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!

Halloween Weekend Wedding

This past weekend Will and I attended our first wedding together since our very own two months ago! Time really flies...It was beautiful weather for an outdoor ceremony in Huntington Beach followed by a fun-filled reception, that was just oozing with the personality of the couple, Charlyn and Justin. When the dancing started, they were prepared with a big box of fun props for everyone to dress-up in! Pirate swords, masquerade masks, mustaches....

...cool hats and super cool glasses!

Our friends had a very modern, very cool, purple and silver theme. The purple up lights cast a romantic hue on the absolutely gorgeous centerpiece arrangements of flowers, vases, and candles (I couldn't do it justice with my lil camera), but also gave a great party vibe when the DJ dimmed the lights and everyone hit the dance floor.

 

so we really had a lot of fun with the Kanye West shutter glasses... 

Attending a wedding as a married couple felt different-- like the way attending a friend's graduation feels a bit different before and after your own graduation. Throughout the evening Will and I would reminisce about our own wedding but there was also another unexpected effect was how much happier I felt. I have always loved attending weddings and of course I am always thrilled for the newlyweds; but after having experienced my own wedding and marriage, I can truly say that marriage is such a blessing. I am much more excited for the couple because I myself absolutely love being married and I know firsthand that this is such an exciting time in life!

Will and I are really looking forward to 2012, when more of our friends will be tying the knot!