In this article, you’ll find all information you need to plan your La Venta Inn wedding

Location & History of La Venta Inn Palos Verdes

La Venta Inn is perhaps the most beautiful public building in Palos Verdes Estates. It’s the Spanish Villa on the hills of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

This historical estate offers beautiful surroundings: lush expansive grounds and impressive views of the Los Angeles skyline, the Pacific Ocean, Queen’s Necklace, and Catalina Island. Maybe it’s the most scenic view in entire South California: the building overlooks the ocean and visitors can see for miles across the city. On a clear day, even the downtown of L.A. may be seen. It leaves a lasting impression on everyone who visits the property.

Few venues have seen history like La Venta Inn. The Inn was built in 1923 as a luxurious sales office (La Venta means the Sale in Spanish) for the housing tract that is now the city of Palos Verdes. Prominent Los Angeles architect Walter Swindell Davis won an award for his design. The Olmstead brothers designed the gardens. In the 1920’s La Venta Inn acted as a clubhouse for realtors and prospective landholders. Since the 1930s it has been a weekend retreat and a black-tie restaurant for notable celebrities such as Charles Lindbergh, Cary Grant, and others. During World War II the Inn became the central observation post of the coastal artillery. Eventually, La Venta was re-established as an inn in 1955. 

Over the years, La Venta Inn has gone through many changes; however, entertaining guests has always been its main objective. Since 1980 the building and restored grounds serve as an enchanting venue, perfect for small and big La Venta Inn weddings.

La Venta Inn Wedding Venue’s Amenities 

The actual capacity of the La Venta Inn is 220 seated/standing places. But it is one of the venues that can comfortably host a group of 50 and a group of 220 guests as seen from the reviews. Every couple feels like the venue is just the perfect size for their event. 

Savanna McCarthy from La Venta Inn was so nice that she contact me and provided the following information.

-La Venta is now operated by Made by Meg Catering now, Meg started operating here in July 2021. The property sat vacant for 18 months as New York Food Company went bankrupt and left the grounds vacant

-Our new capacity is 220 guest

-We have three options for booking, AM is 7:30am to 2:30pm, PM is 3:30pm to 10:30pm, All day is 7:30am to 10:30pm. – We do also offer options to add on hours for an additional cost so a wedding could go until 11:30pm now.

You can contact her:

Savanna McCarthy

La Venta Inn

Event Liaison

Regular office hours: Mon-Fri, 9 am – 5 pm 

 C. 310.795.1204

O. 310.373.0123

796 Via Del Monte

Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274

La Venta Inn event pricing included:

• use of both indoor and outdoor areas, 
• free onsite parking, 
• a personal event coordinator, 
• private Bridal cottage and Groom’s room, 
• dining and cocktail tables, linens, china, and glassware, 
• professional service staff.

As with most wedding venues, the number of guests and the time of year/day of the week affected La Venta Inn wedding costs. 

Since 1992 all events at this venue were catered by the New York Food company. Every menu they presented was customized to couples’ personal tastes and wedding style. Many guests claimed that the food at La Venta was the best wedding food that they ever had. 

There are noise restrictions due to city regulations. The curfew is at 10 pm.  But some couples buy an extra hour and just turn the music a bit down. 

La Venta provides a security guard outside to make sure the event will be private.

Locations for photoshoot

The historic property of La Venta Inn is designed as a Spanish style villa with a red-tiled roof. This architecture served as the inspiration source by which all future Palos Verdes Estates structures were designed. A distinctive 50-foot tower of the property rises above the Palos Verdes hills and can be seen from far away. During World War II it served as a watchtower for use by the US Coast Guard. 

As for photo backdrops of La Venta Inn, I suppose, you won’t see more people taking pictures of each other in a wedding than at this venue. Here there are a lot of picture-taking spots. Down I speak more about the venue’s photography opportunities.

The main building of the Villa has numerous rooms with Spanish interiors and windows offering ocean views. 

• There is the Great Room with a domed ceiling, hardwood dance floor, and a vintage stone fireplace. French doors of the room are opened up to a stone patio outside. 
• Two bathrooms for guests are in the hallway behind the fireplace.
• There is a dining room with lots of windows and a wonderful view.
• The property has a garden view suite for the groom, and
• an oceanview bridal dressing cottage standing separately from the main building. 

Outdoor areas are: 

• a Spanish courtyard entry with a beautiful fountain. It’s perfect for organizing a bar or cocktails & hors d’oeuvres. The venue also provides a cozy courtyard fire pit with blankets;
• a covered stone patio on the opposite side of the building which leads to an expansive lawn and the ceremony site. 
• This terraced ocean-view wedding ceremony spot overlooks the coast surrounded by blooming flowers and greenery. At the edge of the lawn, there is a lovely white gazebo. 
• Surrounding gardens are fantastic for photos. Even in September, there are lots of flowers in bloom. The villa itself is surrounded by palms and accented with bougainvillea flowers.

As you see, La Venta Inn’s wedding locations are rustiс and classy at once, with perfect photo opportunities throughout the property. Let us speak about it in detail. 

Bride & Groom’s preparations 

Suite for the groom and a dressing cottage for the bride are apart, each on their side of the venue. In this way, the bride and groom can enjoy their private time without seeing each other. 

The bridal cottage room has many beautiful vintage interior details such as a stone fireplace, a full-length triple mirror, or an antique dressing table, also with a mirror. The bride will see herself from all sides. The room in soft pastel colors is very spacy and light. It’s possible to hang the wedding dress in the room from the ceiling in front of a big window or outside on the small veranda.

The groom’s suite is simple, yet quite spacy. The groom can use the space of the outside balcony with perfect lighting. Groom’s wedding party usually waits for the groom with cocktails and champagne in the backyard in front of the suite. There is a nice space under the trees to make colorful bright group photos. 

La Venta Inn Wedding First Look

There are countless great spots for the First Look with stunning natural lighting that frames the bride and groom perfectly for photographs. 

Down you can see some ideas to inspire your own first look photos for your La Venta Inn wedding. 

For instance, the newlyweds can stand beneath a white arch in the side garden.

One more breath-taking spot is on a garden pathway between green palms and bushes. Garden portrait session here will be astonishing. 

To look at each other from the windows of the Villa was a quite creative idea and as you see it worked great with my newlyweds.

Other perfect opportunities for a wedding First Look are:

• on a back stairway leading to gardens;
• under the vine-covered pergola of the courtyard;
• on a west-terrace with a simple white railing. This place particularly has perfect light during the day and is great for group photos as well.  

Couple & Group portraits can be as fascinating as possible if you make it on the green lawn of the ceremony site. The whole L.A. will serve as the frame of your happiness :). 

Unexampled photos with a killer view we got when the city was lit up with night lights in the late evening. This unforgettable scene makes you immediately understand why Los Angeles is called the “City of Light” and the “Bright Lights of Hollywood”.

La Venta Inn Family & Wedding party portraits

While making quality group photos, we always keep in mind the lighting of the area. As for La Venta Inn lighting conditions in the afternoon, here we have three wonderful spots for group photography:

1. A side green lawn with a stone bench will serve as an excellent backdrop for sunny bright group photos. The bench is particularly comfortable for pictures with your elder relatives as the slope of the lawn is quite steep. 
2. The back stone terrace of the Grand Room and the stairway to the ceremony spot are very convenient to make family & wedding party shots as this spot is in the shade and a big group of guests can pose there without effort. 
3. On both green lawns (on the central one of the ceremony site and on the side lawn) there is enough space to place big groups. You will have very colorful bright pictures under the trees. 

The small terrace of the bridal cottage between flowering bushes is a great spot for wedding party photography. A green arch above the path is a beautiful frame for these pictures.

You can also use Villa’s light walls as a backdrop for small group shots as it’s perfectly shaded and leaves faces open and expressive in the photos. 

You may use the courtyard entry with a calm fountain as well, it’s a very picturesque spot and convenient for lively group photos. 

Ceremony site of La Venta Inn Wedding 

There is no need to describe a mesmerizing view of the ceremony site. It’s better to see it once than to read many words about it. This outdoor ceremony site was made exactly for ocean-view weddings. The place is very appealing without any decorations. All you need is a simple wedding arch in front of the stunning view. 

I just give here some small remarks that will make your ceremony more comfortable: 

As I’ve mentioned above, the green slope is quite steep, and female guests on high heels will feel it immediately while standing or walking. The walkways and the stone terrace of the ceremony site are also uneven. I suppose, wearing flat shoes outside will be a good idea. 

The coastal weather is unpredictable. It may be cloudy instead of the clear sky even in the summer. It means as well, it can be quite chilly on the ocean. You may feel these 75 degrees coming with the wind from the coast. Just keep some blankets for guests at hand. As I remember, the venue also provides blankets.

Some couples have their wedding ceremony at Wayfarers chapel. Here you can read more about this beautiful church. La Venta Inn is less than 15 minutes away from this place. Afterward, newlyweds continue their celebration at La Venta Inn. In comparison to the chapel that is open to the public, Villa is completely private and you can enjoy the exclusive use of the entire facilities. 

Reception party shots at La Venta Inn Wedding

The main building has three big spaces intended to host indoor wedding celebrations.

It’s the Great Room with a cathedral ceiling and rich dark wood floors. A big rustic fireplace with its carved stone mantelpiece is the eye-catcher of the room. It can be adorned beautifully with flowers or any other wedding decor. Wrought-iron chandeliers give the space an antique accent. The outdoor courtyard and back terrace provide additional space for the party and dancing.

The dining room with guest tables is on the other side of the building. Its big windows overlook a small stone terrace surrounded by a garden. The sweetheart table is usually placed exactly in front of the windows. 

These two big spaces are separated by a third room that can be used for additional dining tables or a bar. As you see, this thoughtful arrangement of rooms allows minimizing the movement of guests from one spot to another. All these spaces you can use as you wish. It can also depend on the time chosen for your wedding as the venue offers morning (from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and late-afternoon (from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.) weddings. Some couples use the outside courtyard for the party, some put in the Grand Room their wedding entry table or organize a cocktail hour. This flexibility is one of the advantages of the venue. 

For a cocktail hour and reception, the venue offers musicians (a singer and a violinist). Your guests can enjoy the music outside as there are speakers hidden in the bushes.

Advantages of La Venta Inn Palos Verdes

There are a lot of reasons why La Venta Inn can be your dream venue.

• La Venta Inn has gorgeous and very well-maintained grounds with tons of photo opportunities. 
• It’s totally private and you have the entire place only for yourselves.
• There is plenty of space inside and outside including a spacy bridal cottage and a groom’s room.
• The Villa has an authentic historic interior without any touch of contemporary kitsch and it is perfect for an elegant intimate celebration. 
• The venue provided a lot of flexibility in the decor, but you hardly need it as the ocean and L.A. skyline are unrivaled.
• You will have lots of parking for your guests. 

Conclusion

La Venta Inn Palos Verdes is one of the most scenic and restful places in Southern California. It’s also the wedding venue of the dreams which offers amazing views and numerous facilities without imposing a lot of restrictions. There were some La Venta Inn weddings when a bride married here and the mother of her was married here, and the grandmother as well. Nothing can better express the attractiveness of this place more than this continuity of generations.