But first, your most frequently A-ed Q’s.

What should I/we wear?

So we went to various wedding advice kinds of websites to find the terminology, and we suppose it’s (dressy) casual to festive casual.

What does festive casual mean? Like festival? Does that mean I can wear furry boots or my latest in yee-haw fashion?

Just find that intersection between looking nice and feeling comfortable. Leave the jeans at the hotel (or at the home of whatever stranger you’re paying to sleep in their bed). A suit as unstuffy as you want to play it will be good. If you don’t want to wear a suit, some slacks and a button down or a dress is fine for most people. Also, it’ll be Southern California in September so you may want to make sure you are able to peel off layers (during the afternoon) or put layers back on (for the evening). That’s advice from us to you. And, I swear to god, if you come to this thing wearing broken flip-flops you repaired with your child’s hair accessory, you’ll be celebrating outside by yourself.

How do I get from the airport to the downtown? There’s not, like, a direct train or anything?

Hey. We’re working on it. But for now, no, there’s no direct train that takes you from the LAX to downtown. So here are several options, from least agonizing to cheapest.

Lyft/Uber/Ride-Sharing Services: You can call for a car to pick you up! When you arrive, there are several pick-up spots in the departures ring (LAX has two layers: the top for departures, the bottom for arrivals) specifically for ride-sharing services. You’ll just go to the nearest one to you (they provide a handy map) and call for a car on your preferred app. In our experience, the driver will usually call or text you to ask for which pick-up spot you’re at. Each one has a letter on the sign that you can tell him/her and they’ll know where that is. Price: Around $50, depending on the time of day.

Taxi: You can also take a cab like we’ve been doing for millennia. Cabs in Los Angeles are notoriously unfriendly, however and are usually a bit more expensive than Lyft. The culture is changing with the extra competition but, you know, it’s still a cab. The good part about the cabs, though, is that they’re always around so you won’t have to wait for a Lyft to come from the standing area outside the airport to come grab you. Price: $46.50 flat rate to downtown before tip.

Union Station Fly Away: There’s a very nice, very large shuttle bus that ferries people from the airport to Union Station. This is usually the option Gillian and Nick use to get to and from LAX.

• From the airport, you can catch the Fly Away by crossing to the middle island on the arrivals level and finding the sign that says Fly Away. Make sure to catch the UNION STATION Fly Away (the sign on the front and the side of the bus will say Union Station). There’s also a Van Nuys Fly Away, a Hollywood Fly Away, a Santa Monica Fly Away … you get the picture. These buses are impacted by traffic so you might end up waiting a while if you arrive during a peak time.
• You just hop on board (they’ll stow large bags in the compartments under the bus for you) and pay at the end (you can also buy tickets from your phone). There’s a bit of an honor system component when coming from the airport because, if you don’t buy your tickets online, you have to go to a kiosk to buy them and then bring them back to the driver (they’ll direct you to where you have to buy tickets) but there’s really no policing this. We always buy tickets because we’re good people but, if you “forget,” I don’t know that anyone will chase you down.
• After you get to Union Station, you’ll be downtown officially. You can either take a Lyft to where you’re staying, use the the Red or Purple Metro Rail to get a little closer, or you can try your hand at walking. Google Maps will be your friend here. Price: $9.75 per person for one way.

Metro: The last and cheapest of the non-hitchhiking options is to take the train. I know I just said that there’s no train that goes directly to the airport but there almost is. You can take a shuttle from the Arrivals layer to go to Aviation Station on the Green line. This will include transferring trains. Here’s how that works.

• Go to the middle island and wait for the shuttle under the LAX Shuttle and Airline Connections signs (the signs are illuminated blue). You’re waiting for a little bus that says the “G” Line or the “G” Shuttle. It’s free to get on this shuttle.
• This will take you to Aviation/LAX Station which is on the Green Line. You’ll have to buy a TAP card which, for one way, is $1.75 + $1.00 (because you have to buy the plastic TAP card, too — I know, it’s a racket).
• Tap into the gates with the TAP card, go to the platform level, and wait for the train heading Eastbound toward Norwalk.
• You’ll have to transfer at Willowbrook Station and go downstairs to Rosa Parks Station on the Blue Line (you’ll go through another gate but transfers are free as long as you stay on the same system, which you are).
• Wait for the train that goes Northbound to 7th Street/Metro Center Station. You’ll ride this train to the end of the line.
• 7th Street/Metro Center is in the heart of the Financial District in downtown. You should be able to walk or Lyft to anywhere in downtown from there.
• Price: $2.75 per person for one direction ($1.75 if you already have a TAP card).

How do I buy you presents? That’s what we’re supposed to do, right?

We suppose? We made a registry on Amazon for you to check out (button below) but if you’d rather donate to a couple of charities on our behalf (and spare us some counter space), we’re cool with that, too!

Registry

Some charities we like: Downtown Women’s Center • Downtown Dog Rescue • L.A. Kitchen • 826LA • Los Angeles Walks

Where do we eat/drink/find a playground/find a tyrannosaurus fighting a triceratops when we’re not at the wedding?

We made a handy-dandy custom Google Map filled with all kind of things you to do in the down time before open sobbing at how happy you are for us and after you’ve partied your hearts out on the reception dance floor. If you don’t find the thing you need on that map, let us know and we’ll point you in the right direction (you can find the dinosaur battle at the Natural History Museum, by the way).

Nick put together a little interactive map of downtown Los Angeles to show you restaurants, points of interest, and, of course, important wedding spots (the old image is still available in case you preferred that).

• The wedding venue (Art Share LA) is in the northern part of the Arts District (the Arts District is actually pretty large and extends well south of this map). It’s an actual, functioning contemporary art gallery in the Arts District (an unfortunately endangered concept lately).
• We live in the Historic Core (near Winston and Main) which is about a twenty minute walk from the venue.

HOTELS

We’ve listed a few hotels here in DTLA to check out. It’s by no means exhaustive (we, for instance, are leaving out the Ritz Carlton and the Marriott located near L.A. Live because we love you and don’t want to subject you to the gaudiness of the chain restaurant district surrounding the Staples Center).  We’re also considering the idea of getting a block of rooms somewhere. You know, once we figure out how to do that and if it’s worth the trouble in DTLA.

• DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel and Kyoto Gardens: The only hotel that has its own Japanese Garden (also probably the closest hotel to the venue other than the Miyako Hotel)
• Tuck Hotel: The new boutique hotness in downtown. They are very into brunch here.
• Ace Hotel: Basically ousting The Standard DTLA as the epicenter of hipster nightlife, the building this Ace inhabits is super cool. Maybe too cool.
• Millennium Biltmore Hotel: The Biltmore on the edge of Pershing Square has been around since 1923 and has that Old Los Angeles feel to it, especially the grand lobby that’s good for people watching.
• Sheraton Grand: The outdoor mall area around the base of Sheraton Grand has just been reopened after a couple years of renovation with new bars and a small plaza area where they do outdoor movie screenings
• Omni Los Angeles Hotel: We have no idea what’s going on in this hotel. We hear it’s very nice.
• Westin Bonaventure Hotel: The inside of this hotel is insane-looking, the glass elevators are on the outside of the building so you get a nice view of downtown as you go up, and this is the hotel from True Lies. Arnold Schwarzenegger probably won’t ride a horse into your elevator, though. Probably.

AIRBnB

There are a ton of options via AirBnB. If you’re going to stay in DTLA, use the image above to get a feel of where the neighborhoods are.

• Places in the Arts District, Little Tokyo, and around Union Station are going to be the closest to the venue (about a 10-15 minute walk according to Google).
• The Historic Core will be your next best bet (you’ll also see the smaller neighborhoods called out like the Old Bank District where we live or the Jewelry District). The Historic Core is where the residential population is densest. It’s a 20-25 minute walk to the venue according to Google.
• The Financial District, Bunker Hill, and South Park is where the more luxurious lofts are and is about 30-45 minutes of walking according to Google. But it’s also just a 10 minute ride via Lyft and, if you’re staying the Financial District or Bunker Hill, 20 minutes or so if you catch the train at the right time from 7th St/Metro Center Station, Pershing Square Station, or Civic Center Station.
• Chinatown will probably have some really interesting (and historical) places to stay, too, and some great pictures opportunities. It’s a longer walk (it feels even longer because you have to cross over the 101 and anytime you walk over a highway it feels like your walking forever). But if you’re getting a Lyft or you’re driving, that’s a fun neighborhood with lots of great food.
• You’ll probably want to not stay in Skid Row.
• If you’ve got wheels (or the power of Lyft or a willingness to ride public transit), you also don’t have to stay in DTLA! Echo Park, Silver Lake, and Los Feliz will offer some nice AirBnB places in cool neighborhoods with lots to do. Koreatown is very close to our hearts and features The LINE hotel (which contains several restaurants under the purview of Roy Choi).
• You can also venture westward toward the beach. Nick would say to avoid Hollywood proper and some of the West Side non-beach neighborhoods (Palms and Mar Vista for example). Venice is always interesting. Santa Monica is possibly the cleanest beach town you’ll find and has a bunch of carnival rides on the pier. Marina del Rey is fun to say in that Californians accent.

If you have any questions about neighborhoods or where to stay, feel free to reach out!