I’m sure you all know Elizabeth Messina’s stunning and luscious work, but did you know her book, The Luminous Portrait, is available for pre-order right now? The book will be filled with Elizabeth’s stunning portrait work and wisdom on how to create the look yourself.

And on a personal note, knowing and working with Elizabeth, to see her passion and generosity, (and having her support way back at the beginning of my journey,  see her guest post right here), I’m so excited to see this next evolution in her career. I’m certain this will be the first of many books, congratulations Elizabeth!!!!

Today I’m super excited to introduce Patrick Moyer, an amazing wedding photographer, to Santa Barbara Chic. Patrick specializes in film photography and loves capturing the energy and emotions of a couple’s wedding day.

Patrick was born and raised in Santa Barbara and now shoots weddings locally and worldwide.

He loves capturing moments just as they unfold… like this sweet kiss.

Or this adorable couple…

And how sweet is this private moment? I love how water reflects of the couple and the trees in the water. Be sure to check out Patrick’s website and his blog to see more of his beautiful work!

*Sponsored post

Today I’m super excited to welcome Minted.com to the blog. Minted hosts a variety of designs from independent designers, from traditional to modern, they’ve got just the right look for your wedding invitations!

Who doesn’t like bunting flags? I love the sweet playfulness of this invite and the colors are adorable.

I adore the brown craft paper look of these invitations and the sweet lace detail at the bottom.

I love these invites; their traditional in font, but modern in its layout. Plus the soft aqua color is superb!

The slightly 60′s vibe of these invitations and the different colored letters are just so darn fun.

Minted also has bridal shower invitations (not to mention invites for all types of other events, business cards, stationery and so on). I love the pictogram format in the polka dots, its so clever. To see more of what minted.com has to offer, pop over right here.

*Sponsored post

Last night I attend Jose Villa‘s book party and picked up a copy and you should too! Copies of the book can be ordered either on Amazon or right here. Jose’s work is amazing and he is such a sweetheart to work with!  To see more of his work go here and here. Happy shopping!

I love vintage or antique anything, and that’s why I’m loving Found Vintage Rentals. They are a rental company for weddings and private events and they have so many cute vintage props, tables, chairs and accesories that you create that “Anthropologie” look for your wedding day with ease.

I love a good farmhouse table and they have a bunch to choose from. Not to mention suitcases, a great prop for photo booths, welcome tables or the seating card table.

Oh yes, and they have vintage containers and old glass which I’m totally obsessed with. Check out their inventory here. Happy designing!

This wedding was held at the gorgeous Rancho Dos Pueblos, my all time favorite location. Here is the beautiful bride and perhaps the most “wedding planner” moment I’ve ever had; I was the one driving the golf cart to the ceremony site!

For ceremony, I had a platform built and carpeted to add an elegant touch.

Overhead, Kim at Collage created a simple huppa with gorgeous hydrangea, calla lilies, and yellow roses.

My favorite photo of the couple, taken right after ceremony.

For the escort cards I hung them on an old burnt out tree at Rancho Dos Pueblos’ Casa Grande. Laura Hooper did the elegant calligraphy.

For invitations, Megan used her own handmade paper (yes, handmade!) and created a deckle (torn edge) on the bottom of each part of the invitation. The design was very simple, with a hand drawn Morton Bay Fig Tree flanking the bottom of the invitation. For the hotel insert, she used translucent handmade paper that was gorgeous.

My favorite part of the event design, was uplighting Rancho Dos Pueblos’ huge Morton Bay Fig Trees. Each one is at least 60′ in diameter.

Some of the guests tables with the trees lit behind. For linens, I had runners made of a soft yellow silk set atop dark wood Amalfi tables. It was the perfect blend of “Rustic Elegance.”

For the head table centerpieces of hydrangea, calla lilies, and cymbidium orchids, decorated the table. I also used mercury glass candle holders in two heights to add a touch of silver.

For the bride and groom’s chair, a bunch of roses tied with yellow silk added a romantic touch.

On each place setting, a hemstitch napkin held a letterpress menu that was mounted on a thin piece of wood. One cymbidium was tucked into the napkin as well.

Since the lawn is so large, I used hedging to baffle the lawn and hide the catering kitchen. In front of the hedging, I created a huge bar using Montecito furniture from Town & Country.

In front of the bar, I used Montecito couches mixed with Rococo furniture to create a large lounge area.

Christine Dahl made a simple square tiered cake accented with cymbidiums, was perfectly elegant and understated.

A special thanks to all the vendors who made it possible:

Location: Rancho Dos Pueblos

Photography: Halberg Photographers

Catering: SBB Catering

Rentals: Town & Country Event Rentals

Flowers: Collage Event Design

Lighting: Bella Vista Designs

Invitations & Menus: Megan van den Bergh for Kelly Oshiro Design

Cake: Christine Dahl

Calligraphy: Laura Hooper

Favors: Paulette’s Macaroons

Hair & Makeup: Blushing Bridal

DJ: Goodbeat Productions

Videography: Lola Video

Wedding Planner & Event Design: Kelly Oshiro Design

All photos by Halberg Photographers

A few weeks ago I had a chance to meet with Kirsten of Blue Magnolia. She’s a doll and the local florist to the stars (and we’re working together soon, so excited!). And she just opened the most adorable floral shop in Summerland.

I stopped by her grand opening event this past Saturday and its really too sweet for words. I mean, milk glass for sale? Yes, please.

Here is some of her recent stunning work, shot by Kirsten Ellis of Beaux Arts Photographie. I love the orchids and soft purple glass, so pretty.

To learn more about Kirsten check out her website here, or visit her shop at 2246 Lillie Ave in Summerland.

Photos: 1,2, 4: Infocus Studio 3. Beaux Arts Photographie

For appetizers, I thought a pesto bruschetta with fresh mozzarella and balsamic drizzle sounded so yummy for cocktail hour.

I love ahi tuna, and served on a won ton chip, would be the perfect refreshing bite.

This onion tartlet is a new spin on the traditional cheese table and is a new item for SBB Catering. Its topped with picked onions, I love the pinkish color.

For the salad course, I was inspired by the Parmesan baskets I saw Giada de Laurentiis make a while back. It adds a nice salty crunch to a summer salad. Who doesn’t like a bit of cheese with their greens?

For the entrees I thought a pepper rubbed tenderloin on polenta cake with a bundle of garden vegetables would be a crown pleaser.

For a fish option, this halibut with fresh salsa would be a tasty choice.

For your vegetarian guests, this vegetable wellington with roasted tomato coulis certainly goes above and beyond a boring pasta primavera!

Photos: Kirsten Ellis of Beaux Arts Photographie

Catering: SBB Catering

Rentals: Town & Country Event Rentals

Design: Kelly Oshiro Events

For the cake design I really wanted a bottom tier that was twice as tall as the top tier. I love the proportion of April Reed’s cake and that was definitely an inspiration to me.

The cake was created by Robyn Loves Cake and she is an expert at sugar flowers. Can you believe this sugar flower peony?

The pattern of cut fondant was taken from the bottom of Stow House. Its a very Victorian detail on the house and I loved that little bit of texture on the bottom of the cake.

This is the sketch I gave to Robyn. I debated using a dahlia versus a peony, and ended up going with the peony. But as you can see Robyn executed the sketch to a T!

Photos: Kirsten Ellis of Beaux Arts Photographie

Cake: Robyn Loves Cake

Design: Kelly Oshiro Events

I love vintage suitcases and I thought holding fans would be so cute.

I tied grosgrain ribbons in two colors to the base of the fans to add some color.

For the flower girls I found these copper candles holders that were the perfect scale for their baskets.

I tied each side with grosgrain ribbon and filled them with baby’s breath.

The flower girls were too cute!

For favors, Santa Barbara Preserves made rose jelly and put these in adorable mini canning jars.

We used the same dashed pattern on the napkin as a border for the label. Santa Barbara Preserves custom made rose jelly, but she can make any flavor (her habanero raspberry jam is so good!)

Photos: Kirsten Ellis of Beaux Arts Photographie

Favors: Santa Barbara Preserves

Design: Kelly Oshiro Events

There was this great rusted fence at Stow House and I thought it was the perfect place for the seating cards. Betsy Dunlap did the calligraphy and I clipped the little cards to the fence with mini clothespins.

Instead of making up faux guest names, I used some of my favorite authors as “guests” for at my Anthropologie wedding. I love George Eliot and Betsy’s calligraphy makes her name so pretty (and its an awesome keepsake for my office!).

For the invitation design I gave Megan of Nutmeg Press, three sources of inspiration: I wanted an aqua  fade with the couples names in white and to use the pattern and color of the napkin fabric for the design inspiration. And this what this what she created:

The blue fade is so pretty and subtle and the copper dashes tie in perfectly with the napkin pattern.

The menu cards were little booklets the size of a business card with all the courses on each page. It was bound with copper thread. I was so in love with the invitations and Betsy calligraphy they are definitely getting framed and hung somewhere in my office!

Photos: Kirsten Ellis of Beaux Arts Photography

Invitations: Nutmeg Press

Calligraphy: Betsy Dunlap

Design: Kelly Oshiro Events

Location: Stow House

The invitations were created by Christine of cevd. I loved the envelop liner and the pattern she created for the invite itself.

I’m so happy to introduce Hello Lucky as a sponsor of Santa Barbara Wedding Chic!

They are a wedding invitation company that offers a ton of styles and both digital and letterpress printing options.

I love the simple design of this suite and the rounded corners.

They also sell stationery and paper goods for occasions like birthdays. I love this “hog wild” birthday card. For information about all that Hello Lucky offers, visit their website here.

Barnaby is a recent photographer who relocated from New York to Santa Barbara. His background is in fashion and music photography. And his work as a wedding photographer has the same polish and elegance of a high fashion shoot.

I love the sweetness of this photo.

I love how the blurriness of this photo really captures the effect of the lighting.

This bride is so happy and the light is gorgeous. Barnaby is available for travel worldwide and also offers videography. You can visit his website here and his blog here.

I recently had the chance to meet with Kirsten Ellis of Beaux Arts Photographie and I just had to share her gorgeous work.

The trees, the light, the cranes, simply stunning!

I love how the light is coming through the slats and framing the beautiful couple (this is at the Dana Power’s house by the way).

I love this sweet picture of the girl up in a tree.

And the genuine smile captured on the bride and groom’s faces. To check out more of Kirsten’s work you can visit her site here.