If I weren’t planning on eloping, the only place I’d consider getting married is Santa Barbara because every wedding there is absolutely beautiful. And after seeing this elegant day, the only vendors I’d hire would be this dream team: Whitney Darling Photography, Curtis Cole, TEAM Hair And Makeup, Jenny Yoo, La Tavola Linen, Ambient Event Design and Belmond El Encanto. See all the pretty from this day in The Vault!
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From The Bride…Our wedding day was an absolute dream come true. I grew up in Southern California and my husband in Chicago. We met in undergrad in colorful Colorado! Naturally, the first time I could drag him back home to the West Coast, I did. One of the first places I took him to was Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara has always had a very special place in my heart, having family there and loving the style and culture of the town. Patrick fell in love with Santa Barbara and we had fallen in love with each other. So of course, it was the only place we considered for our wedding!
My husband and I are both lovers of delicious local food, wine and craft beer. We also love the Pacific Ocean and its ability to bring us together, give us peace, and remind us how incredibly lucky we are to have such beautiful places at our fingertips. Knowing this, we knew we wanted our wedding reception to have incredible views and to feature exceptional local food and drinks. Patrick was researching places in Santa Barbara and stumbled across a wedding at the Belmond El Encanto, which happened to have been planned by Venus Event Design. It was like the perfect combination of venue and wedding planner smacked us in the face. We spoke with Hana from Venus Event Design and away we went!
From day one, Hana spent countless hours researching and vetting vendors, ultimately pulling together the most incredible team of people, all who seemed to share our love for Santa Barbara and for the understated elegance that we wanted on our wedding day. My husband and I are not extravagant people, but we do love attention to detail and we always appreciate quality when we see it. We wanted our wedding day to be a reflection of our personalities, and it could not have been more of exactly that.
Hana sourced incredible lace linens from La Tavola that were the perfect expression of romance and elegance, and truly laid the scene for a simple and thoughtful setting at every table. She also brought Cody Floral Design to us, who did an incredible job with soft, natural, and subtly colorful florals that were different at each table. The florals really brought together the colors of Santa Barbara, the El Encanto, and our wedding day all into one place. Some of our favorite details were the individually hand water colored escort cards, table numbers, and menus, all with the most romantic calligraphy. The combination of water color and dreamy calligraphy was a detail that popped at each and every setting. We tied in the fresh herbs that are found naturally all over Santa Barbara, like rosemary, lavender, and thyme, throughout the escort cards, menus, and table numbers. Not to mention our floral arrangements had fresh herbs incorporated into them as well!
The El Encanto really delivered when it came to food and beverages. We still have guests telling us that the food at our wedding was the best they’ve ever had! Quite the compliment when food was one of our deciding factors for our venue selection. The event staff at El Encanto also worked with us to select and order our favorite local wines and beers for our bar selections, so that our guests could truly enjoy all of the aspects we love about Santa Barbara in one weekend. Everything about our wedding day screamed local, fresh, Santa Barbara!
To top it all off, we had the most incredible photographer, Whitney Darling Photography, and videographer, Curtis Cole, who both captured the entire day and all of the perfect details that came with it. We wish we could relive our wedding day over and over again, and re-feel the love and excitement of our family and friends. It truly was the best day of our lives, and we feel so blessed and so fortunate to call it our wedding day.
Photography: Whitney Darling | Cinematography: Curtis Cole | Event Design: Venus Event Design | Floral Design: Cody Floral Design | Wedding Dress: Tulle New York | Invitations: Carta Bella | Ceremony Venue: Our Lady of Sorrows Church | Reception Venue: Belmond La Samanna | Bride's Shoes: Christian Louboutin | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Jenny Yoo | Hair + Makeup: TEAM Hair and Makeup | Lighting: Ambient Event Design | Groom's Attire: Hugo Boss | Groomsmen Attire: The Black Tux | Transportation: Rockstar Transportation | Bride's Sash: Anne Barge | Bridesmaids Shortie Sets: Plum Pretty Sugar | Escort Cards: Perfect Fete Designs | Linen Rentals: BBJ La Tavola | Menus + Table Numbers: Fanciful Designs | Robe: BHLDN | Veil: Renee Pawele