Wet weddings for hire

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- Jennifer Lopez might go through the motions of

planning weddings in her latest movie.

But ask her real life counterparts and they’ll tell you Hollywood’s

gone over the top.

“Oh gosh,” said Regina Maria DiBenedetto, who coordinates yacht

weddings for Adventures at Sea. “Most of my brides have a budget and all

of [Lopez’s] clients have an unlimited budget. And then she falls in love

with the groom and we don’t want that to happen here.”

While wedding packages at the company start at about $6,500, bride and

groom can push the amount as high as they want. In return, DiBenedetto

and her colleague, Leslie Blakely, will pamper the couple and take care

of everything from champagne to loose buttons.

“We basically hold the hands of the bride and groom from beginning to

end,” Blakely said.

Preparations can start as early as a year in advance, but sometimes

everything gets organized within a week. Depending on the number of

guests, couples pick one of the company’s boats that can hold between 75

and 250 people.

“It’s so rewarding to get to see them in the beginning stages,” said

Blakely, who majored in special events while at college. “It’s so

exciting to be part of someone’s special day.”

On the wedding day itself, DiBenedetto and Blakely handle everything

from greeting guests to looking after the needs of the couple, who get

ready for the big “yes” in the yacht’s state rooms.

DiBenedetto points out that the rooms are air-conditioned. In the

summer, that’s helped to prevent major mishaps.

“The bride does not have to worry about makeup running down her face,”

she said.

During the four-hour cruise around Newport Harbor -- some couples add

on a few extra hours -- the wedding coordinators oversee a crew of about

10 people that transform the deck’s main salon from wedding chapel into a

dining room in no time.

Instead of the traditional limousine, a gondola awaits couples on

their return and carries them away for some quiet time.

DiBenedetto, who is engaged herself, said that she’d been thinking

about a wedding at sea.

“It’s kind of one of those things where you want to get married on a

yacht, but you already work there,” she said and laughed.

And in case she decides to go ahead with the idea, her colleagues have

already assured her that she won’t have to coordinate her own wedding.

FYI

Adventures at Sea will hold a bridal open house on April 22 from 2 to

4 p.m. Information: (949) 650-2628.