A rustic but elegant wedding decor style, matched with sweet family focused wedding traditions, and a handsome man in a kilt, and you’ve got a wedding I can’t help but love! Beautiful bride Lauren shares her Santa Barbara wedding planning experience with us here, along with her fantastic wedding photos captured by Jessica Lewis Photography. Enjoy!

The Couple: Lauren and Daniel

The Wedding: 2.11.12 – El Capitan Canyon – Santa Barbara, CA

What three adjectives best describe your wedding? Intimate, Enchanting, and Fun

What was your wedding color palette? Sage, Ivory, and Deep Purple

What inspired your personal wedding style, and how did you incorporate your style and personalities into your big day? Dan and I love the natural beauty of California, from the ocean since Dan is an avid surfer, to the mountains where we regularly enjoy hiking.

Our wedding style was about finding the balance between a natural rustic outdoor look and the elegance one can anticipate at a wedding. We also wanted to maintain an intimate atmosphere while inviting my large family to celebrate our day. Our venue provided a stunning Santa Barbara backdrop for our guests to experience first hand what Dan and I love to share as a couple. Since the wedding was in winter, we chose to have the reception in a tent for the comfort of heat. Joni of Santa Barbara Style transformed the tent to feel as if the outdoors came inside. We had picked the theme of National Parks for our table identifications and chose plantable eco-friendly wedding invites and seating cards to set the mood. Everything about our wedding, from the vows to the pie desserts, was intentionally selected to represent who we each are as individuals, but also who we are as a couple.

Were there any family traditions or items incorporated that were particularly meaningful for you? I wore a crystal headband that I borrowed from my sister (which she wore for her wedding in 2009), and a second bracelet which was a gift from our mother that reads A daughter is a little girl who grows up to be a friend.

My sister was my Maid of Honor and only bridesmaid, which fit our intimate theme. She wore a Paloma Picasso® Love pendant from Tiffany & Co that I gave to her and my mom for their help with the wedding, to always remember how much we love one another.

Dans tartan (kilt) was woven in Scotland with the traditional McTaggart pattern. This is significant because it is the family name of my grandmother on my mothers side. Dan also wore a memoribila pin of his 12 year compainon, Taz, a German Shepard/Queensland Healer mix dog who passed away in 2010. The pin was a gift to him by my sister for the wedding.

Looking back, what are the moments, decisions or memories that you love the most about your wedding? It’s hard to capture just a couple, because we truly loved everything about our wedding. Two big moments could be our first look and the ceremony. I was extremely anxious prior to the wedding and running behind for our first look. But, it was when I peeked out of a doorway and saw Dan smiling at me with tears in his eyes that I felt that the whole world stopped and knew I was with my love; it was an incredible moment for us both. Also, our ceremony was on a hilltop overlooking the ocean with the Santa Ynez mountain range in the foreground. Dan had lobbied from the beginning to have our guests circled around us during the ceremony, so we had set up a circle of chairs separated by four isles. After the bagpiper led us into the center of the circle and I stood there holding Dans hands in such a breathtaking place, it was then that we had this intimate moment when we heard and felt all our family and friends surrounding us in love and support.

What piece of advice would you give to a bride planning her wedding today? Do not be afraid of your fiancé’s ideas. I believe the wedding you will treasure and the one your family and friends will love, is a wedding that was created by and reflects the two of you. Granted my fiance didnt want to get involved in all the details. But, when I worked with him on his vision for our wedding, the contribution of his ideas ended up making the day exactly how it was supposed to be: about our marriage and the start of our lives together.

The Wedding Team
Photographer: Jessica Lewis Photography
Event Planner: Kelly Leonard, Event of the Season
Event Designer: Joni Papay, Santa Barbara Style
Ceremony & Reception Venue: El Capitan Canyon
Invitation Designer: Forever Fiances
Catering: El Capitan Canyon
Florist: Joni Papay, Santa Barbara Style
Wedding Cake: We had 3 inch mini pies instead! – Simply Pies
Wedding Dress: Casa Blanca Bridal Dress – Camarillo Bridal
Bridal Accessories: Jewelry – Nadri ‘Nouveau Vine’, Victorian white leather laced boots – BHLDN
Bridesmaids’ Apparel & Accessories: Priscilla of Boston
Groom & Groomsmen Apparel & Accessories: The Tartan Patch in Irvine
Hair & Makeup: Hair – Piper White Baker of Salon Piper, Makeup – Makeup By Naz
DJ: Gavin Roy Presents
Live Music: Mattson2
Rentals: Classic Party Rentals, Table Linens – La Tavola
Rings: Fox Fine Jewelry, Ventura
Other: Bagpipes – Bill Boetticher

Thank you Lauren and Daniel!