Weddingbee Blog

Before choosing our venue, we considered three other locations. Well, two of the locations we were serious about, the third was just a dream. The two serious ones were The Queen Mary in Long Beach, and Tivoli Terrace in Newport Beach, CA. The dream location was Disneyland. We foolishly figured it would be too expensive for us, and didn’t even look into it. When I recently checked out the Disneyland weddings website, I saw it was actually in our budget - kinda. My dumb fault- my advice to brides looking into locations? Always check into any location you’d want, be it a park, an amusement park, or a zoo - whatever. It can’t hurt, right?

Anyway, so our first location was The Queen Mary, docked permanently in Long Beach, CA.

With three ceremony options, the Chapel Ceremony, Deck Ceremony, and Intimate Ceremony - the largest seating availability is the Verandah Deck Ceremony.

For the Intimate ceremony, with a base rental fee of $400.00, you get one hour rental of the Chapel with the Bridal Sitting room and recorded ceremony music. The chapel seats 15 people or less. There is no mention of an officiant fee, or anything else. This is a bit confusing, right?

The Royal Chapel

Next, the Deck Ceremony comes with two choices: The Gazebo Deck, or the Verandah Deck. The Gazebo seats 100 guests on benches, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. In this package, you get a one hour rehearsal and recorded ceremony music. The site fee ranges from $1,200.00 to $1,800.00, the Saturday night ceremony being the high price. The Verandah ceremony seats up to 350 people on plush chairs, with the surrounding area for standing. As with the Gazebo package, you also get the recorded music and one hour rehearsal. Sunday through Friday, the site fee is $1,500.00, on Saturday the fee goes up to $2,000.00.

The Chapel Wedding seats 160 guests in pews, inside the Royal Wedding Chapel. In this package you get the one hour rehearsal and recorded music. The prices get confusing: Sunday through Friday, for an hour and a half long ceremony, the cost is $800.00. However, if you opt for a three hour ceremony, the cost is $1,200.00. If you’d like to marry on a Saturday, your cost for the basic one and a half hour ceremony is $1,200.00, the three hour one will cost you double that amount - $2,400.00.

On their site, you will find many options for reception sites - they have THIRTEEN rooms/salons where a reception can be held. My favorite? The Grand Salon.

Anyway, the prices range from $49.00 to $82.00 per person, depending on the date and time of your reception (sales tax and 20% service charge not included). In the reception package, you will get:

• A One-Hour Hors d’Oeuvres Reception, with Unlimited Bar Providing House Brands, Domestic Beer, Imported Beer, House Wine and Sodas.
• Crisp Vegetable Display, Imported and Domestic Cheeses with Whole Fruit Garnish
• Choice of Hot and Cold Hors d’Oeuvres
• A Champagne Toast to the Bride and Groom
• Cake Cutting Fee Waived
• Vegetarian and Children’s Meals - Available Upon Request.
• Choice of Linen
• Dance Floor and Staging for D.J. or Band
• Complimentary Self-Parking for Guests Attending the Reception
• Complimentary Stateroom for the Bride and Groom on Wedding Night
• No Additional Rental Charge for the Banquet Room

So, while I love the Queen Mary, and their menu sounds tasty (I was emailed a sample menu), the Queen Mary was too expensive for us. The pricing is a little confusing- with officiant or without? All in all, a beautiful location, great picture backgrounds, super spooky history - but a bit too pricey.