Help with Planning the Ceremony

LGBTQ+ couples wishing to tie the knot will feel most welcome in San Diego, and here are resources that can help you plan your perfect day.

Wedding Planners

The Posh Knot

As a regular host of the My Big Gay Wedding Expo at the San Diego Pride festival, this full-service planning company handles all the logistics and design elements for all types of creative ceremonies and receptions. All-inclusive, custom packages are available for weddings ranging from 50 to 250 people. For couples that have made their own wedding arrangements, the company also offers day-of management services to keep everything running smoothly. 

Josefina Wedding and Events

From shabby-chic to black-tie weddings, indoors or outdoors, the company offers a few different packages that range from overseeing your pre-arranged wedding plans to crafting the event from scratch.

Venues

Paradise Point

Known also as "San Diego's wedding island" and located in Mission Bay, the area boasts 80,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor spaces for ceremonies and receptions. Options include bayfront lawns, gardens, sandy beaches, waterfront restaurants, ballrooms and numerous banquet rooms.

San Diego Museum of Us' St. Francis Chapel

This non-denominational chapel in Balboa Park welcomes same-sex couples to its Mission-style altar, which is set within a Spanish Colonial structure built in 1915 for the Panama-California Exposition. The chapel seats 88 people on the main floor and 12 in the balcony. Receptions can be held in the museum.

The Abbey on Fifth

Located in San Diego's LGBTQ+ neighborhood of Hillcrest, the structure flaunts classic, ornate architecture from when it was built as a Methodist Episcopal Church in the early 1900s. It caters to same-sex couples wishing to hold ceremonies and receptions.

Hilton San Diego Mission Valley

The hotel offers a team of LGBTQ+ wedding consultants to assist couples holding parties for between a dozen to 750 guests. The property offers flexible reception spaces and professional catering services.

Handlery Hotel San Diego

Conveniently located in Mission Valley, this ILGTA and TAG approved hotel has one of San Diego’s few private outdoor wedding settings for an intimate ceremony and reception, along with ballroom options for up to 300 guests.

City Cruises by Hornblower

Take your ceremony and party off land aboard a yacht stocked with all the frills that make for a memorable wedding. The company offers a fleet of vessels that carry between 50 and 550 guests.

Flagship Cruises & Events

LGBTQ+ friendly and offering a host of wedding packages, including a Captain's Ceremony, the company can help you design your perfect wedding—from an intimate lunch to an extravagant evening affair.

Inn at Sunset Cliffs

This quiet beachfront property greets with a Key West feel and features lush landscaping and two terraces with excellent ocean views. Wedding packages for parties of up to 150 guests are available.

The Don Room @ El Cortez

Housed within the historic El Cortez building near downtown San Diego, the ballroom's beautiful mahogany dance floor has seen the likes of Elvis Presley, Ginger Rogers and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Vows can be taken on the huge terrace featuring a fireplace, fountain and gazebo.

Cakes for the Occasion

Babycakes

Gay-owned and operated, the company specializes in decadent cupcakes and also cranks out colorful, detailed wedding cakes.

Flour Power Cakery

This trusted, long-established San Diego bakery customizes its cakes to fit any type of wedding, from small to elaborate.

Extraordinary Desserts

Acclaimed pastry chef Karen Krasne presents a portfolio of stunning, European-style cakes that have been highlighted on Food Network shows and in the pages of culinary magazines. She also operates cafes in Hillcrest and Little Italy.

European Cake Gallery

Established in 1975, the bakery specializes in Black Forest, white Bavarian and German chocolate cakes as well as custom-designed recipes.

Marriage Licenses

Marriage licenses are issued by appointment only, from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday, at the main San Diego County Clerk Office, located in the County Administration Building:
1600 Pacific Highway, Room 273
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619.237.0502

We wish you all the best for a great wedding and marriage.

Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end. ~Author Unknown