Wedding #1: Santa Barbara

Those are my cutie patootie nephews ; )

I'm so excited to be able to share my wedding photos with you guys today! Our wonderful photographers edited these pictures and sent them to us only 4 days after our wedding in Santa Barbara (talk about great service!) They created a slideshow for us so we could play it at our wedding reception in Edmonton, which took place this past Friday and was so much fun, more on that one later ; ) I hear stories of brides waiting six months to a year, even a year and a half for their wedding photos so my husband and I feel extremely lucky to get them back less than a month after we tied the knot! And I'm happy to be able to share some of them with you ; ).

I was never one of those girls who dreamed about her wedding day or what she was going to wear as she walked down the aisle, (I dreamed more about what song was going to be played) but I knew I didn't want a big wedding. When D. and I got engaged in beautiful Santa Barbara last year we fell in love with the city and I knew this was the place I wanted to get married. Luckily my now-husband thought it was a good idea as well ; ). We invited 22 of our closest friends and family to our wedding, (which just so happened to take place exactly a year later from the date we got engaged, I swear I didn't plan it that way!) and I'm so glad they all got to experience the charm of Santa Barbara.

We had a short, intimate ceremony with one of our good friends Kosi officiating, which was really special to us, he did such an amazing job! We hired a Spanish guitarist to play before and after the ceremony and we wrote our own vows. Afterwards our talented photographers took us to what could be described as an enchanted forest -seriously I thought I was in a fairy tale! - for photos. We couldn't be happier with the way they turned out! For our reception we decided to have it held in a private room at Stella Mare's, a French bistro located next to a bird refuge. I chose this venue because it looked absolutely adorable on the internet (this is how I did all my planning for our destination wedding), and you didn't need to add too many decorations because the shabby-chic decor was enough on its own. We also had use of the private terrace where our cocktail hour was held. The food and service at Stella Mare's was amazing! We didn't have a dance after dinner, we saved that for our Edmonton party ; ). Which was a good idea because we were both exhausted by 10:30 p.m. ; )

We couldn't be happier with how our wedding day played out. It was so weird because I was so calm and relaxed the whole day, which is SO un-like me! A couple of people asked me why I wasn't freaking out and I guess I just had a feeling that everything was going to go well and that at the end of the day I would be married to my best friend and would finally be able to call him my husband! It also helped that it was a very small wedding and I felt extremely confident with everyone involved in making everything run smoothly. I also had the best bridesmaids by my side, who were a great support ; ). Our wedding day was a day full of so much love, a day we will never forget. We felt truly blessed. Thank you for following along and for reading, I know this blog has been heavy on the bridal posts, I promise I'll go back to normal blogging next week!

Wedding Details:
Ceremony Venue: Santa Barbara Courthouse
Reception Venue: Stella Mare's, Santa Barbara 
Photography: Jessica Fairchild
Flowers, Decorations and Rentals: Casi Cielo Events & Flowers
Hair: Shelley Zydek (my sister-in-law!)
Makeup: Lisa Tatum (my cousin!)
Wedding Gown: La Sposa Pronovias "Mullet" style from The Bridal House
Earrings: Haute Bride
Shoes - Sterling 
Bridesmaid's Dresses: Bill Levkoff from The Bridal House
Men's Suits: Moore's