Whimsical, Outdoor Wedding with Vintage Decor
Written by the Bride:
From the very beginning of the wedding planning process Cooper and I knew that we wanted an outdoor wedding in Santa Barbara. As my hometown Santa Barbara is my favorite place in the world and I couldn’t have imagined getting married anywhere else. There were a few venues that we liked but Elings Park was magical. It was perfect. From there the planning seemed fairly easy. I wanted the theme to be rustic and whimsical without being too over the top in either category. With my mom, Karen leading the charge we found the most incredible support crew that connected with my vision and made it a reality. From our AMAZING caterer Tammy Kronen, to the insanely talented florist Majid Sadr, to the masterminds at the Tent Merchant Rentals, to our NEXT LEVEL photographer Willa Kveta we were able to put together a perfect day.
Wedding Venue: Elings Park | Wedding Photographer: Willa Kveta Photography | Wedding Caterer: Kronen's Kitchen | Wedding Rentals: The Tent Merchants | Wedding Florist: Majid Sadr | Wedding Reception DJ: Music by Bonnie and Company | Photobooth: ThoughtBox | Bridal Hair: Vamp at Home
The Bride and Groom's Story written by the Bride:
Cooper and I met in May 2006 . He was a freshmen on the Men’s Volleyball team at UCLA and I was a junior on the Women’s Water Polo team. Both of our teams had won the NCAA Championship Tournament the previous week and had gotten together to celebrate being National Champions. College students love themed parties, especially it seems when they have nothing to do with the occasion of the actual party, so I slipped into a pair of my recently purchased thrift store overalls, pulled on some cowboy boots, threw on a ten gallon hat and was ready to go. Athletes at UCLA are a tight knit group and run in pretty small circles; the everyone knows everyone kind of thing. But that’s where I was wrong. Somehow Cooper had flown under the radar. So, when I saw him for the first time across the room in a too tight jean jacket with a massive Sheriff star attached to the collar I couldn’t figure out who he was. Ignoring all of the rules of being a calm, cool, and experienced junior I marched over to him and asked why he was there and who had invited him. He didn’t seem fazed by my ridiculously sized hat or extremely rude question and merely said “nice overalls” as he turned and walked away. I was a goner.
We began dating the following fall and have been together ever since. Our time and experience at UCLA has had a huge impact on both of our lives and our relationship. More than half of our wedding party are UCLA alumni and National Champions, my head coach (now the USA Women’s National Team coach), Adam Krikorian married us, and we finished off the wedding with the UCLA tradition of the 8 clap.