Shirley Sher said she remembers seeing couples taking their wedding photos in front of Royce Hall as a student, and she always wanted to do the same with her husband someday.
This dream became a reality for Sher in September, when she and her husband Kevin, who met at UCLA as undergraduates, were married at the UCLA Faculty Center.
The Faculty Center, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, hosts weddings year-round, in addition to the many social and academic benefits it provides to members.
The center is a self-supporting private membership club for faculty and staff, General Manager Ali Tabrizi said.
Many of the events held at the center, such as departmental meetings and conferences, are meant to “provide an intellectual center for administration and faculty,” said Vijay Gupta, a professor in the UCLA mechanical and aerospace engineering department and former president of the board of directors for the Faculty Center in the 2007-2008 academic year.
Most events hosted at the center are reserved to club members, but nonmembers with a UCLA affiliation can also hold weddings at the center, Tabrizi said.
UCLA alumni and the children of faculty make up the greatest proportion of couples married there, he continued.
While use as a wedding venue was not necessarily part of the original design of the center, it lends itself incredibly well to the purpose, Tabrizi said.
The building is over 30,000 square feet, has a glass dining room that seats more than 400 people, and has a number of patios.
The Rose Garden Patio, framed by roses and bougainvillea that bloom year-round, is ideal for pre-dinner receptions, Tabrizi said.
The center hosts 20 to 30 weddings annually, costing between 48 and 75 dollars per person, Tabrizi said. The packages include all services needed for the weddings, with the exception of music, flowers and cake.
Many couples married at the center, like Sher and her husband, have a sentimental connection to the campus, Tabrizi said.
“We wanted to be married back on campus where we first met,” Sher said.
Weddings make up a small portion of the 200 private events hosted by the club each month, Tabrizi said.
Members can come to the center to enjoy lunch without leaving campus or can rent rooms to host academic meetings, Gupta said.
Around 30 percent of faculty are members of the club, Tabrizi said, although the percentage is higher for faculty situated on campus.
The center gives members a convenient place to meet, said Bruce Miller, a professor in the Anderson School of Management who serves on the current board of governors.
“They don’t have to go off campus for a nice meal,” he said. “And you don’t have to divert people for guest speakers or events.”
The Faculty Center allows members to meet in a relaxed way, Miller said.
This relaxed feel of the center is due in part to its design, he continued. The one-story building has many open spaces, giving it a less crowded, more laid-back nature than many areas of campus, he continued.
The Faculty Center will hold an event honoring its 50th anniversary sometime this year, Tabrizi said, although details are not yet finalized.