Shipshape

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A small company in Marina del Rey has carved out an unusual niche in Los Angeles County’s event-planning landscape.

FantaSea Yachts & Yacht Club stages weddings, anniversaries, retirement parties, proms, banquets and other gatherings in the harbor for Southern California’s minority ethnic and gay communities.

It’s a family-owned enterprise that grew out of a man’s penchant for throwing on-board parties for his friends, and charges in the range of $60 to $100 per head which is considered “budget” in the field for its harbor cruises.

“People love the idea of a yacht party,” said Daniel Ginzburg, 42, the founder’s son who now sits at the company’s helm. “As soon as they’ve experienced one, they’ll come back for more.”

With three yachts and a dockside ballroom in Marina del Rey, FantaSea’s staff of planners, chefs, florists, captains and boat crews oversees about 400 events a year attended by an average of 150 guests.

“It’s very pretty out there,” Ginzburg said of the three- to five-hour cruises. “You can see all of Santa Monica Bay, but it’s still inside the breakwater where it’s as smooth as a lake.”

Compared with high-end hotels, where charges are $250 to $350 per guest at a catered event, and midrange facilities where costs start at $150, FantaSea offers a significant bargain.

“They’re definitely budget,” said Bob Levine, an event consultant and chief executive of Bob Gail Special Events in Baldwin Village. “They’re not in competition with four- or five-star hotels.”

Ginzburg said the price per person of an event depends on a variety of factors: whether it’s on a boat or in the club, and what kind of menu, entertainment and amenities a client chooses.

Besides the less-expensive hotels, FantaSea competes with such companies as Hornblower Cruises & Events, which operates boats throughout the state.

“It’s a very tough environment,” said Levine, adding that he knows of at least eight event-planning companies in Los Angeles County that have gone out of business within the last year. “In a recession you have to be eclectic.”


Ethnic expertise

FantaSea has chosen to be eclectic in the customers it woos. While about half the company’s business comes from West Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and West Hollywood, Ginzburg said, the rest comes from Southern California’s growing ethnic populations countywide, which FantaSea has courted with specialized cultural events. The company has thoroughly researched the traditions of many of L.A.’s ethnic communities Persian, Russian, Armenian, Filipino, African-American, Latino, Korean, Pakistani and Indian to the point that its event planners sometimes know more about a community’s wedding customs than the bride and groom planning the marriage.

“We’re good students of culture,” he said.

FantaSea also organizes “commitment ceremonies” for gay couples, and for a few months earlier this year until they were outlawed by the California Supreme Court, same-sex weddings.

Ginzburg expects ethnic/gay events to bring in up to 75 percent of his business within five to 10 years.

“We take a lot of pride in embracing the growing diversity of Los Angeles,” he said.

The company has been rewarded by a five-fold increase in its volume of business over the past 15 years. Today, Ginzburg said, revenue is between $2.5 million and $5 million. Sales have dipped about 5 percent since last year, mostly due to the downturn in spending on corporate events.

FantaSea is weathering the recession by offering lots of discounts to keep the parties rolling. Because most events the company organizes come from personal referrals, Ginzburg said, he views the markdowns as part of his advertising budget. And though discretionary cash is tight, he believes that even in bad times people still like to party.

“In tough times people don’t want to cut back on parties they want to take even more note of life’s milestones,” Ginzburg said. “Because of all the external stress, they are placing more emphasis on togetherness and family.”

A wedding was important to Bridget and Evan Mark Katz, who got married aboard one of the boats, the RegentSea, in November. Like the company’s other two yachts FantaSea One and the Dandeana the 115-foot trilevel yacht is equipped with a large salon, bar, piano lounge and top-deck party space with floor-to-ceiling windows.

An author of two books on dating, Evan Katz and his bride paid $12,500 to say their nuptials in front of 115 guests at sea followed by a dockside dinner and reception.

The ceremony was performed by the ship’s captain. Couples can bring their own officiators if they choose, but all the company’s captains are state certified to perform weddings.

“We had a wonderful wedding,” said Bridget Katz, 39, a corporate trip planner. “It was a destination wedding without the inconvenience of having to go out of town.”

Ginzburg claims that the company has even had some repeat wedding customers.

“We’ve actually had brides come back for seconds,” he quipped. “They liked the boat, but not the groom.”



FantaSea Yachts & Yacht Club

FOUNDED: 1980

HEADQUARTERS: Marina del Rey

CORE BUSINESS: Catered weddings, parties and other events aboard yachts and at a waterfront club

EMPLOYEES: 25 (same as 2008)

GOAL: To expand business up to 20 percent over the next two years

THE NUMBERS: Annual revenue between $2.5 million and $5 million, with sales down 5 percent from 2008

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