Your wedding venue shut down unexpectedly. Now what?
Good morning and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Sunday, Feb. 18. I’m Andrew J. Campa, a Fast Break reporter for The Times. This is the first Sunday Essential California! We hope you’ll be a regular reader. Here’s what you need to know to start your Sunday:
- The indefinite closure of the iconic Wayfarers Chapel has left couples scrambling.
- Weather forecasters rely on computer modeling for their predictions, sure, but experience counts too.
- The L.A. City Council allotted nearly $4 million to remove graffiti and secure abandoned downtown skyscrapers targeted by taggers in recent weeks.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper
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Their dream wedding was canceled
As someone who married within the last few months, I can tell you that the one thing no one wants is a last-minute venue change. Yet, several couples received emails within the last week informing them of the sudden closure of the picturesque Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes, a highly coveted Southern California wedding venue.
The famed glass-walled chapel designed by architect Lloyd Wright, scion of Frank Lloyd Wright, provides stunning ocean views from its hillside perch. The venue’s future is imperiled, however, as increasing land movement on the heels of a deluge of rain closed the chapel indefinitely. Couples who spoke with The Times’ Andrea Chang and Samantha Masunaga were sympathetic to Wayfarers’ plight but were also left scrambling to salvage their special day.
Disappointed but trying to keep it in perspective
Up until a few days ago, Brooklyn literary agent Ryan D. Harbage planned to wed fiancée Jazmine Robinson at the chapel on March 24, a springtime celebration.
The couple quickly bounced to a new venue — the Long Beach Museum of Art — which will also host the reception. The move wouldn’t have been possible without the chapel’s staff directly contacting the couple and immediately issuing a refund.
“I’d much rather get married in an art museum than die in a mudslide,” Harbage said. “It’s really not a contest.”
Still, the shift from a storybook venue and the scrapping of months of preparation have been difficult to accept.
“We’ve been imagining this dream ceremony at a place that is singular,” Harbage said. “It’s such a beautiful blend of nature and spirit, and we’ve been planning for a year to get married there, and it’s really, really hard to let go of that vision.”
Queen (Mary) for a day
During their courtship, Dawn Sicare and fiancé Howard Newman fell in love with the Wayfarers Chapel. So when they decided to get married, they scheduled their nuptials there for March 9.
“It was perfect,” Newman said. “It’s obviously beautiful up there. We got the ball rolling, and we were excited, until two days ago.”
The couple couldn’t change the date since it aligned with spring break for Newman’s children. Plus, they had already booked their stay at the Queen Mary hotel in Long Beach.
That’s when the couple inquired about the availability of the famed ocean liner for the ceremony. The date was available, and now the couple is just waiting to sign the paperwork.
“The initial shock and all that stuff, it’s dissipated,” Newman said. “It is what it is. We move on.”
Here’s more on how couples have coped with the last-minute wedding venue changes.
Today’s biggest stories
Wet weather
- A new storm system will bring more rain to Southern California through Wednesday
- Winter rains have fueld an ‘unprecedented’ acceleration and expansion of landslides in Rancho Palos Verdes
- Why haven’t the storms cause catastrophic landslides across a greater swath of the region?
- When it came to forecasting L.A.’s biggest winter storm of the season, local meteorologists had a secret weapon: experience.
Los Angeles’ Transportation Initiative
- L.A.’s top budget official spurred an angry response with a report saying Measure HLA, the ballot proposal to install hundreds of miles of transportation improvements, would cost the city at least $3.1 billion over the next decade.
- L.A.’s elected officials are falling into three camps on the measure: yes, no and no comment.
- The union that represents Los Angeles city firefighters plans to spend “six figures” on a campaign against Measure HLA. It’s concerned more bike and bus lanes will mean slower emergency response times.
Local politics
- L.A.’s Fair Work Week ordinance has provided more stability and even some extra pay to employees in lower-wage industries.
- Authorities targeted a Compton tire shop they say is frequented by street racers, and an owner cited “snitches” in graffiti he painted on the business himself.
- Los Angeles City Council members debated Wednesday for an hour on how to stop copper thefts. Some wanted preventive measures, while others called for accountability.
Entertainment
- Former CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves has agreed to pay $11,250 to settle a Los Angeles City Ethics Commission complaint.
- Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson‘s longtime business partners are seeking to become his co-conservators, weeks after the death of his wife.
More big stories
- The secluded Northern California waterfall known as Burney Falls will be closed all summer. Trail and slope damage caused by heavy crowds driven by Instagram posts, as well as erosion from recent storms, led to the decision.
- Here are five things new coach DeShaun Foster must do to win at UCLA.
- Freshman sensation JuJu Watkins netted 33 points in USC’s 88-51 win over Oregon on Friday, scoring 30 or more points for the 10th time this year. She tied USC legend Cheryl Miller’s record.
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Column One
Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and long-form journalism. Here’s a great piece from this week:
Single mothers like me are easy scapegoats. But the case for marriage is a myth. Almost half of Americans think single mothers are bad for society. We’re being blamed for problems we didn’t create.
More great reads
- Ed Templeton is a painter, photographer and has appeared in a documentary. In addition, Templeton was a professional skateboarder in the early 1990s and early 2000s, with era art displayed at a new Long Beach Museum of Art exhibition.
- Next year’s Super Bowl needs more clean energy ads.
- Paul McCartney‘s signature, violin-shaped Höfner bass guitar is back in his hands, decades after it was stolen in the 1970s.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
For your weekend
Going out
- 📽️Paramount’s “One Love,” the long-awaited Bob Marley biopic, opened bigger than projected Wednesday, earning $14 million — the best midweek Valentine’s Day take ever.
- 🎨 The Los Angeles Art Show closes out its weekend engagement at the Convention Center today.
- ⛳ The final round of the PGA Genesis Invitational at the Riviera County Club in Pacific Palisades concludes today.
- 🐉 A weekend of Lunar New Year Festivals includes a celebration today along Alhambra’s Main Street.
- 🎓 A discussion on Racism & Colorism in Latinidad is set to be held this afternoon at the LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.
Staying in
- 🏀 Lakers and Clippers superstars will participate in the NBA’s 73rd annual All-Star Game at 5 p.m. on TNT.
- ❤️ Neflix dropped the first six episodes of the wildly successful and chaotic match-making reality show “Love Is Blind” on Valentine’s Day.
- 🧑🍳 For those celebrating Lent, here’s Gordon Ramsay’s Fish and Chips recipe. All you need is fish, a potato and 10 minutes.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
L.A. Affairs
Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.
Could a chance romance help me feel whole again after a family tragedy? I swiped through dating apps seeking a sense of normalcy after my brother’s death. A former Angeleno living in New Orleans seemed special.
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Carlos Lozano, editor
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