The Business of Love

Arika Helton thought she had found the perfect wedding venue.

A few months ago, the Aliso Viejo resident had chosen the Renaissance ClubSport hotel in Aliso Viejo, but when the two parties couldn’t agree on a price, Helton thought she might not be able to have her dream location.

After doing more research, Helton found the Aliso Viejo Conference Center, and 20 minutes into her first visit, her dream wedding was back on.

"I knew the moment I got there, ‘This is fate,’" Helton said.

The city-owned conference center has been in the wedding business since it opened in 2009. But in that first year, the center hosted just four weddings. This fiscal year, it’s set to host 41 weddings, and that number can still grow.

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Helton’s is one of those weddings, set for August. The bride-to-be has been planning her own wedding, and she said working with the conference center staff has been a dream come true because of their expertise and abundant availability to answer questions.

While the conference center hosts all manner of private events, weddings are the staff’s true passion, General Manager Kelli Addington said. Addington and her staff are part of KemperSports, the Illinois-based management company that has been contracted to operate the center since 2010.

"We are honored to be a part of such a special time in two people’s lives and inspired by the level of detail that goes into a memorable wedding," Addington said.

On Valentine’s Day, the center won’t be hosting any weddings. Instead, it will host Aliso Viejo Christian School’s Snowflake Masquerade, a father-daughter dance. However, the next two weekends are booked for weddings.

The facility features a 300-person main dining room and two outdoor ceremony locations, both featuring sweeping views of the Saddleback Valley.

Despite the facility’s name, the conference center offers several amenities specifically for weddings, like separate lounges for both bridal and groom parties. In fact, the name can at times be misleading, Addington said.

On their wedding invitations, some couples have gone so far as to label the location as "Aliso Viejo Conference and Event Center" or "Aliso Viejo Country Club," which is the name of the golf course adjacent to the conference center, Addington said.

Addington credits sales and catering director Ashley Ickes with developing marketing and social media strategies to help educate people that the conference center isn’t just a place to host corporate meetings and conventions.

"We feel like if we can get people into our facility, they’ll fall in love with it," Addington said. "But the challenge has been building our brand and developing our reputation as a top wedding destination."

Louise Callus-Woolsey is one of those people who fell in love with the conference center at first sight. About a year ago, she was set to start her wedding location search with the Aliso Viejo Country Club, but she went into the conference center instead. Her search ended there.

"That day, I fell in love with the place and the staff," Callus-Woolsey said. "I’m one of those who believes everything happens for a reason, and everything worked out perfectly."

Callus-Woolsey’s wedding took place in October and went without a hitch, in large part thanks to the conference center staff, she said.

"With weddings, everyone says to expect at least one thing to go wrong," Callus-Woolsey said. "On the day of the wedding, they had everything down to a science. Everything went as planned, everyone had a good time, and it was just perfect."

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