From Harbor Island, we drove down back towards Shelter Island about a mile or two. The rest of the sites we wanted to look at today were all on Shelter Island. We decided to go all the way down to the end and then make our way back. At the tip is the Kona Kai Resort and Spa (formerly known as the Shelter Pointe Hotel).
Driving in, it was absolutely beautiful. There is a large fountain in the front. When you actually walk in, there's a strong feeling of being on vacation... like an escape from the world. To me, it felt weird that we were still in San Diego. We parked down the street and walked by some of the guest rooms that reminded me of villas. We spoke with a concierge who gave us a wedding folder with info and a map that was very helpful!
We walked over to the Cabo Courtyard. There was shower there earlier so tables were still set up. You could hold a ceremony there. It could seat over 150 people easily. However, it was right by the pool. Behind the courtyard was a place for a bar and a open area that I thought would be nice for cocktail hour if we had our ceremony here.
From here, we walked over the hotel restaurant. The concierge mentioned that they could close it off and we could have our reception in there. It was a very circular room with a huge pillar in the middle. Nice view of the marina though. However, we thought it'd be a oddly-sized space for a reception. Not sure if it'd fit 150 people either.
Onto the ballrooms! We walked back out of the lobby and back towards the ballrooms that sit by the marina. I took tons of pictures of the corridors because I loved the arches and the way the shadows were hitting the ground. Grumpy pants Adam, on the other hand, was trying his best to avoid being in any of my photos. From my photos, you can see from his facial expression and the fact that in most of the photos, his back is facing me or he's just way far ahead of where I am. In addition, he wasn't too thrilled about the fact that I was taking a lot of photos either. Grumpy, indeed! (I do love my Adam though.. grumpy pants and all.)
Well, I was busy taking photos because what I love most about this place is that there are so many spots that lend itself to a beautiful backdrop for wedding photos. The photographer in me couldn't help but notice all the little nooks and crannies, corridors and arches, flowers on the walls, fountain, etc. It would be a wonderful place just for photographs! :)
Okay, back to the search for a wedding site...There is a foyer in the back that leads into three ballrooms. These have walls that can be put away to lead into one big ballroom. On this particular day, that had two ballrooms connected into one big room. This room could definitely seat all 150 guests easily without it being crowded. Adam counted 12 tables and they were all seated around a huge dance floor. I loved what Adam mentioned about the room about how there is not a "bad" seat in the house because every table was relatively close to the dance floor. I loved how it was more of a square-ish sized room instead of a long rectangle. (I included some photos of the ballroom in the slideshow.)
Outside of the foyer and the ballrooms is the marina. The rooms sit parallel to the water. Since it's on the tip of the Shelter Island, it's actually on the tip that does not face the bay so there's no SD skyline view in the room. A nice view of the boats though.
Next to the marina and the ballrooms is a open area for a ceremony. It's spacious enough to seat 150 people comfortably. It is outside. With some flowers and decorations, it could look pretty nice. It is kind of drab without anything though.
However, right above that open area is a circular area directly outside the foyer that can hold ceremonies. I believe the first picture on the right is taken in that area. It is small for 150 though.
While walking around a little more, I got a nice shot of the resort's private beach. The concierge mentioned how a couple had gotten married on their beach and it was very casual. I thought it'd be a nice place for our guests to relax if they wanted, but not a suitable place for our ceremony. I always thought I'd get married on the beach because of my affinity for beaches, but I think the traditionalist inside of me couldn't live down wearing a casual white dress with flip flops for my wedding.
The resort also has their own privately owned marina. Anyone own a boat? :)
My overall impression...
I think we could both easily see having our wedding here. It has everything that we want - a place for a ceremony, reception and even a place for our guests to stay. They can walk from their guest room to our wedding in their bathrobes! (Just kidding... well they COULD if they truly desired so.) It does feel very much like a resort on a small scale. The location is spectacular. For photographs, we could easily walk across the street to get some with the SD skyline as a backdrop. You can see from the aerial shots that there's a strip of walkways leading down the island. Lots of green grass for picnic areas. Again, places to take photographs really tops my list. I'm sure it's at the bottom of Adam's list. :) The place feels classy and elegant, but not so lavish and extravagant like a Grand Hyatt Hotel would feel. It'd be a good compromise actually... simple but elegant. HOWEVER (and this is a big BUT), it is quite pricey and almost double Tom Ham's. Lastly, like what Adam said, it'd be a very "predictable" place to have a wedding... like it's been done before.
Pro's:
- Great location
- A really nice place for our guests to stay
- Wonderful spots for photographs! :) - this weighs so much heavier for me than it does for Adam. I hope he'll post his own pro's and con's.
- Can easily fit our number of guests
- Secluded feeling because it's at the end of the island
- It does have a spa (pre-wedding couple's massage, perhaps?) hehe one can dream...
- A lot more pricey than we were expecting
- Not as unique as maybe Adam was hoping for?
Your thoughts?
Photo credits:
- Slideshow photos: Jasmine Marie Photography
- All other photos: Kona Kai Resort and Spa's website
No comments:
Post a Comment