You can’t go wrong with a celebration draped in color and this wedding held at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum is here to prove it. From the uber bright florals by Twig & Twine and whimsical details a plenty planned by The Green Ribbon Party Planning Co., the Bride and Groom’s vision of hosting a party that would charm their guests socks off was made a reality. Captured by Katie Vowels for Annie McElwain Photography, the images tell a story of pink, pink and more pink, hand-painted chevron and an Elvis accompanied dessert table …and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. See it all right here.
From the Bride… After a wildly romantic proposal, Scott and I set out to create a homespun, yet elegant wedding that would charm the socks off of our friends and family with personal details and whimsical touches. After exhausting the multiple venues in and around Los Angeles, we opted to take the wedding on the road up north to one of our favorite places, Santa Barbara. Once we fell upon the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, it was love at first sight. The sun-scorched, adobe courtyards paired with the lush foliage was the perfect balance of natural, California ambiance and raw space that we had hoped to find. Lucky for us, Nicole Arena of The Green Ribbon Party Planning Co. is a good friend and was the immediate and undeniable choice for wedding planner! Nicole introduced us to all of our wonderful vendors, who truly matched our vision, energy and aesthetic. With her fabulous sense of style and ability to really understand our taste, she helped us brainstorm and fine tune our DIY projects and edit our concept in a way that enhanced its character. I loved our wedding colors. What began as simply apricot and powder blue, morphed into a lovely range of peach, blush, sky blue, cobalt, touches of bronze and a few neons here and there. My lovely bridesmaids wore different dresses within the blush tone family. Mixing and matching all of the dress possibilities online together was probably one of the most time consuming and frustrating aspects of the planning. Since we all hail from far away corners of the country, I didn’t actually see all of dresses together until the day of the wedding!
We held our ceremony in a small courtyard under the shade of oak trees and a vine-covered pergola. I spent hours at home tying different shades of pastel seam binding to a stretch of rope that hung as our back drop. For a DIY project as simple as it was, it made quite an impact dancing in the breeze behind us. I have grand plans to hang it in a baby room when we get to that next chapter. Scott built our lectern for the ceremony from a few planks of reclaimed barn wood. Scott is very handy with a jig saw! Our little house is adorned with many of the pieces he has built. So he went straight to work on all of the signage for the wedding. The ‘his’ and ‘hers’ signs that hung from the back of our chairs and the S+E sign that hung on the gate are reclaimed barn wood. He created a wooden guest book with our initials carved into the front cover. He even carved and-white washed all of the letters designating the reception tables. Our tablescape came together with the help of Heather from Twig & Twine and the folks from Casa De Perrin. The flowers were, by far, my favorite surprise when we first saw the decorated venue. The richness and diversity of the blooms and the way she arranged them in the antique pieces we had rented from Casa De Perrin was gorgeous! My father is an Elvis fanatic. Every January 8th he showers my mother with gifts in celebration of “The King’s” birthday. He’ll be mortified that he’s coming off as a crazy person, so I should say that any and all Elvis fanaticism is laced with a certain degree of humor in our family. We decided to dedicate the dessert table to him by calling it a “Love me Tender, Love me Sweet” table. We found a number of great Elvis silhouettes that we included in the bunting and menu. The King would have loved it, at least the ‘thicker’ Vegas King of the ’70s, and my dad appreciated the gesture.
The day of the wedding was overwhelming and more joyful than I ever imagined. Having Nicole there, coordinating every moment, was invaluable. It gave us, and our parents, a chance to really let go and enjoy the day. I have so many favorite moments … standing with my father and telling jokes before taking our walk down the aisle, kissing my dashingly handsome husband for the first time, our insanely romantic first dance to Re:Stacks, watching our friends and families cut a rug under the stars and holding hands with Scott as he charmingly thanked all of our loved ones for coming.
Wedding Photography: Katie Vowels for Annie McElwain Photography / Wedding Venue: Santa Barbara Historical Museum in Santa Barbara, California / Wedding Planning: The Green Ribbon Party Planning Co. / Floral Design: Twig & Twine / Catering: SBB Gourmet Catering / Wedding Cake: SusieCakes / Dessert: The Scootabaker / Wedding Paper Goods: Designed by the Bride & Groom + Printed by DSJ Printing / Ceremony Music: Dan Willard Music / DJ: California Sounds / Ceremony Backdrop + Table Runners: DIY / Ceremony Lecturn, Signage + Wooden Letters: DIY by the Groom / Vases: Casa de Perrin / Linens: La Tavola / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals / Lighting: Bella Vista Designs / Wedding Dress: Oscar de la Renta