The blue skies, palm trees, a beautiful couple and a historic courthouse?! That’s definitely a winning combination!
I’ve alway loved the Santa Barbara courthouse as it’s seems so different and unique than many others you see around the country. It first opened in 1929 and is more of a Spanish style building with a block tower and beautiful arches. And it has lovely grounds and garden areas which is where they had their ceremony!
Here are a few words from their photographer Trista who is one of our What if We Elopement Members! You can find more of her work and info on her Vendor Page HERE.
“It all started with a message on facebook. I had been part of this super cool facebook group called Girls Love Travel for a month when I got a message out of no where. One of the ladies in the group was wondering if I would photograph her wedding in Santa Barbara at The Courthouse, since I love Santa Barbara and The Courthouse is one of my favorite places to shoot I jumped at the chance. When I arrived at The Courthouse and saw his blue suit and saw her tardis tattoo and sunflower bouquet in hand I knew I was with like minded people.”
Scroll down for photos and some words from the couple about the big day!
Photography: Trista Maja Photography
Location: Santa Barbara Courthouse
Dress: Lulu’s
Hair Stylist: Legends Hair
How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal and your love story!
I’m not the best at telling stories or writing so please bear with me,
Horacio and I, we had been dating for over 9 years when he proposed and although we had been living together and I knew we’d eventually get married, I did not see the proposal coming and it was a beautiful surprise. We were on a trip to Thailand back in March and at the beginning of the trip on the place ride Horacio had the idea that we should collect a couple small rocks from the places we visit, flash forward to a couple days later and we’re at the Chiang Mai night market and we pass a vendor with beautifully carved wooden boxes, he asks me to help him pick one out and he ends up choosing a circular wooden box with two carved elephants on top… flash forward through an unforgettable trip through all of Thailand to our last full day there and I decide I want to travel to Wat Bang Phra, to get a Sak Yant, tattooed by a monk, but we have to carefully plan out our last day because Horacio really wanted to visit the ancient city of Ayutthaya.
Flash forward and we’re driving to Ayutthaya and it’s pouring rain, but as soon as we park and start exploring the temple/ city ruins the clouds part and the sun comes out and Horacio reminds me that we had forgotten to collect small rocks at the places we went so we’re walking through the beautiful ruins and taking polaroid pictures (we had been taking polaroid pictures the entire trip) when Horacio announces that we’re down to our last polaroid. We get to a nice looking temple ruin and Horacio asks me, “is this the temple?” to which I responded “yes” because I thought he meant the temple I want to take our last picture at. We split up and are walking around the temple “looking for rocks” when he calls out “come over here! I found the perfect rock.” So I go over to find him and he pulls out the wooden box with the carved elephants that we had bought earlier in the trip, and inside are a few small rocks we had collected and an engagement ring, he kneels down and asks me “will you be my wife?” to which I respond, “that’s not funny” because I thought he was playing a joke on me, but I realized he wasn’t joking and I said “yes!” immediately after.
How did you decide to do an elopement/tiny wedding vs a larger event?
We got married the way we did because after we told our friends and family about our engagement people kept asking about our wedding plans and we both confessed to each other that we did not want to have a big wedding, we both thought we would rather spend that money travelling or saving up for something more important. Once that was established, we decided that there was no reason to be engaged for a long time if we weren’t planning an elaborate wedding and we both knew we wanted to marry each other so we decided why wait? We wanted to elope, but upon further thought we knew our family would want to be a part of it, so we got to planning our small courthouse wedding.
How did you decide on the location?
When I told my coworker I was planning a small courthouse wedding, she suggested going to the Santa Barbara courthouse instead of just downtown. I used to work at the Santa Barbara courthouse and was immediately sold on the idea of getting married there. It is such a romantic and beautiful courthouse.
Tell us about your wedding day looks and how you chose your vendors!
We didn’t really use any traditional vendors for our wedding. My husband suit was made by a tailor we met while travelling in Thailand, I ordered my dress from lulus.com, my sister made my bouquet, and my hair and makeup were done by Elissa at Legends Hair in Santa Barbara.
