Normally I try to find some clever way of introducing each wedding but honestly, all I can tell you is that this wedding is GORGEOUS. Like hold your breath, can’t stop staring at it kind of gorgeous. And although it’s not really a Halloween wedding, it has that whisper of all out glam, of soulfulness that we’re craving today so we thought it was the perfect addition to our Halloween lineup. With photographs from Christine Farah, you should brace yourself for some serious beauty and promise us that you’ll check out the full gallery before you sign off because there are SO many more stunning, steal worthy deets tucked inside.
From the Bride… Thinking back on our wedding weekend, it truly exceeded all of our expectations and left us feeling more in love and more loved than we ever could have imagined. From the moment Rich and I got engaged and began talking about our “dream wedding,” we made a rule to have fun with and enjoy the entire planning process. We took fun weekend trips up to the Santa Barbara area to scout wedding locations, went to local wedding events to gain new ideas and inspiration and blasted music and drank wine while putting together our invitations. Of course, there were a few little tiffs along the way, but overall, the planning process was awesome.
I’m a huge fan of yellow gold. My engagement ring is yellow gold, my husband’s wedding band is yellow gold, and I knew I wanted gold tones to play a big part in my wedding. So I started collecting vintage brass vases pretty much the week after we got engaged. It was a long and tedious process (many hours logged on eBay), but it was well worth it when I look at the pictures and see how much detail and personality they brought to each table. Since our colors were black, white and gold, the black and white daisies worked perfectly with our theme. Plus, they saved us a lot of money on flowers! (Thank you to Michael, our florist, who suggested them.)
I woke up with serious butterflies in my stomach the morning of. It’s an overwhelming feeling to think that you are GETTING MARRIED in front of everyone in your life who is important to you. But, as soon as I started walking down the aisle, all my nerves floated away. It was such a warm and happy feeling to see all these familiar faces smiling at me as I headed towards the love of my life. I keep joking with my husband that we now know what it feels like to be a celebrity. When you are the bride and groom, people break out in applause when you enter a room together, are constantly telling you how amazing you look, are constantly snapping pictures of you, are willing to drop whatever they are doing to get whatever you need —basically, you’re an A-lister for a weekend. But beyond all that, we got to see, laugh, hug and dance with all of our favorite people. It doesn’t get any better than that.
I must give a HUGE thank you to all of our incredible vendors. Our day definitely would not have gone the way it did without them. The team at Bacara went above and beyond. Ali, David and Merlyn took such good care of us and did a phenomenal job making sure every question was answered and every request we had was made. Copper Willow made us the most incredible invitations, bar signage, guest log, menus, programs, etc. It was such a collaborative process, and we had a blast designing with Leora. Christine Farah, our super-talented photographer, caught our eye on a couple different wedding blogs, and we knew she was the one for us. As you can see from our pictures, we got really lucky — she captured so many special moments. Michael with Louloudi completely surprised me with the ceremony flowers. He added so many little details that I couldn’t have imagined a more beautiful aisle to walk down. Our wonderful wedding planner, Zohe Felici, was calm, collected and on top of everything. She was always one step ahead of me and didn’t leave me with a single thing to worry about. It was the best weekend of our lives! Enjoy every minute of it — it really does fly by just like everyone says!
Wedding Photography: Christine Farah Photography / Wedding Venue: Bacara Resort & Spa in Santa Barbara, California / Wedding Planning: Zohe Felici of Felici Events / Floral Design: Michael Mantalos of Louloudi Boutique Floral Design / Wedding Invitations + Signage: Copper Willow Paper Studio / Lighting: LBPS Events / Balloons: Geronimo Balloons / Wedding Dress: Pronovias / Bride’s Reception Dress: Shareen / Hair + Makeup: TEAM Hair & Makeup / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: ASOS / Groom’s Tuxedo: Ralph Lauren