Dining Room at the Yacht Club for a sit-down dinner, followed by music and dancing. The party will run late into the night.

GIFT REGISTRY

The Bride & Groom are registered at:

Amazon.com
(Search under "Thunder Levin" or "Debbie Valenta")

PLEASE NO PICTURE FRAME GIFTS!
(We just have too many already)