Fancy Outdoor Wedding Sites Ideal for Wedding Planners and Taco Catering

Can an outdoor wedding be truly fancy? Ever since the Royals William and Kate stated their vows at Westminster Abbey in 2011 that question has been put to rest. While the ceremony and reception were technically indoors, Kate of the wedding industry family arranged for actual live trees to festoon the church sanctuary. Which was a wise move for an event in London in April – and a cue to use nature in nuptials as much as possible for brides the world over.

That includes weddings in Los Angeles, where far kinder climatological conditions allow for royally awesome outdoor weddings. And in the polyglot that is LA, those weddings feature everything from Persian to Serbian to Mexican and Southern Fried American themes and cuisine mixed in with palm trees, cacti, bougainvillea and so much more (take that Kate and Wills with your <yawn> field maple trees and sad absence of a margarita bar).

Another trend in parallel with the blossoming of outdoor weddings is the use of gourmet tacos provided by wedding taco caterers. Tacos work particularly well for both the venues and crowds at weddings: They are exceptionally adaptive to outdoor environments, they allow for both sit-down and mill-about receptions, and with made-for-you ingredient options it’s as easy to satisfy great aunt Esther as much as a bridesmaid’s boyfriend from Sri Lanka.

Taco caterers know their venues, in part because they are the ones to navigate their self-contained kitchen carts over terrain where the I Dos are followed by the Let’s Dance portions of the wedding day. Here is a short list of some majestic outdoor wedding sites in the greater LA area:

• Heritage Park in Santa Fe Springs, administered by the city, is a reconstructed 1880s ranch that includes a Victorian glass conservatory, carriage barn, graceful trees, a photogenic bridge, and formal garden. Seating outdoors up to 300 people.

• Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica, also a public facility that allows for beach weddings. With accommodations up to 130 people in the Beach House, with greater availability in the off-season (November through April).

• MountainGate Country Club in Los Angeles, which has spectacular vistas of the Santa Monica Mountains and an outdoor terrace that is ideal for the ceremony and reception. You can hire in your own taco caterers, if you prefer. Maximum outdoor capacity is 400 people.

• Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes, a glass church – designed in the late 1940s by architect Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright – with ocean views on a 3.5-acre ocean-view plot. To be clear, this is for the ceremony only, but it’s also a relatively inexpensive venue in an otherwise pricy neighborhood. It’s basically a glass church that so visually connects with its surroundings you practically are outdoors. For the reception, the couple needs to hunt around for something nearby. But with such an outside theme going it might make sense to speak with a taco catering firm that has experience in finding where a reception can be staged and serviced with tilapia, vegetarian and shredded pork tacos that fit the day.

Suffice it to say this is a tiny sampling of the many places where one can get hitched in the great outdoors. And while most Angelenos will never be royals, we simply have better weather and a bit more flexibility than the Windsors in venues, menus, and spouses.