Real Wedding Kerri and Josh at Four Seasons Biltmore Featured on Junebug!

Real Wedding - Kerri and Josh
Friday, December 10, 2010 6:51 AM

Come take a jaunt to the beach with us today! Kerri and Josh's Santa Barbara real wedding, photographed by BB Photography, is the perfect escape for a winter day - sun, sand, delicate decor and an incredibly happy couple. It's our Friday gift to you!

 The Goals: Kerri and Josh wanted to share their love of Santa Barbara, California with their family and friends so they chose the beautiful Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore for their wedding venue. In the outdoor ceremony they combined their Christian and Jewish faiths, and felt that they were starting a new tradition at this favorite location that would last a lifetime.

The Design: Kerri and Josh chose a wedding color palette of white and cream with accents of lavender and natural greens. With the help of wedding planner Soigne Productions their decor had an easy, romantic and organic feel to it to compliment the natural beauty of the resort's beach location. I absolutely love their chuppah made from driftwood and the lush white florals from Mindy Rice!


The Look: Kerri wore a gown by Monique Lhuillier and accessories from Garland Collects, and looked like perfection! Her bridesmaids wore deep ocean blue dresses from Two Birds Bridesmaid with earrings by Linked Lust. For the tradition of Old, New Borrowed and Blue, Kerri wore vintage earrings (old), her beautiful wedding gown (new), her grandmother's handkerchief (borrowed) and cute bridal Hanky Panky undies (blue).

The Moments: Kerri's favorite moments of the day were walking down the aisle to see Josh waiting there for her, and saying their vows underneath the driftwood chuppah as hummingbirds fluttered around them. Wow! One of the biggest hits of the wedding was how much everyone loved the live music. "Our band was amazing and is still getting talked about - the dance floor was full the whole time and our ceremony and cocktail music was just as amazing! We hit a home run with the Supernova Quartet and Impulse!"


The Pros: For the full list of the many wedding professionals who contributed their time and talents to this wedding, be sure to visit our Real Wedding section!

Thank you Kerri and Josh! What a lovely day!


To plan your own Southern California or Seattle area wedding, check out our Plan Your Wedding Hotlists, and to find a dream wedding photographer for your wedding anywhere in the world, don't miss our World's Best Wedding Photographers Hotlist!

Published Friday, December 10, 2010 6:51 AM by christy
real weddings
tags Ceremony, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Event Catering, Santa Barbara Wedding Location, Santa Barbara Wedding Locations, Southern California Wedding, Wedding Location Venue, Soigne Productions, Mindy Rice Floral Design, Four Seasons Biltmore Wedding

Santa Ines Mission and Crossroads Estate: Kelly + Matt

Kelly and Matt are such a sweet couple and I am honored to have been there from the beginning. I first met them on the day they were engaged. I was still working for Firestone Vineyard at the time when I received a call from Matt saying that he'd like my help to plan a surprise wedding proposal at Crossroads. Under the pretext of an impromptu venue tour, just in case, he said... Matt scheduled a site visit of the property. He took her to the top of the hill overlooking the pole barn and oaks, got down on one knee and proposed. Kelly said yes! I was thrilled when they asked me to continue their journey with them to help plan their wedding the following spring.

Their ceremony and reception were held at the Mission Santa Ines and Crossroads at Firestone Vineyard. Jennifer Rau Photography captured every special moment and family friend Sharen Crosby of Flowers By Sharen created the beautiful centerpieces & decor.

Enjoy!

Congratulations Kelly & Matt!

tags Ceremony, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Event Catering, Santa Barbara Wedding Location, Santa Barbara Wedding Locations, Southern California Wedding, Wedding Location Venue, Soigne Productions, Wine Country Wedding

Anne + Rudy's 1950s Style Padaro Lane Beach House Wedding

Anne and Rudy wanted a 1950s themed wedding and a family friend's beach house on Padaro Lane was the perfect setting. I had an amazing time working with this wonderful family to plan the wedding of their dreams.

This was my first time working with photographer Miguel Fairbanks and he did a beautiful job documenting the day. The family and I collaborated with Nico Designs to pull together some of the decor elements and the rest were items purchased by Anne's mother Margaret.

Enjoy!

Anne held a bouquet of gardenias, phalenopsis, blushing brides, cattalaya orchids, garden roses and gardenia foliage... Rudy wore socks to match Anne's fabulous emerald shoes... Nigel, their adorable Pug, was just one of the guests of honor.

The ceremony was held on a private dock overlooking the Pacific... Upon their arrival, all of the ladies received orchid wrist corsages and all of the gents received cigars.

Following the ceremony, guests were invited to the patio for a special champagne toast given by the bride and groom... The patio was later turned into a dance floor with Music By Bonnie.

Round and square cocktail tables draped in white satin and rhinestone encrusted organza overlays were adorned with cabernet lamps and milk glass containers with white cattalaya, casa blanca lilies, phalenopsis, cymbidium orchids, dendrobium orchids and gardenias... Guests were encouraged to freely roam the event space including the patio, beach and dock... For dinner, Savoir Faire set up delicious food stations, serving small bites, so guests could easily enjoy dinner without needing a knife.

Cakes were purchased from Jeannine's Bakery in Montecito... Although Jeannine's does not offer traditional wedding cake, their famous signature cakes are the best in Santa Barbara... For a personal touch, the couple collected cute cake toppers and stands for each.

Crystal chandeliers hung by Bella Vista Designs, tiki torches, paper luminaries, glass lanterns and pillar candles provided lighting... A fire pit, mushroom heaters and cozy blankets kept everyone warm...  The happy couple made their grand exit amongst a trail of sparkler clad guests.

Congratulations Anne & Rudy!

tags Ceremony, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Event Catering, Santa Barbara Wedding Location, Santa Barbara Wedding Locations, Southern California Wedding, Wedding Location Venue, Soigne Productions, Private Estate Wedding

St. Mark's Church and Crossroads Estate: Andrew and Ivana Firestone

I am honored to have been a part of the amazing team that helped Andrew & Ivana create a fairytale wedding on July 5, 2008. The ceremony was held at the St. Mark's Episcopal Church with the reception following at the family's Crossroads Estate. Together with my close friend and former colleague, Jill Remy, we collaborated one last time to plan a flawless event. Thank you Andrew & Ivana for giving us the opportunity and thank you for being so amazing to work with.


The very talented Michelle & Josh of Mi Belle Wedding Photography and Russel Fowler of Stellar Films Wedding Cinematography captured every moment beautifully.

Enjoy!

The groom wore a suit by Tom James...  The bride looked gorgeous in a Reem Acra gown and she wore stunning Christian Louboutin heels...  Ivana's bouquet was classic, clean and elegant with gardenias, renuculas, tiny garden roses, tulips and lily of the valley...  Andrew wore a boutinniere to match.

The bridesmaids and junior bridesmaids wore dresses designed by Laundry By Shelli Segal... Their hair was styled by the hair and make-up artists of Santa Barbara’s Salon U... They carried lush bouqeuts of white hydrangeas and tulips.

Two white and green alter pieces were placed to the right and left of the steps and two white floral wreaths with Tiffany blue ribbon hung on each side of the entry doors...  Emily Larson designed invitations and stationary which incorporated the Tiffany blue, white and chocolate brown wedding colors perfectly.

Twiggy, the bride and groom’s English bulldog was of course a junior bridesmaid and Snoopy, their beagle was a junior groomsman... They look adorable! Especially Twiggy in her tutu... The escort cards were presented by the junior bridesmaids, who held custom trays filled with crushed glass wrapped in the Tiffany blue fabric, as guests entered the pole barn... Multiple lounge areas, provided by Bella Vista Designs, surrounded the dance floor.

 Mindy Rice Floral Design and Bella Vista Designs transformed the Pole Barn into an elegant ballroom filled with pin-spotted hydrangeas and complete with an entire perimeter of silk chiffon draping, custom tie backs, runner and floral chandeliers... The guest tables were decorated with alternating tall and short glass vases filled with an abundance of white hydrangeas spheres... Vanilla cream satin linen and fruitwood chivari chairs provided by Discount Party Rentals completed the look.

The wedding cake was made by Decadence - a 3 tier wedding cake with alternating layers of vanilla sponge with lemon Bavarian cream and chocolate butter with chocolate mousse (flavors selected by the groom’s youngest nephew at their cake tasting)... Mindy made a custom table skirt which held a pedestal of white hydrangeas... Possibly, my favorite decor element of the entire day!..  Pure Joy Catering provided the menu of light summer hors d’oeuvres- assorted cocktail tarts, bruschetta, seared ahi, and smoked salmon & caviar. For dinner-tossed green salad, halibut and New York bisteca Florentina... A late night snack of miniature hamburgers were served before guests departed.

The LA All Stars band rocked the "meadow" and kept everyone on the dance floor all night... They even wrote a special song for the happy couple, “Hold My Heart”... The dance floor was placed outside under the stars with a 100 year old oak tree, decorated with chandeliers, as the back drop... The same grape motif used on the invitations were reflected onto the dance floor... Andrew & Ivana made their exit in a light blue 1941 Studebaker from Classic Motoring Car Rentals while their guests once again serenaded them with "Livin on a Prayer" By Bon Jovi. The theme song of the night.

Congratulations Ivana & Andrew!

tags Ceremony, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Event Catering, Santa Barbara Wedding Location, Santa Barbara Wedding Locations, Southern California Wedding, Wedding Location Venue, Soigne Productions, Wine Country Wedding, Andrew Firestone Wedding, Mindy Rice Floral Design

Crossroads Estate: Karalyn + Lance

tags Ceremony, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Event Catering, Santa Barbara Wedding Location, Santa Barbara Wedding Locations, Southern California Wedding, Wedding Location Venue, Soigne Productions, Wine Country Wedding

Crossroads Estate: Tonya + Mike

It's the off-season and I will not begin my wedding season until mid April this year, so I thought it would be fun to share the details of my own wedding.  It took place at one of my all-time favorite venues, The Crossroads Estate at Firestone Vineyard in Los Olivos, on Saturday July 29, 2006.   

All of the photographs were taken by the awesomely fabulous, Brian & Brady Charette of BB Photography and of course, the flowers and decor were designed by the one and only Tricia Fountaine. 

Enjoy!

Guests arrived from Santa Barbara on shuttle busses provided by Santa Barbara Airbus...  They were greeted by parasols,  pre-ceremony beverages of pink lemonade and spa water, a polaroid guest book from Adesso Albums.com, and an engagement photo with an over-sized mat for guests to sign...  My bouquet included garden roses, tea roses and white calla lilies...  I wore a raw silk wedding gown designed by Waters and Waters purchased at Anna Maria Bridal Boutique in Santa Barbara.

The ceremony took place under the 100 year old oak, slightly off-center so the backdrop was a view of the vineyards...  My bridesmaids carried colorful bouquets of roses and plum calla lilies... Sierra, our flower girl wore a head wreath of tea roses and wax flowers and carried a basket filled with pink rose petals...  My husband Mike wore a boutonnière to match my bouquet.

Following the ceremony, guests were invited to enjoy cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, provided by Rincon Catering, under the two oaks...  Tricia assembled several comfy lounge and seating areas made up of sofas, papazon chairs, benches, rugs, pillows and ottomans...  Our wedding cake was a gift from The Solvang Bakery and included 3 tiers decorated with hand colored fondant to match our wedding colors...  Flavors included strawberry shortcake and chocolate mousse... My bridesmaids wore dresses designed by Vera Wang.

We alternated round and square tables for guest seating and named each table after a different comic book (Mike, my husband is a huge fan!)... Our head table was in the center of the pole barn and seated our entire wedding party and their dates... Tricia hung roses and candles over the center with fishing wire, so it appeared as if the lights and flowers were floating... The effect was magical... Apple green satin linen, chocolate brown satin napkins and flowers in various shades of pink, green and orange, to include roses, tulips, calla lilies, stock etc. decorated the room...We also splurged for chivari chairs with brown cushions from Classic Party Rentals...The round tables had low centerpieces with votives and pillar candles and the square tables had "faux" cherry blossom branches (created by Tricia- she had wired pink wax flowers to the branches since they were not in season)... The branches were also used on the buffet, candy bar, stage & escort card table.

Our favors included an old fashioned candy bar where guests could help themselves to some of their favorite treats (all candy in different shades of pink, red & chocolate)... We had bought clear bags designed with our monogram.

Additional lighting to include up-lighting on chocolate brown fabric panels, a gobo (light projector w/ our monogram) on the dance area along with a pink color wash & assorted sized Japanese paper lanterns in the oak closest to the pole barn...  All provided as a weddig gift from Trevor of Bella Vista Designs... Our caterer Rincon also lit the buffet, the bar and the cake table... We did not use the existing string lights in the pole barn, but we did use the chandeliers... Music was provided by Patrick Butler of Santa Barbara DJs...  Fire Pits and benches were in place so guests could roast S'mores after dinner... Our wedding cake was set-up in the meadow under Tricia's wooden arbor w/ fabric and candles provided by our florist and when it was time to cut the cake, the guests lit sparklers and Mike gave a toast. 

tags Ceremony, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Event Catering, Santa Barbara Wedding Location, Santa Barbara Wedding Locations, Southern California Wedding, Wedding Location Venue, Soigne Productions, Wine Country Wedding, Tricia Fountaine Design