Intimate Destination Wedding at Villa & Vine in Santa Barbara

Erin Lepperd

Updated Sat, November 24, 2018 at 2:00 PM UTC

What originally began as a destination wedding in Las Vegas, quickly turned into a beautifully intimate Santa Barbara affair when this Australian couple caught site of Villa & Vine. Infused with Spanish and European Influences and a seaside locale, it proved the perfect backdrop for a personalized celebration planned by With Love by Tara Marie, florals by Alexis Ireland Florals and stunning imagery captured by Gaby J Photography.

We really wanted a 'simple' wedding to be reflect our personalities. Coming from a coastal town in Australia we really didn't want anything to be stressful or 'not us'. We decided on a small destination wedding initially in Las Vegas, it was at that time that we sought the services of Tara from With Love planning. Tara was amazing and quickly helped us realised more specifically what we were looking for.

Eventually we found Villa & Vine for our reception in Santa Barbara which was perfect, its the most beautiful backdrop with Spanish and European influences. Once we saw the mural room at the court house we knew that was the place we were going to tie the knot, not only for its beauty but it has so much history. We planned everything via email with Tara and the occasional Skype with some of our vendors. Of course we felt a little nervous having not seen anything in person but the day couldn't have been more perfect.

Thanks to Tara, the whole day was so relaxing. We stayed at a beautiful holiday house in Summerland with part of our family and bridal party. On the day some of us got up early and grabbed a coffee in town, it was so surreal to be doing something that was apart of our normal routine. The rest of our family and bridal party joined us when we got back to the house for breakfast.

We decided to DIY our hair and makeup which was so much fun and saved us in the budget department. My gown was from Australian designer 'One Day Bridal' and it was just so simple but classic I really felt like myself (and also a princess at the same time).

Having such an intimate wedding we had all of our guests in the photos immediately after the ceremony. Eventually as our guests made their way to cocktail hour, the bridal party stayed behind to take some more personal photos on the rooftop over looking the entire Santa Barbara county!

We were lucky enough to have Amber from 'Enjoy cupcakes' make us 2 vanilla and caramel naked drip cakes. I'm a big baker myself and was nervous about the cake, however it was just like homemade with the perfect flavour and texture.

Although it was lovely to have everyone involved in the day, after dinner Mark and I, snuck out to get sunset photos on the coastline with Gaby J who had scouted out the areas for us prior to the day. We were so fortunate to have photos taken in so many places.

If there was one thing I wish I could shout from the hilltops to other brides, it would be to seriously invest in your wedding photographer! Not only do they capture all the fine details, its so easy to relive your day with your beautiful photos. PS. Don't forget to keep up with your water on the day.

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Intimate Destination Wedding at Villa & Vine in Santa Barbara

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