Our time now: Wedding Ceremony

We arrived at the Mission about an hour and a half before the ceremony. We waited in a classroom off a beautiful courtyard where our photos were taken. Then, in what seemed like a minute, it was time to move the party to the entrance because the ceremony was about to begin!

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A look down the aisle before guests filtered in.

Sarah K Chen Photography

Canon in D Major by Pachelbel was played on the organ as we began. Father Daniel celebrated the ceremony.

Sarah K Chen Photography

I adore the look hubs is giving his mother as they begin their walk.

Sarah K Chen Photography

Of course I knew where the photographers were standing so I had to smile at the camera :)

Sarah K Chen Photography

I felt nervous and excited as we walked down the aisle and saw the smiling faces of everyone.

Sarah K Chen Photography

It was equally nerve racking to stand up there in front of everyone, I kept telling myself not to trip!

Sarah K Chen Photography

My brother did the first reading (Song of Songs 2:8-10, 14, 16a; 8:6-7a). He said he messed up the word "lattices", but we didn't notice. The Psalm and response followed and I remembered seeing and hearing all my college friends singing the response, which is hilarious because they love karaoke.

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My cousin D did the second reading (Philippians 4: 4-9). Her dress and hair flower match our ceremony flowers so well.

The Gospel Acclamation followed and Father Daniel read the Gospel Proclamation (Matthew 5: 1-12). This was followed by a very good homily.

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Everyone loved the homily. We had met with Father Daniel a few times before the wedding, one of those times he asked us relationship questions, how we met, and how we feel. He was taking notes the entire time, and is generally a great speaker, so his homily brought laughter and joy to the crowd. We also loved that he talked about fashion, love, equality.

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Our vows felt so intimate, even though we were up there in front of everyone. I remember seeing the faces of my bridesmaids, and just feeling the love.

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Blessing.

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Hubs said his vows perfectly, but had to helped me since I totally forgot them! We exchanged rings, said prayers, and then yay we're married!!

Sarah K Chen Photography

Sarah K Chen Photography

There were more prayers, blessings, and the sign of peace.

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And then we were officially wed. We walked down the aisle and out the doors to Ode to Joy.

Sarah K Chen Photography

Happy parents :)

The ceremony was very personal, solemn, fun, cheery, and described us. I really loved the whole event and thinking back on it makes me so happy.


Blog title is from lyrics by Plain White T's

It's Friday I'm in love: Ceremony Rehearsal

The week leading up to our rehearsal was filled with diy projects, organization of goods and packing, last minute purchases, making final plans and tweaks to our itinerary, and just getting excited. Our families and bridal party were to arrive on Friday afternoon, so we waited and anticipated their arrival and the beginning of the festivities all week.

Our rehearsal was on Friday, September 25 at 5pm. We all met at the side of the Old Mission for photos before the church coordinator arrived. Weddings at the Mission have their own church coordinator run the rehearsal and the wedding ceremony, but our DOC, Anna, was also there to be in the loop and for support.


My grandma, sister/MOH, me, my mom, and the mister.


My grandma, my sister/MOH, me, and my mom. 3 generations :)


My family. Most of us wore purple and yellow since we wanted to wear the wedding colors.


Funny story, the mister and I arrived at the Mission as a trolley full of 20-somethings were leaving and someone yells, "Go Lakers!" We both turned to look back, thinking to ourselves, "did we just hear that correctly?" and the same person goes, "see I told you all they were Lakers fans! They're wearing the colors!" And that just about made our day. A random stranger noticed our outfits, identified our favorite team, and made our day :)


Us.


The mister and his mom. He is the youngest so she was both happy to send him off and sad to see him go.


FMIL, mister, Brother/BestMan. The bros look a lot a like and were sometimes confused for one another during the wedding.


Groomsman, FMIL, mister.


Cousins with their parents and our grandma. These girlies rocked such cute outfits all weekend long.


My sister and I reviewing the photos :)


Pat, one of the two church coordinators, met us out front and ran the rehearsal. She small and sweet, but a hard worker and kept everything on track :)


Rehearsal lasted a little under an hour. We went over walking down the aisle and at what pace, where we would sit and stand, the readings, and when things would occur. Instead of a bouquet, I carried my flower clutch down the aisle :)


This is how we would stand during our vows, with MOH and BM at our sides.


We would sit next to Father Daniel during the ceremony.


We got a first look at our programs, prepared by Roy Spicer who is the Mission's Music Director. The look is simple and classic, we like it!


Anna was so attentive and very helpful during the rehearsal. She also headed over to the restaurant early to ensure that our dinner was set up nicely.

To have both of our families together and preparing for the ceremony just overwhelmed us with love and joy. We tried soaking in the moment, knowing that many more would come in the next day :)




Blog title is from lyrics by the Cure

Meet me at the altar: Weddings at the Old Mission Santa Barbara

A few years ago an extended family member was planning her wedding in Santa Barbara. She had wanted to have the ceremony at the Mission, but something had kept her from that and she decided on a different church. I don't know all of the details but it was either residency, price, or rules that deterred her. Flash forward to two years later and I was just married at the Mission. The process is involved, requires dedication and attention to detail, and may not be what every bride pictures.

The Mission is run by Franciscans and is a Catholic parish also known as St. Barbara Parish. They have daily morning mass, weekend masses, and services for sacraments (baptisms, weddings, funerals). Weddings are among their most popular services and require quite a bit from the bride and groom.

To begin, a wedding information session is held every other month. Prospective couples meet the Pastor, find out about the rules and requirements, book a date, and pay their deposit. About 10 couples are at every meeting. If you want to reserve a date, this is when you do it. Dates are generally booked around a year in advance, based on church and priest availability. Weddings usually do not take place between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the season of Lent. The ceremony begins at 1pm, runs about an hour, and everyone must be out by 2:30pm. They require flower arrangements to be left in the church, for the upcoming week's masses. But flower petals cannot be placed anywhere (even the flower girl cannot toss them as she walks down the aisle). Because the Mission is a tourist attraction, bubbles and confetti are not to be used outside (because someone might slip or because of the mess it leaves).

Other requirements are that one person in the couple must be a baptized Catholic, two witnesses on each side must sign a freedom to marry form, the couple must attend an "Engaged Encounter" weekend, and a license must be obtained from the city.

There is a meeting with Father Daniel (who does all the weddings) to discuss relationship, why we want to have a Catholic wedding at the Mission, what marriage means to us. During that meeting he takes notes to help him prepare his homily for the ceremony. We also give him baptism, first communion, and confirmation certificates. If one is not Catholic they must sign a form of consent stating that they will support the other in their Catholic faith. A follow-up meeting is done once the Engaged Encounter weekend is complete. Here we discuss readings with Father Daniel.

The next meeting is with the church coordinator. She collects our wedding worksheet, witness forms, and discusses all rehearsal and ceremony details. Witnesses (usually parents) must fill out a form at their home parishes, and submit it. Then there's a meeting with Music Director to discuss all music and ceremony program. The Music Director puts together the program, unless you want to diy it.

This is basically on overview of the rules/requirements, but I'm sure I'm missing a few things. It's a lot of work, but everyone at the Mission is helpful, organized, and knowledgeable about what you need to do. And even with the restrictions and requirements, to us, a ceremony there is worth it because of the place, the history, the location, the love.

Has either of your venues (ceremony, reception) had strict requirements?



Blog title is from lyrics by Jagged Edge

It's like a story of love

I love hearing about weddings in Santa Barbara, and get excited when I see them covered in blogs that I frequent. It's always nice to recognize each couple's location, view unique details, gain inspiration, and get the all around feeling/style of the wedding day. I also really love seeing my city displayed in such a beautiful way.

The following are a few photos of a recent wedding, photographed by Mary Jane Photography, which has provided me with lots of eye candy and excitement :)

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Gorgeous details. The table scape is amazing, love their initials, the save the date looks quite classic, and the trolley is such a Santa Barbara must!

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Gorgeous Mission. I am in love with this photo of the Mission with the trolley zipping by the background. Since we will be having our ceremony at the Mission, I was really excited to see all of Mary Jane's Mission photos. Seeing actual ceremony photos made me imagine the possibilities of our day and feel like our wedding is becoming more and more of a reality, if that makes sense.

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Gorgeous couple. This photo leaves me breathless. Sooo much classic style. The car, the veil, the body language equal love.

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More gorgeous and sweet details :) When I showed these to my mom, she loved the cookie bar idea, although we are leaning towards a candy bar. Love the style of the cake toppers, too.

Please check out more photos on the slideshow. Thank you Mary Jane for letting me use your photos! I love them all.

Blog title is from lyrics by Joshua Radin