Santa Barbara Historical Museum

A dear friend is getting married at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum this summer and described it quite nicely, so the hubs and I headed there last Saturday to check out the space. The museum houses exhibits and a gallery of the history of Santa Barbara, while the location also holds two beautifully simple Spanish style courtyards. It is private, intimate, accented by native plants and flowing fountains, and such a perfect place for a celebration.

Below are a few photos of our visit.


Walk way detail.


Fountain in the center of the main courtyard.




Hubs walking towards the courtyard pergola.






Pergola in the back courtyard.




Smaller fountain.


The place had such a tranquil feel. I loved the open air, the old SB ambiance, the understated quality. It is quite a nice place to spend an afternoon lounging and taking life in :)

The SB Historical Museum is a perfect visit for tourists and locals alike. For more info and photos, check out SB Wedding Blog, Style Me Pretty, Green Wedding Shoes.

Sounds of the City: El Rey Theater

Last month we caught my favorite band, the bouncing souls, at the El Rey Theater in LA. It was my first time there (had been longing to go for a while, but living in SB hindered it) and I loved it. Imagine a great ball room with art deco style, red carpets, draping on the walls, amazing mood lighting, a sunken dance floor, a raised level for tables, upstairs balcony, 3 large chandeliers. It was so lush and glam, and got me thinking that it was perfect for a wedding!


View from the dance floor, facing the stage with the lights low, waiting for the souls to come on.

the bouncing souls :)

The website describes the El Rey nicely:

"The El Rey Theater is an original art deco theater in the heart of the Miracle Mile, one of Los Angeles' preserved art deco districts. The El Rey was built in 1936 and designed by Clifford Balch. After over 50 years as a first run movie house, the El Rey was converted into a live music venue in 1994. A registered Historic-Cultural Monument, the El Rey has sweeping staircases, an art deco lobby, VIP balcony lounge and a grand ballroom equipped with a full stage."

You can rent the place out for shows, photo shoots, events, bar/bat mitzvahs, weddings.

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There are lots of sections for guests to fit, and stage for your DJ or band.

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Generous dance floor to kick up your heels.

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And their lighting systems is amazing.

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Truly a great place for live music and any event!

Can I plan my vow renewal now? heeehee ;)


Blog title is from lyrics by the bouncing souls, ole!

The beach gives a feeling: Engagement Session Location

I had been holding off on scheduling our engagement session because I wanted beach weather, warm sunlight, and a tan. The months of July and August being the most ideal. With the start of summer and longer sunny days, I am getting antsy to have the session right now. But before I contacted Sarah to schedule a date, I scouted a few locations.

Since we live in Santa Barbara and Sarah resides in Orange County, this gives us the opportunity to shoot here, there, or anywhere in between. We have plenty of landmarks, grand buildings, and beautiful beaches to choose from.

Source: Old Mission steps in SB

I would love an e-session in SB. We can take shots at our venues, and it will give Sarah the chance to see the sites before the wedding. With our knowledge of the area, locations we love are plenty: the Mission, UCSB, any of the great beaches, bluffs, the wharf, courthouse, downtown.

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The Santa Barbara Courthouse is a popular spot for engagement and wedding photos.

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OC is another great location with their many beautiful beaches. Since Sarah is from the area, she would know all the great locations and secret spots to shoot.

Source: Laguna Beach

Source: Disney Concert Hall

LA is also amazing for photos. It's filled with all kinds of neighborhoods, architecture, nature, styles, beaches, and is in between SB and OC. We would love to be photographed outside Staples Center by Lakers posters, at the beautiful Getty or Griffith Observatory, LACMA, or Santa Monica Pier.

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The Getty Museum is one of my favorite places in LA. There's free admission (just $10 for parking), great city views, great architecture, and plenty of natural influences.

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Their garden area, my favorite part of the Getty, is quite beautiful.

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LACMA is another great location with fun architecture. Their urban light display is a sea of uniformity and depth that would be fun to get lost in.

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Newly remodeled, the Griffith Observatory is great for photos in and around the building. The view of LA is unbelievable.

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Although the NBA season is over and taking photos inside Staples Center comes only through the best connections, it is one of my dream locations since it is home to the Lakers.

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After some email with Sarah about her location thoughts/preferences we decided on Santa Monica. Our only must-have regarding our engagement session are a few sunny beach photos, and a July day in Santa Monica would provide that.

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The beach is our favorite place. We love the casual feel, ocean air, and taking long walks with the sand beneath our toes.

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We can have some fun by the pier.

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Sarah mentioned bikes and balloons as fun props, yay!

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Where did you decide to shoot engagement photos? Did you do it in your home city or elsewhere?

Blog title is from lyrics by 3eb

Rock n Roll High School

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I attended a Catholic all-girl high school in Sierra Madre, CA. It was slightly unknown and relatively smaller than other Catholic all-girl schools in the area but it boasted one thing that no other high school had, the villa. The Italian style villa is located just a few steps from the high school buildings. The villa was a very important part of my high school life that, to this day, I call it my high school when I see it on tv, in movies, or featured in wedding blogs.

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After all, we had plenty of activities there. We did annual Haunted Houses there, had our Winter Formal there, ran around the grounds during Mary's Day and after school, attended countless masses there, enjoyed Mother Daughter brunches there, took yearbook club photos all around the grounds, had our senior year retreat there, watched as movie crews set up and took down all kinds of sets there, and just had fun there. I may call it the villa, but formally it is known as the Villa Del Sol d'Oro.

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Sound familiar? Well it can be seen in movies such as Princess Diaries, Legally Blonde, and A Walk in the Clouds, episodes of tv shows like 90210, Dirty Sexy Money, Cane, Bella Mafia (tv movie), ad campaigns for Michael Stars and forever 21, even Guns n Roses video for November Rain, and it has countless other credits.

Source November Rain.

It's also been a part of many beautiful weddings that I have seen through countless photographer and wedding blogs. Sarah K. Chen, Cameron Ingalls, Digital Video Artistry, and two gorgeous weddings by Love and Splendor.

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Having the Villa be such a part of my life, I think that if I currently lived in LA I would most likely have my wedding there. It's a beautiful place surrounded by nature. The grounds are expansive and the architecture is lovely. It's history is rich and unique. Spending time there is like you're somewhere else. And viewing all the lovely photos convinces me that I want to have some sort of celebration there in the future, maybe have our engagement session there.

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But I also think it's a bit funny since it's my high school.

A photo of a few of my friends and I during a break from our senior year day long retreat at the villa.
Oh high school days :)

Blog title is from lyrics by The Ramones

A place for us

Since I posted our maps, I would like to tell you more about our venues and why we chose them.

Santa Barbara is a popular city for weddings (both local and destination) so while we found ourselves contending with other couples and our budget, we also found quite a variety of choices. To narrow the field down, I created a small requirements check list for possible venues.

1. History and Santa Barbara icon status. The majority of our guests are from out of town so we wanted to share the character, charm, and history of our city with them. We thought of places like the Courthouse, Presidio chapel, Mission, and Wharf that are historic sites and have a charm to them. These locations are also what come to mind when people think of SB and are popular tourist destinations. Having lived in SB for years (as undergrads and professionals) we have taken for granted the beautiful locations we have been surrounded with, so scouting theses places has been a good way to fall in love with the city all over again.
2. Ambiance and Style. We are laid back and casual, but we like things to be structured and classic. We like our location to have a fluid style and lovely exterior, a feeling of warmth and welcome. I also love flowers so gardens and lush landscaping are things we like.
3. Proximity to the beach or have a great views. When thinking about our wedding I always wanted to incorporate the beach and ocean into the location. We both thought that if our guests were driving or flying hundreds of miles to see us, there is no way we would not show them the beach. So whether we are married on the beach or the location has an ocean view, we will be happy.
4. Budget friendly. We are paying for the wedding ourselves. Being young in our careers (and paying the exorbitant amount of rent that is common in SB) our budget is modest. We may not be able to afford a luxurious banquet hall at a 5 star resort, but we can have a beautiful and unique place.
5. Size. Our guest list is between 140 and 180 people, depending on the RSVPs. The location must be big enough to hold everyone and cozy enough to provide an intimate atmosphere.

With all of this in mind, the choices were narrowed down to a select few. We decided to have two venues (one for the ceremony and one for the location) so that we could take our guests from one part of town to the other and let them experience as much of SB as possible.

The Old Mission was our #1 venue choice. It is historic, majestic, picturesque, sits atop a little hill, has an ocean view, and is a popular destination, a must see for those visiting SB. It is a Catholic church, and since I am Catholic and my faith has always been a part of my life, this would be perfect. Also, my love has been very open about having our ceremony in a Catholic church. While beauty and location drew us in, the pastor, Father Daniel, and community won us over. We knew this is where we wanted to get married. Father Daniel has a wonderful personality, speaks very well, and his homilies are thoughtful. Parishoners are very kind and those serving at the mass (altar servers, ushers) are very nice people. And the organ music is really quite lovely. Reserving a date at the Mission was easy since we did it so far in advance.

Inside Cabrillo Pavilion.

Reception venue choice was slightly difficult only because they were being booked so fast! The choice was between Rockwood Women's Center and Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center, we were priced out of the popular hotels in the area (Bacara, Biltmore, Fess Parker, Canary) and not sure if we wanted have it at the zoo, a museum, in a restaurant, on a boat, etc. Both locations are budget friendly, can accomodate our party size, have nice ambiance, and are more local. Rockwood is located a few minutes from the Mission, nestled in Mission Canyon. It's style is beautiful, has a lovely outdoor patio filled with plants, and great ballroom with hardwood floors and chandeliers. Cabrillo is located in East Beach on the ocean side of Cabrillo Blvd. It's the closest you can get to the beach, without actually being on the sand. The building is a bit older with some dated carpeting, but the feel of the place is cozy and warm. And you can't forget the view! The views of the ocean are beautiful and it has a large balcony that overlooks the beach. Ultimately location won us over and we chose Cabrillo. We had to share the beautiful view with our guests.


View of the ocean from one of the balconies at Cabrillo. So beautiful. I am excited to watch the sunset from there.

How did you choose your venues? Did you have any requirements or must haves?

Blog title is from lyrics by Phil Collins

I just want to see some palm trees

We went by the reception venue last Friday to drop off our updated contract. While there we decided to walk around and take some photos to share with our family.

Much of Cabrillo Boulevard is lined with palm trees. It's sooo California.

The foyer of our venue festively decorated for the Christmas season. I can picture the wait staff greeting guests with drinks here.

Here is a view from above. They were setting up for a holiday party so the lay out of tables is a bit off. The carpet is printed but not loud.

Another view of the venue. Room capacity is 200 people and the feel is quite cozy.

The main reason for choosing our venue: the view. The back of the room is lined with big windows that bring in lots of natural light and look onto East Beach and the Pacific Ocean.

Better view of the ocean from one of the patios. I love that we get to share a picturesque sunset with our guests.

Here is part of the room that looks onto the ocean. We plan to line our buffet tables here.

The above photo is a bit dark but I like it because it shows just how much you can see from inside.

Another view of the room from a far corner. I love how the natural light illuminates the room. Art lines the walls, which we cannot remove, but the art up on that day was really pretty so we're crossing our fingers that we'll have pretty are up at the reception.

We will probably have the dance floor in the middle of the room as well.

View when leaving of the front doors.

After our visit we became very excited about the layout of the room, the warm feel, and ofcourse the view. I'm really glad we chose this venue.

Blog titles is from lyrics by Everclear