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One Stop Bridal Shop

When Jamie Walton started planning her June 24, 2006, wedding to Kam Walton, she knew exactly where to start: The Bridal Bar. Since she’s not originally from San Diego, she wasn’t familiar with reception locales and vendors. “So we went straight to The Bridal Bar and found out what our options were,” she says. “[Otherwise], I wouldn’t have known where to start.”

At the time, The Bridal Bar—which boasts such celebrity clientele as Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith—was only located in West Hollywood, so that’s where she headed. Were Jamie and Kam to get married now, they would only need to head to La Jolla to access the one-stop-shop resources The Bridal Bar offers. Opened locally in early 2008, the boutique offers pre-screened resources for everything from catering and cocktails to florals and favors—at no expense to the bride.

For Jamie, though, the journey north was worth it. On her first trip, she took a seat on the couch, leafed through vendors’ binders and picked out a few with styles she liked. Then she started chatting with The Bridal Bar staff. “They asked me what my vision was,” she says, posing dozens of questions, such as whether she wanted her guests to enjoy a big party, or if she wanted people to relish food like they never had before. Helping her determine what kind of ambience she wanted, she says, was the most valuable part of the process. “I know what I like, but I don’t know exactly why, or how to get there,” she says—and their guidance helped her figure that out.

She let them know that she wanted “a huge event” (about 280 people attended) that was “formal but not so formal that people are uncomfortable.” She didn’t want a sit-down dinner; but she did want food that people liked and was filling. She wanted a unique party that was classy. And she wanted an event that was creative and personalized. “From there they gave us different options,” she says.

First and foremost, The Bridal Bar staff recommended vendors who would be a good fit for her needs. And they helped her come up with creative ideas that put a personal stamp on the event, ensuring that “no two weddings are alike,” she says.

For Jamie and Kam’s wedding, The Bridal Bar, along with the input of the wedding coordinator who Jamie found through The Bridal Bar, built on Kam’s desire for beer to just keep flowing. They did so by placing elegant silver troughs filled with bottles of beer, ice and flowers in the middle of the tables so guests wouldn’t have to get up and refill. The Bridal Bar also connected her with a cigar roller who came to the event and rolled custom-made cigars with her and Kam’s initials on them.

Additionally, The Bridal Bar and the wedding coordinator arranged for a late-night delivery of 200 hot-off-the-truck maple bars from Cardiff’s V.G. Donut & Bakery—a surprise to Kam, who loves these baked goods. “It was this really formal wedding and all these people are eating maple bars,” she says. “It was hilarious.”

In the end, Jamie got exactly the event she wanted. “They make anything and everything possible,” she says. “If you want anything out of the ordinary, go to The Bridal Bar.”

Like at The Bridal Bar’s West Hollywood location, the local boutique helps brides with whatever they need in planning their wedding—from finding a single vendor to creating a wedding from scratch. “This is a good starting point for the bride to acquaint herself with the market,” says Regina Bagdasarian, co-owner of The Bridal Bar in La Jolla. Staff will sit down with the bride, help her create a preliminary budget and find a location, and put her in touch with vendors. Says Bagdasarian, “Our goal is to connect them with the right vendor, who will help them plan the wedding.” 5646 La Jolla Boulevard, 858.459.1685, bridalbar.com.

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