Bohemian cowboys in California, that’s what I’m dubbing this Santa Barbara affair. With LMarie Photo and 0816 Productions behind the day every moment is authentic and energetic. From the Grab a Beer and Rope the Steer reception to the homemade and hand-built beer bar, every detail is just as dreamy as the DIY dreamcatchers.
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From the beautiful Bride… We knew we wanted to get married somewhere near our home in Ventura, California, so naturally, Santa Barbara was an easy choice. The second we saw the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, it just felt so “us.” We loved the understated, Old California vibe and how the space felt sort of raw and authentic. Wes and I really wanted the day to embody who we are as a couple. Wes is a country raised cowboy and I’m a bit of a free spirit, so all of our choices for venue, decor and special touches revolved around embracing those influences and that energy.
We originally hoped to have a small, intimate wedding, but after trimming our guest list to 250 people, we knew that was out of the question. So we kept focusing on ways in which we could make a really big wedding feel small. I grew up eating dinner with my entire family at one table, so I wanted to create that same energy for the wedding, which is why we did the farm style tables all connected in a big u-shape around the courtyard…so it felt like we were all eating dinner at the same table. Then, we had our families at the center of the u…which I thought was super cool and kind of symbolic. I loved that.
Wes let me handle most of the planning, but had one request. He wanted simple, country-style food. Nothing fancy. Every Sunday, his folks cook up a delicious Sunday dinner at their ranch with tri-tip, salad, potatoes, beans and garlic bread. And that’s exactly what he wanted. I loved the idea and was so excited when we found Country Catering in Santa Barbara. Their food was delicious and they also offered family-style dinner service and homemade pies and ice cream, which went perfectly with our seating set-up and vibe.
I think those 2 elements really made the wedding feel less like a super-traditional formal wedding and more like an amazing Sunday dinner at the ranch.
When my older sister Kelly got married 2 years ago, her mother in law held the most beautiful ring ceremony while we are all getting ready. It was my favorite memory from my sister’s wedding, so I asked if she would mind doing the same thing for our special day. My mom and Wes’ mom each asked influential women from our lives, from each side of our families, to bring their wedding ring to our room right before I put on my dress. Surrounded by all my favorite women in the world, we all held hands in a big circle and each of the women gave me their wedding ring, along with words of advice or blessings for our marriage. We then attached each of the rings to a string that was then wrapped around my bouquet. It was one of the most special parts of the entire day, and something I will never forget.
For cocktail hour, we wanted to add something fun and unique, so we came up with the idea of having a roping dummy with a sign that read “Grab a Beer and Rope the Steer.” It was just another fun way of adding our personality to the day…and it was such a hit!!
I had found a photo of a cool beer bar on Pinterest, and asked my dad (who can make just about anything) if he could duplicate the bar for the wedding. Per usual, he went above and beyond. He had the idea of incorporating driftwood in the bar, so he would meet me at my place in Ventura, take me to breakfast and we would go for a walk along the beach, collecting cool pieces of driftwood along the way. He didn’t tell me anything else about the bar, just that it would be ready for the wedding. What I didn’t know is that he also went to Wes’ folks ranch and got a bunch of old horseshoes and incorporated those as well. I never actually saw the completed bar until the wedding, and I cried. Not only because it was way cooler than anything I could have imagined, but because I knew how much love went into it. Now it’s in our backyard, and every time I see it, I smile, remembering our wedding day and those walks on the beach with my pops.
For our signature cocktails, I wanted to come up with something different and fun for the names. Wes and I both have a love for good, old school music. I kept thinking in my mind, we’re a little bit country, and a little bit rock n roll…so the “Waylon Jennings” and the “Janis Joplin” seemed to sum us, and the entire energy of the night, up best.
I love dreamcatchers, so I knew I wanted to incorporate them into the wedding somehow. I got to crafting and it was so much fun!!! I invited my family and girlfriends over for a night of dinner and vino, and we made tons of dreamcatchers. I loved them all and how they were each so different, made with love and laughter…and I gave them all away after the wedding to my family and friends, except for the one we got married under.
I wanted to try and come up with something different to hang on mine and Wes’ chairs for dinner, and then I had the idea of making a Mr and Mrs sign out of rope. I looked it up online, found a DIY tutorial, and it was so easy and just another way of adding a little cowboy element to the night.
Instead of doing a gift at each table, I had the idea of giving each guest a seed packet of wildflowers and having the packets double as a gift and escort card. I found a great little shop on Etsy that made mini seed packets with dreamcatchers and floral wreaths on the front (which was so perfect). I had a thank you note from Wes and I printed on the backside of the packets. We filled the packets with California wildflower seeds and had them hanging between 2 vintage ladders with some photos from our engagement session. The sign read, “Please be seeded.”
While working with my florist, we came up with the idea of using vintage apothecary jars, a large old spittoon, a vintage canteen and rustic Spanish style pots instead of traditional vases for all the flower arrangements. Wes and I love searching for cool vintage finds, so for the last year and a half, we collected (literally hundreds) of apothecary jars during all of our travels. I love that each of the jars we collected has a cool story of the places we’ve been…and now we have the jars displayed throughout our home.
During the planning process, everyone kept asking me what our wedding theme was, and I sort of thought that was a crazy question. We didn’t have a theme. It was just Wes and I. That was the theme. I didn’t think about matching things or having the most Pinterest-worthy details and decor. I think that’s what made it special. We just poured ourselves and our love into a beautiful day filled with family, friends, food, booze, and one hell of a country band. That was our theme. And it made perfect sense to me.
Photography: LMarie Photo | Videography: 0816 Productions | Floral Design: White Fig Designs | Wedding Dress: Nightcap | Catering: Country Catering | Makeup: Doubletake Makeup Artistry | Hair: Penny Vaughn | Hair: Haley Rae Weinrich | Lighting: Bella Vista Designs, Inc | Band: Just Dave Band | Venue: Santa Barbara Historical Museum | Event Design & Coordination: Galas By Gerry