Pretty Pastel Wedding With a Rustic Charm in Santa Barbara


"My husband and I are very simple people who LOVE the outdoors and the mountains! After much searching, we noticed that we just could not decide on a venue because it was either too 'fancy' or just 'not us'. Finally, casually scrolling on Pinterest one day, I saw the cutest outdoor wedding post and clicked on the photo. It took me to the Lions Park website where I just fell in love with the simplicity and beauty of this place. It was exactly what my husband and I envisioned when we thought of the place we wanted to get married at. It was by the mountains, outdoors and rustic! Our colors, just like us, were simple and soft. I wanted soft pastels and nothing too bold." -Bride & Groom


Their proposal story:
It was during finals week my last semester in college. My soon-to-be husband at the time scheduled this amazing day for my birthday, December 6th. That day I was busy all day writing my final paper for school and when I finally finished he picked me up and told me he had planned a special dinner for us. We had a special little spot up on a mountain side in our hometown that we occasionally hiked to, so he said that we should take a walk up there since we had some time to kill before our dinner reservation. Having absolutely no clue, we took a stroll up to 'our spot'. He had his backpack with him and when we reached our spot, he pulled out a blanket and laptop. We laid down and he pulled up the sweetest and cutest video that had compiled all of our pictures. He was acting sort of strange and sitting all funny on the blanket, but I didn't think anything of it. The very last picture in the video was two elderly people holding hands and it said, "will you be mind forever". Just then he pulled out a tiny red box from his back pocket (which explained why he was sitting so weirdly) and asked if I would marry him. Without even saying yes, I cried tears of joy and kissed him all over...he took that as my yes!


What was the most important to the two of you while planning? Was there anything that you chose to splurge on or skip?
The most important thing to us was trying to stay true to us and what we wanted. We wanted a beautiful, simple, and fun wedding that we would always remember. It is so easy to get lost in the all the wedding-craze and forget about why you are doing all this...to marry the love of your life and have your family and friends their to witness it. Marriage and the wedding ceremony is a sacred thing and we wanted to make sure we never lost sight of that. 

We chose to splurge on the full bar because, well, we wanted a FUN wedding! We, as do our friends, truly enjoy good drinks and a good time!

We chose to skip on wedding favors because after talking with countless friends about their wedding days, they said if they could skip one thing it would be spending the time and money on wedding favors.


What were your favorite parts of the day?
Our favorite part of the day was by far when our lovely photographer Molly stole us away to take sunset pictures. It was one of the few moments when my husband and I were alone and just the two of us. It was a chance to soak the entire day thus far in and share some laughs and smiles.


Tell us about your wedding flowers.
Our wedding flowers were something that brought tears to my eyes. While I was getting ready with all my girls, our wonderful flowerist Kristen Nordella walked in and I got a glimpse of the bouquets and I started getting choked up. The smell of the flowers and the beautiful arrangement and colors just made that "I am getting married" feeling really flood over me. Our flowers were stunning and simple; more than I could have asked for or envisioned. 


I stumbled upon it one day just casually scrolling through Pinterest one day! I saw a beautiful wedding picture, clicked on the photo, and landed on our wedding venue site. We did a walk through and a few weeks later booked the space for our special day,


Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?
Never EVER lose sight of who you are or what you want. It can be very overwhelming, but never forget why you are getting married and who it is all really for... YOU TWO!


SoCal Bride Recommends:

Photography: Molly Lichten Photography | Venue: Lion's Park | Event Planning: Wishbones and Whiskey Events | Floral: Oak Barrel and Bloom | Wedding Cake: Nothing Bundt Cakes | Hair: All American Curls | Makeup: Roberta Sandor | DJ: Scott Topper Productions | Catering: Red’s BBQ | Linens: Ventura Rental Party Center | Wedding Dress: Stella York | Groom's Attire: Men’s Warehouse | Bride's Shoes: Badgley Mischka | Bridal Salon: Kay’s Bridal | Veil: Kay's Bridal | Submitted via: Matchology