Blush & Burgundy Wedding in Santa Barbara

This garden fete on our wedding blog today is full of love, color, and fun! Gregory and Michelle were married at the beautiful Riviera Mansion in Santa Barbara, with a first look at the Spanish style courthouse that matched their vintage getaway car perfectly. We love their blush and burgundy wedding for many reasons; from the sunny setting to the romantic portraits of the pair and their bridal party’s killer style. Below, Michelle, who has a heart of gold and works for a non-profit business, Purpose Jewelry, shares a bit more about what brought them to this day…

Their love story as told by the bride…

We actually met on a dating app! Greg was living in Valencia, CA at the time, where my family lives, and we matched one weekend while I was visiting. Greg soon found out that I actually live in Orange County, so we chatted for awhile before agreeing to meet up halfway in Palos Verdes for a hike. The hike was so much fun, and before we knew it, hours went by… which meant that a second date needed to happen. So, Greg drove down to Long Beach a few days later and took me to dinner. We closed the restaurant down, and walked around the neighborhood for hours just talking and getting to know each other better (plus, I had forgotten where I parked, so we needed to find my car!). After that second date, we both knew this was a relationship we saw as worth doing long-distance for!

So for us, long-distance meant that we saw each other once during the week and on weekends, and talked for hours on the phone! This went on for about 10 months before Greg was able to move down to Orange County and get a job at the Boys & Girls Club in Laguna Beach. We couldn’t have been happier to be done with the long-distance, and to actually get to live so close to each other! God is totally the one who allowed it all to happen, and we are so thankful to him for allowing it to happen in his perfect timing!

Greg had gotten me a day-trip to Catalina as a Christmas gift (we both had never been there before) and we had decided we wanted to wait until the weather was nicer to go. So, we planned to go on May 1st, little did I know that Greg was planning this to be the proposal! Greg had arranged for his best friend and best man, Brian, to get out to Catalina before us so he could take photos of the proposal. I had no idea! The funny part was that Brian had only a short period of time before he had to get back on the boat to go home, and our boat to Catalina was late getting in. So, Greg was trying to rush me to the spot he was going to propose, but had to try and do it in a way that I wouldn’t sense something was up.

I was so confused as to why he was in a rush, because he is so easy-going all of the time. We made it to the spot, overlooking the water on a gorgeous day, and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! It was truly the most magical and joyful moment of my life! We had the most incredible day in Catalina, just us two, celebrating and enjoying quality time together.