Love in Santa Barbara

We took a short but sweet trip to Santa Barbara a few weekends ago to attend the lovely wedding of our dear friends Carol and Jezreel. Carol is the talented wedding photographer behind the lens of our Santa Monica engagement photos, so with her artistic sensibility and passion for weddings, we knew their wedding was bound to be a fabulous, picture-perfect affair!

Santa Barbara is such a lovely city, with distinctive Spanish style architecture and a wonderfully rustic flair.

We stayed in a small but quaint room nestled in a quiet hillside neighborhood just half a dozen blocks or so from downtown State Street. It was our first booking with airbnb and a very pleasant experience. 

After enduring a long traffic-congested drive, we enjoyed a scrumptious seafood dinner at Hungry Cat. Fresh crab claws, fennel stuffed snapper, and halibut with crispy garlic... delicious! 

The next morning we had brunch at the adorable Crushcakes & Cafe. Crushcakes has competed on Food Network's Cupcake Wars so I ordered the breakfast version of their signature red velvet cupcake, the red velvet pancake! With fresh strawberries, syrup, and a big dollop of cream cheese frosting, the pancakes were a perfect rendition of "dessert for breakfast", yum!

We worked off our morning indulgence by climbing to the top of Santa Barbara county courthouse clock tower for a great view of the city... ok, so we actually cheated and took an elevator up to the top, but we did take a nice long stroll around the courthouse grounds and nearby downtown streets.

Then it was off to the wedding~

The wedding festivities were held at the beautiful Santa Barbara Historic Museum and the entire affair was filled to the brim with sweet and charming details (some literally SWEET, aka the amazing dessert bar!). Think hand-painted floral invitation and program designs, adorable animal place card holders (Rhinos!), gold chevron, rustic terrariums, stacks of vintage novels, and soft pastel florals. We sipped refreshing blood orange spritzers from mason jars alongside lovely table settings embellished with a palette of warm peachy coral, soft minty green, and elegant gold. After sunset the magical string lights twinkling overhead was the perfect canopy for dancing the night away beneath the stars. Of course the beaming bride and groom were shining all the brighter!

Marriage is often described as an earthly shadow of what our relationship will be like with Christ in heaven, so in moments like these, I can't help but marvel at God's great love for us and what kind of celebration and pure joy will abound when we are united with Him in eternity.

Much love Santa Barbara, we had a fantastic time!

Snowball Viburnum

I spotted these pretty little puffs the other day at Trader Joe's. I love flowers at Trader Joe's by the way, blooms are budget friendly (earlier this month I picked up 20 yellow daffodils for under $3!) and there is always a fair seasonal variety (other markets seem to just carry the same plain 'ol dozen roses, daisies, and such). These lovely round clusters caught my eye, especially their gorgeous colors, a bright citron green fading to a softer cream. 

I later learned that these little darlings are called snowball viburnum, a large flowering shrub that can produce snowball flowers as large as 8 inches across! The bunch I brought home from Trader Joe's aren't nearly as large-- they are about the size of large button mums, but they were a perfect fit for my new bottle vase. Soon they will be shedding all over our house (much like a snowball, poof! dissolving into flurry of tiny petals), but in the meantime they have been bringing quite a bit of springtime cheer to our home.

How Deep the Father's Love for Us

Nothing makes my heart melt like flowers. This past weekend Will and I took a trip back home to San Diego to spend some time with my family and my dad proudly showed off his recent gardening projects. Last year, his make-shift vegetable patch was his pride and joy. At the end of fall, we took home a big bag of his home-grown tomatoes.  Now that its springtime, I'm sure my mom has been nudging and prodding him about filling in some of the drearier looking parts of the yard with some bright spring blooms.

I noticed a few new colorful additions to the garden the minute I walked up the path to the front door. My dad went into the yard and picked a few more fresh blooms for us to bring back before we left that night. I just love the sunny yellow ranunculus and there are a few orange gerber daisies hiding in the mix too. I arranged them in a small floral mug since the stems were trimmed short and they have a been a sweet reminder of my father's love for me.

I guess a part of me, no matter how old I am, will always be a daddy's girl.

Whenever I think of a father's love, I can't help but think of the song "How Deep the Father's Love for Us." I have a heavenly father who loves me so much more than I can ever know or imagine. It is because of His great love that I have an earthly father who loves me too. If my earthly father wants to lavish me with good and beautiful things with his limited time and energy, how much more my heavenly father who is almighty and eternal!

Moreover, because of His great love, He sent His son Jesus on a search and rescue mission to save all of His lost and broken children. This words of this song states it beautifully.

How Deep the Father's Love for Us

by Stuart Townend

How deep the Father's love for us,

How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,

The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the chosen One,

Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,

My sin upon His shoulders

Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,

Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that left Him there

Until it was accomplished

His dying breath has brought me life

I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything

No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ

His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward? 

I cannot give an answer 

But this I know with all my heart 

His wounds have paid my ransom

Spring Vases

I feel like springtime weather in LA has been playing peek-a-boo. It has been vacillating between warm and sunny to cold and rainy every few weeks. I hope spring weather will finally be here to stay soon! One of my favorite things about spring is flowers!

I hope someday I can experience cherry blossom season in Washington DC or Japan, but locally we are lucky to be not too far from gorgeous poppy fields that burst into colorful bloom in late spring as well. But this year I have been checking the bloom status on the website for the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, and sadly it seems like it may be a very sparse season... so for now I will be content with having more fresh flowers in the house.

Here's a few pretty vases I've spotted. They would be lovely for bringing springs blooms into the home!

1) Pure white ceramic vase by West Elm. 
2) Interlocking trio vase by Anthropologie. Such a unique design! Would make a great centerpiece.
3) Flower series by Anthropologie. Love the colors and looks plenty pretty even without fresh blooms.
4) Bud vase garland by Urban Outfitters. So cute! Would make a pretty backdrop for a party or shower
5) Laboratory flower vases by Urban Outfitters. Because I love science. and it's rustic, but pretty.
6) 4-some bud vase by CB2. Unique modern design and a great price too!

Sometimes I miss my "flower girl days" (when I worked part-time at a flower shop during college), because I just got to arrange flowers all day long. Some days just don't get much better than that! 

September 3rd: Our Wedding Story

Looking back on our September 3rd, I am simply amazed at how faithful God has been to us. I could count blessing after blessing in how everything and everyone came together for our wedding. Throughout the eight short months we had to plan our wedding, we have learned and grown so much; God has taught us to be patient, to compromise, to trust, the deeper meaning of friendship and sacrifice, and that a truly "perfect" wedding is simply one where two hearts come before God seeking sincerely to become one in Him.

Hearts became the theme of our wedding because we loved how it represents the deepest part of who we are and the very part of us that we want to be joined together forever. Will and I also often use hearts in our chat messages, texts, cards, letters, and emails to each other and it always makes me smile. With the heart symbol as my inspiration, I began designing the stationary for our wedding starting with our save-the-date postcards and formal pocketfold invitations.

At the same time, Will and I were on the search for an elegant and romantic wedding venue with lots of character. We found everything we were looking for at the historic Ebell of Los Angeles. The beautiful Ebell clubhouse, built as a women's club in the late 1920s, included a pretty courtyard garden, stately art salon housing rotating art pieces, and gorgeous lounge ballroom with glistening floor to ceiling windows and magnificent chandeliers. We loved that the Ebell was so rich in history, distinctive architecture, and elegant vintage pieces like a rustic grandfather clock and antique patterned couches. Coupled with the fabulous staff and delicious French inspired cuisine by Chef Louis Pechan, the Ebell was absolutely perfect for the timeless and romantic evening ballroom reception we were envisioning.

For our ceremony we discovered nearby First Congregational Church of Los Angeles and immediately fell in love with the grand cathedral architecture of the church and majestic organ lights that made the sanctuary glow with color. Also a historic landmark of Los Angeles, the church felt like a perfect meld between old and new, traditional elegance with a colorful modern flair. Although our first impression of the regal sanctuary constructed in a revival gothic style seating well over 700 guests was actually quite intimidating, we soon realized it would be the perfect setting to reflect the sanctity of our marriage ceremony and the seriousness of our vows.

Although I never really intended to be a DIY bride, I've always enjoyed artistic and creative endeavors so when it came to our wedding, I decided that I wanted to design and hand-make many of the details myself; before I knew it, our wedding had evolved into a pretty massive arts and crafts project. We bought two paper cutters, dozens of ribbon spools, and ordered card stock from online wholesalers. We recruited our friends for many long nights of paper-cutting, pattern-punching, card stock-glueing, and ribbon-tying. I shopped around for decorative elements and bought monogrammed mugs from anthropologie spelling out "love" for the guestbook table and a small antique-looking wooden chest for our card box. We also added many personal touches such as displaying our parents wedding photos at the welcome table, creating a photo guest book with our engagement pictures, including our favorite recipes along with heart-shaped measuring spoon as wedding favors, and hand-painting table numbers on wooden plaques. 

We wanted a soft and romantic color palette so we chose blush rose, sage green, champagne, and brown as our wedding colors. Our florist incoporated lisianthus, hydrangeas, lilies, roses, eucalyptus, and branches in our wedding florals to accent our colors while keeping a flowy and organic feel to all of the arrangements.  My bridesmaids wore rosy pink tea-length dresses with a lacey shrug and champagne Steve Madden heels with bows (they were a great find, on sale at over 50% off!) that matched the sash of the dress and the champagne vests and ties of the groomsmen. I chose to rent my wedding dress instead of purchasing one, but had a custom hanger personalized with our names made for the dress from an Etsy shop. My dress had lovely lace detail, intricate beading, a classic A-line silloute, and a sweet and girly bow in the back. I also especially loved my ruffly wedding shoes from Nordstroms that were in the softest shade of blush. We also incoporated our colors into the seating cards using a pink heart to designate the salmon entree choice, a light brown heart for chicken, and a green heart for vegetarian. 

When the long-awaited day finally arrived, there were so many unforgettable moments that our wedding day actually felt much longer than just a single day, yet it that passed by so unbelievably quickly that everything seemed like a blur. 

I will never forget the echo of the big double doors of the church opening as my dad walked me down the asile, Will's calm and composed voice repeating our wedding vows and my own shaky and emotional voice, laughing together when our DJ accidentally announced one of my bridesmaids as a groomsmen and vice versa, making our grand entrance into the reception down the grand staircase of the Ebell, how we sang "Marry Me" by Train to each other as we danced our first dance, my dad's very moving speech and toast (I never knew he was so eloquent!), Will and I thanking all of our guests and especially our parents for all of their love and support (I teared up a bit....I couldn't help it!), singing happy birthday to my grandfather who's 84th birthday was the very same day, throwing our shoes at our groomsman Mike who tried to embarrass us during a newlywed game, and finally dancing the night away with all of our friends (we were so wonderfully surprised that our friends joined us on the dance floor! We didn't hold back and we are so glad many of our friends didn't either!). 

We are filled with gratitude for the many people who truly made our wedding an unforgettable and fairy tale day: Our parents' unending support that made our dream wedding possible, family and friends who flew in from all around the country to celebrate with us, fabulous vendors and coordinators who made sure our special day would be just the way we envisioned it, our wedding party and friends who spent all day cutting paper for programs and spent all night gluing invitations, talented friends who led praise, sang, and put together a truly memorable slide show, church leaders who counseled us and prayed for a us, generous family and friends who showered us with mountains (literally) of gifts...

Most of all, I know I am the luckiest girl in the world because I was marrying the most kind, patient, understanding, and supportive man I have ever known. Will has truly humbled me in everything I thought I knew about love. He encouraged me to indulge in my creative vision for our wedding and drove me all around the city visiting wedding vendors and exploring venues. Though not a very arts-and-crafts person by nature, he dove headfirst with me into an immense DIY wedding project. I took the lead on most of the wedding preparations, but when we had trouble with a rude and dishonest vendor, when we thought we had almost lost our church venue, when we were missing 1/3 of our wedding favors two days before the wedding, and when I ultimately dissolved into tears from stress and frustration, Will would always calmly take over (he was always much better than me at handling these sorts of situations) and reassure me that I wasn't planning our wedding alone. On our wedding day, I was overjoyed with the final realization that from this day forward, no matter what we planned next, no matter what our next big project was, no matter what challenges and surprises lay ahead,  no matter where God leads, Will and I would always be facing it together.

The verse in our wedding ceremony program from Psalms 115:1 reads "Not to us, Not to us O Lord but to your name be the glory because of your love and faithfulness." Our prayer is that starting with our wedding day and continuing with our marriage and throughout the rest of our lives, we will glorify our Heavenly Father and always remember that it is He who holds us together with His love and faithfulness.

Our Wedding Vendors: 
Ceremony Venue: First Congregational Church of Los Angeles | Reception Venue: The Ebell of Los Angeles | Photography: Pix of Life | Wedding Dress and Bridesmaid Dress Rentals: Beautiful Day Wedding | Groom and Groomsmen Tux Rentals: Frair Tux Shop | Coordinator: Events by Lynette | Floral: Ninfa's Flowers | DJ: Steve Kikuchi of High Resolution DJs | Makeup and Hair: Etude Lounge | Photobooth: Photobooth Love | Cake: King's Hawaiian |