Santa Barbara has long been a refuge for celebrities to escape the Hollywood limelight and tie the knot in style. In 1940, Sir Laurence Olivier married Vivien Leigh at the San Ysidro Ranch and started a grand tradition for stars to make a quick escape out of tinsel town. Clark Gable followed in 1949, and JFK and Jackie O honeymooned at the San Ysidro Ranch in 1953. Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock have honeymooned at the Ranch, while recent celebrity weddings include Gwenyth Paltrow, Mira Sorvino, Jim Carrey, Debra Messing, Will Farrell, Heather Locklear, and Halle Berry.
Celebrity weddings get the press buzzing, but not only VIPs are honing in on Santa Barbara as a top wedding destination. Couples from across the country have started planning their festivities here. Santa Barbara Wedding Guide, www.santabarbarawedding. com, makes it easy to plan a wedding from virtually anywhere.
Liane Duffy and Julia Doyle founded the site five years ago. “At the time, Santa Barbara was already a popular wedding destination and we knew that an online resource was needed,” said Duffy, who was planning her own wedding and found there were no Web sites focused exclusively on Santa Barbara. “As a bride, I knew exactly what I needed in an online guide.” From recommended vendors to an extensive location database that offers photos and video clips, the array of wedding resources even includes an online forum, where brides-to-be can seek advice from others and chat about their wedding day experiences.
Our local wedding industry has become one of the most savvy in the business, catering to the needs of the most sophisticated bride. Creating extravagant and avant-garde details is a forte for local event designer Armando Martinez, founder of Alegria by Design.
“An event designer creates environment and ensures a cohesiveness of décor throughout the event. I work closely with my brides and/or wedding planner on the concept, the overall feel of the event,” says Martinez. “Brides come to me with a loose idea of what they want, and I flesh it out for them choosing the color palette, flowers, rentals and lighting.”
Martinez was recently featured on Food Network’s Behind the Bash, for a wedding he produced at the lush grounds of the Santa Barbara Zoo for a couple from New York. The look for the evening was inspired by peacock feathers, and incorporated these colors throughout the décor and floral arrangements. Some accents included hot pink taffeta tablecloths, turquoise runners, and banana leaf lined glass cubes filled with yellow, purple and hot pink orchids, chocolate cosmos and peacock feathers.
Whether you are looking for a storybook beach location, a bakery to create an outrageous cake, or the perfect dress, you won’t have to look far to get married in the company of stars with incredible resources only a click away.
