I haven't stayed there, but called my brother, who has. This is his report:

We stayed at the Hotel Europa - it was clean, nice and above
all centrally located in Santa Margherita and cheap, which we really liked -
there's a beautiful little church there and farmer's market in the central
square away from the water. There was also the Hotel Regina Elena that was in the park along the road out to Portofino - that might be walking distance for them. It think we paid 65 - 80 Euros.

You can reach them through www.venere.com

So, this is a very basic, but reasonable hotel. He said the Regina Elena looked much better. In Portofino, there's also the Albergo Nationale, right on the harbor. This is about 1/3 the cost of the Spendido, but still not cheap & the Jr. Suites are the only ones with a view of the water, which is what you're there for.

Enjoy Portofino - what a beautiful place for a wedding, but what an expensive place for your guests!

P.S. I just looked up the Regina Elena in TripAdvisor.com & it gets mixed reviews, all depending on the room you get (isn't that always the case?!). Definitely don't want to be in the annex - I would email the hotel directly (it's a Best Western!) & ask for a water front room in the main building if you don't mind the street noise, or a back view room in the main building if you want more quiet.