The Plaza At Cabrillo Marina

I had a baby shower at The Plaza and the event turned out great! The room was perfect for all my guests and it was great that they had the option to go outside and see the beautiful views of San Pedro Marina. The price includes tables and chairs and your able to bring your own food/​drinks. Great experience!

This is a beautiful venue with huge shady trees, fountains, ocean views, a nice roomy club house with a small kitchen and lots of french doors to bring the outside in. We got married here on 10/​17/​2015 and everyone remarked on how nice it was. We had our ceremony under the arching branches of the big trees with the ocean in the background. The price was great! I checked all the venues in So Cal and this one had the best price for the best amenities. They give you the keys at 8 a.m. and you have it until midnight, Many of the DIY type places won’t let you bring booze or only beer and wine. We wanted a full bar and you can do that here. The hallways off the main room were great for setting up the buffet tables, candy table, and photo booth. We hired the recommended cleaner, Fernando, for the after clean up and it’s great because you can just give him the keys and he’ll take care of it all. We had about 135 people and it was a good size for that. There’s also a huge lawn area on which you could set up a large tent if you need more room. The other great thing is that there’s a Doubletree hotel across the parking lot. We stayed there for the weekend and that worked out great. The girls all got ready in the hotel room and just walked across the lot to the ceremony. Henry and all the staff were super nice and helpful. I would use this place again for any large event.

THIS PLACE IS AMAZING!!! We had our wedding here in August and it was perfect. The venue is a great find!!! You can not beat the price and Henry was amazing. We had both our ceremony and reception at the site. They are very flexiable and willing to work with you on everytihng. Henry was so great and I could tell he truly wanted us to enjoy our day. The venue has tables, chairs, and a bar, but you need to bring in your own food and servers which is great because it keeps your cost down. Henry recommended Advanced Party Rentals and Critic Choice Catering to help us carry out our event and it was the best advice ever. Both vendors are familar with the venue and know how to make your event perfect. If you are having your wedding or event here (which you should because its so beautiful and the price is great) you need to go with Advanced and Critics Choice. I am convinced these three should be sold as a package deal because you can not get better service or a better price. Thank you Henry for everything!!!

I was married here on 10÷9÷14 and it was the most amazing day of my life! My husband and I had been searching for a venue that not only fit our budget but would allow us to make our «county fair» theme a reality. I found the plaza after searching on Unilocal for inexpensive wedding venues and after looking at the photos, I just had to check it out. We went down without notice and were warmly greeted by Henry who began to give us all the details of renting the site and answered all my crazy questions without judgment. We then were allowed to check out a key to the facilities and take our own leisurely tour. The first thing I fell in love with was the view! I immediately envisioned my ceremony in front of the large oak tree overlooking the ocean and got a bit teared up! There is a large lawn adjacent to the plaza building and I could see us setting up lawn games there for our guests to enjoy. There is a nice space in front of the building with fountains (which you can request to be turned off if you think they are too loud) and this was the perfect spot for our cocktail hour. The plaza building itself is not very big, but it fit our needs perfectly. We had planned for 90 guests seated at 10 round tables and a dance floor and everything fit without feeling cramped. This is very much a DIY venue (they have tables and chairs to use but everything else needs to be supplied by you). We loved this aspect because I wanted to control everything! Throughout our planning process, we probably visited the venue 10 times and each time we were so welcomed by the staff at the marina and they made us feel important.
Once the wedding week arrived, Henry allowed us to get the keys to start setting up the day before the wedding at 9 am since there wasn’t another event happening that day (it was a Wednesday) which was a huge relief since we were doing all the setup ourselves! The venue was clean and the fountains were turned off as requested. When we had questions the staff was quick to help.
We had a fun, quirky wedding and our guests cannot stop raving about the location (most spent the evening reception outside since it was so beautiful). It was also so convenient to have the Doubletree hotel right next door. We were able to go back and forth during our setup day and the night of the wedding it was comforting knowing nobody had to drive.
I know this was a really long review but I really can’t say enough about The Plaza and Henry Rivas. I had my dream wedding and plan to use this venue for many events to come!

We went back to our wedding location 2 years later. We moved to Texas and took our summer vacation to visit family and friends in Cali. The staff remembered us and we reminisced about our wedding day! We plan on renewing our vows here cause we just can’t get enough of this location. I see others have found this little gem and made it their wedding location dream spot too.

We Celebrated my nieces sweet sixteen here on 9÷27÷2014 and everyone just loved the location. You do bring a lot of your own decorations, caterer and so on but it’s a fabulous location where you can create a special event all your own. I was helping my sister look for a Venue and after speaking to Henry knew this had to be it, I gave my sister the info and once she spoke to him she immediately knew this would be the place. Everyone was helpful and easy to contact. I will be planning my daughter Quincenera in two years and I am really hoping to do it here. The office gave my sister ideas on how to utilize the space and it turned out to be a great event.

wow… just one of them most beautiful settings in socal!!! henry was so warm & pleasant. will have all our parties here. highly recommended!!!

Best wedding venue! Everyone one of our guests loved the location. This is the perfect wedding venue for couples that want to do everything themselves and have total control. We were able to decorate the venue as we pleased. Our wedding theme was Beauty & the Beast, and we did such a good job in decorating that we had some guests thinking the venue was themed after Beauty & the Beast. :) The only problem that we faced that day were the strong winds. Be prepared if you are having an outdoor wedding. You might want to visit the place several times before your wedding day to kind of have an idea of how you can set up the outdoor area. We had made a beautiful arch with draping fabric for our outdoor ceremony, but unfortunately it did not withstand the wind. We had to improvise at the last minute and ended up using the pillars and flower bases we had made for the entrance of the hall. No biggie… it all worked out. Henry was wonderfully patient at answering many of the questions I had on regards to the venue. He recommended vendors and allowed me to visit the venue prior to the wedding to relieve some of my anxiety. I was really nervous about the size of the venue. We had a total count of 120 guests and couldn’t believe we were able to fit 12 big round tables, a 12×15 dance floor, a cake table, a gift table, a guest book signing table, and a head table for 6. All of this without using the outdoor area.
Tips:
Get a lot of help to set up and clean up.
Visit the venue several times prior to get a good idea of how you can set up.
Look into uplighting. It can get a bit dark at night. We didn’t have a problem because I read other Unilocal reviews and our head table really lit up the place.
Most importantly enjoy every bit of your wedding day because the day will go by quickly.
Vendors:
Mellanie Party Rentals located downtown LA — Chiavari chairs, white carpet for aisle, and white dance floor… I shopped around and they had the best prices. Including delivery and set up.
Portos Glendale– Cake with delivery and set up.
Heavenly Designs located on Gaffey right across from the Vons– Head table and outdoor ceremony floral arrangements. I gave Norma pictures of what I wanted and she did a phenomenal job. She made my day… I regret not using her so everything. :(

I was a guest at this wedding for a good friend, and it was a cute not-​super-​fancy venue with just enough of what you need. Great for DIY couples looking for a blank space to do what they want with it. For a ceremony, you definitely need a sound system to hear what’s going on.
The reason I’m writing this is because everyone needs to be warned that around 4:30pm EVERYDAY, the National Anthem plays from Fort MacArthur. My friend’s ceremony was delayed a little from 4pm, and the anthem played in the middle of their ceremony! So be warned that if you have your outdoor ceremony here, remember to have it over by around then or start it after 4:30pm! Not sure if that time changes but it happens everyday. Also, Taps plays later on every evening.

If you want a DIY wedding with no permits or limitations to your creativity, this is definitely it. Our families were able to show up as early as 7:30am to begin setting up for our day. As we had no coordinator, this was extremely helpful because we were able to spend the whole day at the site putting lights up in trees, setting up our rented tables and chairs, and putting together little details. We also made use of the plaza’s prep kitchen to put flowers into jars and store our homemade salads and appetizers before it came time to put those out.
I feel like I was constantly calling the rep (Henry) with questions because I wanted to double check that all our ideas for decorations (candles namely) and food (on-​site bbqing) would not be a problem, and every time I spoke with him he made everything seem very relaxed and easy. It just seemed too good to be true!
At the end of the day, we were able to do everything we wanted at our wedding due to the flexibility of this site and the support of the staff who represent it. When you first go there to check it out, go to the front office and they’ll lay out all the important details you need to know, and they even have specific rental companies listed who know the area well. We used one of the rental companies they recommended (D&D) and they were awesome too! So easy, timely and helpful.
Hope this helps! I will be recommending this site to all my engaged friends, so book it quickly before it fills up! Thanks for reading!

We booked this beautiful place for our wedding, and they are great. They didn’t make us buy a bunch of permits, or limit what we could bring. They really just had a great space to rent with no strings attatched. Just clean up after yourselves and be done by 11

We just had our wedding here last week and it went off without a hitch, thanks to the flexibility of the Marina staff. We were able to bring in our own caterer (taco cart) and alcohol. We hired all our own staff and set everything up and broke down with the help of family and friends. If you are looking for a place that is flexible, accommodating, affordable and with a fantastic view, this is the one. We had our wedding on a Thursday so it was definitely the best rate…
Henry is not always easy to get a hold of via email, but if you call he will help in any way he can. This made me a little nervous as I like to have everything in writing, but it really wasn’t an issue at all.
It seems like a boring room, but you can decorate however you like, as long as you don’t damage anything and I think it turned out better than I had imagined. The pics on here definitely don’t do it justice. Hang a few string lights, have lots of flame less candles and suddenly the place looks amazing! And everyone kept talking about the water view and the trees.
As everyone else mentioned, it does get quite windy, particularly late afternoon to early evening, but it does die down. We had to keep this in mind when dealing with some of the details (keeping cocktail tables from blowing around, keeping the tablecloth on the bar and my hair to name a few).
Overall, we highly recommend this location!

I had my wedding here on 7−13−13, and it was perfect! My husband and I had originally planned on getting married at the Wayfarer’s chapel and then just having the reception here, but when we went to look at the Plaza room, we thought it was so pretty that we decided to just have both the wedding and reception there. Our guests loved it! A bonus is the Doubletree hotel across the parking lot — nobody had to drive after enjoying the open bar at our reception (and we saved money by not needing a limo).
Henry was very kind and accommodating — he answered all of our questions and gave us all the information we needed. He isn’t always in the office (part of his job is to be outside the office) but if you leave a message or send an email he will get back to you right away.
It is quite windy here, so keep that in mind when picking hairstyles and attire.
This place is a great value — it was the least expensive beach-​adjacent venue we could find, and the scenery is beautiful. It was awesome that we were able to bring in our own food and alcohol without any fees.
I recommend this place highly!

Great place for a wedding… off the beaten path!
Everything went smoothly, and service was friendly and hospitable.
Just beautiful! Bravo!

I searched for a decent place to have my grandfathers funeral reception, and this place was not only beautiful but Henry the rep, was very compassionate and worked with my budget. you do have to make sure you leave the place clean otherwise they will keep your deposit, but I had no problem with that. thanks again

I just got married here on Aug. 10, 2012 and my day was PERFECT! I couldn’t of asked for a better location! It’s a very quiet area located right across the parking lot from the Doubletree hotel, which was a bonus. We had our ceremony + reception on the lawn area.
Henry is the most calm and reassuring person you could ever ask for, he always answered my phone calls/​emails promptly, and I never had to worry about a thing. He is so relaxed and really allows you to DIY, and he was very flexible with everything we needed.
The price is super reasonable and we loved being able to provide our own caterer and bar. It saved us a ton of $$$. We chose to use the lawn only, which was wonderful, but I would recommend renting out the hall + lawn if you plan to get married in August like we did (because it was very hot and our guests were pretty sweaty until about 6:30pm). But then again, we got married on one of the hottest weekends of the summer, so I think other weekends are pretty cool and have the wind/​breeze to keep you cool. We probably would of rented both, but honestly the hall was previously booked, so we took what we could get since we didn’t reserve the space until late February. (Book well in advance because this place has events ALL the time due to the wonderful location + price)
Oh, and there’s a ton of FREE parking until 11pm, how can you beat that??? Plus, if you stay at Doubletree you can park for free overnight. The Doubletree also gives group blocks for wedding parties, which I highly recommend looking into because the group rate was a lot lower than regular price.
The hours are 8am until 12am, but music must shut off by 10pm. This seemed a bit early at first, but it was actually perfect. We started our ceremony at 3:30pm, and that gave us just enough time for everything we wanted to do. Guests started leaving around 8:30, so it wasn’t hard to end it at 10pm. Plus, you can head over to the Doubletree bar afterwards for a couple more drinks if you’re not ready for bed.
Overall, this place is the most bang for your buck! I checked out a ton of beach locations in SoCal, and this is by far the best. Most other places will require you to use their own vendors, which hikes up the cost a lot, plus hardly anybody provides free parking or the wonderful service Henry provides!!!
I really hope more people (esp. brides) find out about this place because it is truly a gem!
We can’t thank you enough for provided the space for the best day of our lives, thank you Henry!!!
Love,
John & Jen Calderon

I contacted this place to get prices for wedding stuff. I emailed them first and didn’t get a response after a few weeks. I then called them and spoke with a lady who said she couldn’t help me and to call the next day at 10am to speak to henry. I called back at 10am and talked to henry who gave me some rough prices and said he would email me something. I gave him my email address and he said it would be sent in a few minutes.
Several days later i still had nothing. I called back and talked to a lady there and left my number for henry to call me back and my email in case he lost it or wrote it down wrong. No phone call or email since. Been about a month now.
This is a nice area. The one thing he said is that they rent out the building and the grass separate. Several of the other reviews said henry was hard to get a hold of but this was too much. He lost at least one wedding here.
Overall seemed decent (couldnt go in building) but staff/​henry was horrible.

I was married on Sep. 24, 2011. My ceremony was not on the lovely lawn but if I would’ve planned it again I would have just had all of it in @ this venue. I planned the entire wedding but hired an amazing coordinator who made my vision a reality. Phayne (Pie). She also did our flowers and she was just AMAZING
The hall has much to offer from a beautiful view, to endless design possibilities. It’s also next door to the Doubletree so it’s easy for out of town guest to have a place to sleep. Our wedding started at 4 and ended at 10:30 which gave us enough time to clean up and be out of there by midnight as required… it’s the one down side of choosing this location. The best part of this location was that we bought a ton of alcohol and hired a bartender who served all of our adult guests.
If you select this venue please look into the company ADVANCED PARTY RENTALS for any rental items you’ll need (dance floor/​drapes/​etc.) They did a fab job too.

We got married at the Cabrillo Marina, early October, 2010. I’ve got to say, it was the best day of my life. Special thanks to Cabrillo Marino for helping to make it that way.
This is a true DIY. For a small fee, we got the Reception Hall and the large lawn area adjacent to it. We held our ceremony on the lawn at 4:30. Although it was quite windy, it was very beautiful. Our guest count was about 120 people, which fit comfortably in the hall. We set up kegs and wine bottles for our guests to help themselves. We also brought in At Last Café (our favorite restaurant) to cater the event.
If you want to have a wedding where you have the most control, I would suggest using the Plaza for your venue. You take care of everything, you make the decisions, it’s a success because you made it so. Just make sure you’ve got plenty of friends and family to make it that way.
I can’t wait to come back here for my second wedding!

How do you not give 5 stars to the place you spent the best day of your life, thus far? Thank you, thank you to the beautiful Cabrillo Marina for the wedding of my dreams.
Everyone was so helpful and easy to deal with through the entire process. Sometimes it was hard to get in touch with Henry, the main contact because he is super busy, but anyone who answered the phone was able to answer my questions.
There is nowhere else from San Diego to Santa Barbara where you can get married with a beautiful ocean view for the price that you can here. Trust me — I looked. It was at least twice if not five times the price at other venues.
Now, this place is totally do it yourself — you get the keys at 8am the day of and you return them at midnight. You bring in your own food, drink, décor, everything. I liked that because then I could scout out the best deals for each thing. It was a lot of work, don’t get me wrong, but it was worth it for the money we saved and the wedding we got to have.
There is a kitchen but there is no stove. Make sure to tell your caterer.
The place comes with tons of tables and 120 nice chairs, 80 less nice chairs and 80 super ugly chairs. The nicest ones are nice enough to use without covers. We used them outdoor for the ceremony and then brought them in for the reception.
They also have a portable bar you can use — it was perfect!
There is also a Doubletree hotel right across the parking lot where we and a ton of the guests stayed. They weren’t so awesome with the group rates (you could get it cheaper on expedia) but the convenience factor was worth every penny.
Tips:
* Rent both the Plaza and the lawn, the price is worth it — you don’t want 2 events going at once! We saw a combo wedding/​quincinera there and it wasn’t pretty.
* It’s even less money on Friday and Sunday. We did the Friday night wedding and it was great.
* It gets VERY windy until about an hour after sundown. Be prepared. Don’t expect to wear a cathedral length veil or to put down a runner — that s*#t is blowin’ away.
* You will need outside lighting — there is pretty much none. BUT the inside lighting is beautiful at night and not glare-​y at all.
* Utilize the whole space — that is what it is there for!
* Go visit the space a few times before your event. Get ideas for decorating (we went the day before and saw all the benches covered in fabric with pillows and such and my cousins ran to Target the am of my wedding and bought everything to do it!) Talk to the maintenance guys and get tips from them — they are great.
* Ask Henry Rivas (the head honcho) about a cleaning crew to hire at the end of the night or be prepared to bring all your own supplies — including a vacuum!
* Talk to Henry about working with the brides on the day before or after the event — maybe they want to buy some of your décor or have you leave the tables set up. Be warned — don’t trust someone to mail you a check. My wedding day «I love the world and trust everyone in it» attitude has me out $ 100. Bad karma, day after me bride!
In closing…
This place was seriously just beautiful and everyone loved it. It’s a bit out of the way if you live in central LA but it was worth it. The ONLY downside was the wind — it’s no joke — but the beautiful scenery, laid back but responsive staff and perfect vibe of the whole place made it the perfect wedding spot. I hope brides all over Socal find this spot and start to utilize it — it is such a hidden gem! (And, my sister told me it was featured on 90 210 last week. Woo hoo!)