Drawing inspiration from an Ian Burgham poem, this Santa Ynez Inn wedding from Tammy Horton Photography takes vintage-chic to a whole new level! The bride infused her and her hubby’s fun-loving personalities into every element while keeping to a strict budget…and the result? Well, it’s pretty darn fabulous. Click here to see it all!
Click here for the FULL wedding!
From the Bride… My fiancé Tim and I agreed from the start that we wanted to throw a fantastic party, but also wanted to keep to a strict budget, as we have some grand plans for our future together. As a wedding and event planner, I have a very high level of expectation for an event, and so there were some things I wasn’t willing to compromise on, but other things that I knew I’d have to sacrifice. My main goals were tri-fold: to create a beautiful, cohesive event with a tone that reflected our personalities; to ensure that our guests were comfortable and entertained throughout the evening; and to make sure that I never felt like the weekend was “work” for me. Tim and I very quickly decided on a theme of sorts. There is an amazing ring I’d seen at a boutique several years ago, made by the designer Jeanine Payer, that had an inscription that read, “…and you, my windrose, my compass, my direction, my description of the world.” I’d loved the sentiment and looked into the author of the quote. I then discovered Ian Burgham, who’s since become one of my favorite poets — I bought all his books and poured over his poems. When Tim and I were discussing a theme, I proposed the idea of using this quote and incorporating compasses, maps and globes in our decor, and Tim immediately latched on. The quote is so beautiful, and one of the main things we love to do together is travel, so it really fit. We even ended up purchasing the Jeanine Payer ring to use as Tim’s wedding band.
We lucked into our venue a couple months into our search. We knew we wanted to make a full weekend out of the affair. This was partially for all of our family and friends who would be traveling to the West Coast, many for the first time in their lives, but also because we just wanted to spend more time with everyone. It may never happen again that we have all our loved ones in one place, and we wanted to make sure we got to enjoy it. So we wanted to get married in a “destination,” but we also wanted it to be close to home so that our Los Angeles friends could easily drive up. We found the Santa Ynez Inn and knew it was the spot. The Inn is so beautiful and quaint, and I can honestly say has some of the sweetest, most accommodating staff I’ve ever worked with. They made the experience a thousand times better.
Once we had selected our location and theme, I turned to my favorite independent invitation designer, Nipa Eason, to come up with our suite. I certainly gave her a challenge, wanting to incorporate our quote, a compass and a windmill (to represent the gorgeous windmill in the middle of the lawn where we were going to get married). What she came up with was beyond my wildest expectations and set the mood for the décor for the event. Finding my dress was another challenge. I knew that I wanted something that looked vintage and was flowing and soft, but everything I was finding in boutiques and stores was sample-sized. I saw a dress made by Miss Tashina, a custom wedding dress designer, on a wedding blog post and seeing that she lived in Los Angeles, got in contact with her immediately. She created the most amazing custom dress, that was utterly and entirely “me,” incorporating vintage lace and beading. Overall, we both agree, it was the best weekend of our lives. We had so much fun, and wouldn’t change a thing. We did compromise on some elements – I would have loved to have had more money to spend on lighting and to have had live music all night. But when you’re on a budget, you make choices, and in the end, we were thrilled with every moment of the weekend.
Wedding Photography: Tammy Horton Photography / Wedding Venue + Catering: Santa Ynez Inn in Santa Ynez, California / Wedding Coordination + Décor: Grandes Fêtes / Floral Design: TFS Studio / Wedding Invitations: Nipa Eason Design / Ceremony Music: Ray Fortune / Sound: No Static / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals / Ring Bearer Boxes, Passport Vow Holders, Ceremony Backdrop, Paper Globes + Ceremony Programs: DIY / Wedding Dress: Miss Tashina