Classic Santa Barbara Wedding with a Modern Twist
Any celebration bathed in California sunshine is bound to be incredible, but add in the unparalleled beauty of Bacara Resort & Spa and a team of talented vendors? Well, the outcome is simply beyond! With creatives like Saralee Franchi Of XOXO Bride and Michael Of Michael + Anna Costa Photography behind the day it's beauty that breaks boundaries and it's all in the gallery!
From The Couple...I knew I wanted to marry Ursula during our first date. After almost a year of dating and traveling, I asked her father and mother for their blessing to propose. I wanted the proposal to be a memory we would never forget for the rest of our lives, so I decided to surprise her with a trip to Paris.
We stayed in a small boutique hotel off the Champs-Elysees. As we were leaving to dinner, I suggested we stop in the hotel's outdoor garden for a drink. Little did she know I had reserved it just for us. As we walked in, there was a bottle of Champagne and a dozen roses on a table with romantic music playing in the background.
We sat in the garden and drank Champagne while I told her how much I loved her and how much she meant to me. That's when I got down on my knee and asked her to marry me. I was overjoyed when she said yes!
We then headed to the Eiffel Tower for a romantic dinner at Le Jules Verne to celebrate. As we sat, soaking in the 360 degree views of Paris from the top of the tower, we marveled at our surroundings and at our day. It was a magical experience and one we will never forget.
Santa Barbara is our favorite weekend getaway destination. Our favorite place to stay is the Bacara resort. Its gorgeous Spanish architecture and sweeping views of the ocean are awe inspiring. We both love the Spanish guitar and chose to have live music for our ceremony and cocktail hour. The Spanish guitarist really added to the romantic ambience of our ceremony which was held on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
We love mixing traditional and modern elements in our home and office and we wanted to do the same with our wedding. Everything, from our attire to the décor, was classic with a modern twist. I wore a classic lace wedding gown, but it was completely backless. The expression on my husband’s face when he saw me for the first time was priceless! Most of our décor was white with silver accents. We chose dark wood feasting tables and mirrored runners topped with mercury glass votives, vases and white pillar candles. We had lush floral arrangements of varying heights that consisted of white orchids, hydrangeas, tulips, roses and pops of peach Juliet roses. The sunset, combined with the candle light reflection off the glass mirrored runners and mercury glass, created the most beautiful glow over our outdoor dinner venue.
We are both of Latino heritage and love family, food and dancing and wanted to make these important aspects of our wedding. I wanted a way to honor my parents so I decided to have both my mother and father walked me down the aisle. We also incorporated a tribute to loved ones who are no longer with us by displaying their photos during our cocktail reception. Great food and wine was a focal point of our wedding. Dinner included a double entrée, sliders and truffle fries were served after hours of dancing, and huge chocolate chip cookies were served to guests when they left. We made sure no one went home hungry! Our talented DJ, Gavin Roy, kept everyone dancing all night!
Enjoy your wedding together. Usually, when we host parties, we barely see each other throughout the night because we are socializing and attending to our guests. On our wedding day, we made sure to stay together the entire time and it was so much more fun!
Take a few moments throughout your special day to step back and take everything in. Everyone we know warned us that the day was going to fly by in a blur. Taking those moments together to stop and appreciate everything around us made the whole day so much more unforgettable.