Romantic Ranch Wedding by Tonya Szele Events

June 12, 2022 Megan Hageman

Such a romantic wedding at Dos Pueblos Ranch that our member, Tonya Szele Events, wanted us to share which was featured on Style Me Pretty:

Not only did this bride rock one of the most utterly romantic dresses we've ever come across, but that said dress? It was handmade by her mom. And while that little number alone is enough to add this Santa Barbara wedding to my favorites, it's the design by Tonya Szele Events, florals from Blue Magnolia and photography by Lacie Hansen that'll put it down in SMP history.

Read more about this remarkable wedding held at Dos Pueblos Ranch and the couple’s love story told by the bride herself below. Plus, enjoy images from the event complete with full white blooms from Blue Magnolia, brilliant lighting from Ambient Event Design, and rentals from Town and Country.

From The Bride...I was never the girl who grew up dreaming about planning her wedding. In fact, when we got engaged I told my husband that he was responsible for planning everything, and that I would be there in my dress. My only input early on was that I wanted to have a view of the water when we said our “I do’s.” Of course all of that changed.

I am from CA and my husband was living in CA for quite some time when we met. We later moved to Cincinnati where he grew up. About eight months after our engagement we decided that we would have a fall wedding in CA where a lot of friends and family lived. That gave us exactly four months to pick a place and plan a wedding! Anyone who knows us knows that this is so typical “us.”

My husband was out in CA looking at locations for the wedding. He had all the appointments scheduled to look at locations from Palos Verdes to Malibu. I was at home, in Cincinnati, searching away on my laptop for locations. I stumbled upon Dos Pueblos Ranch and fell head over heels in love with the beautiful view of the beach and the barn, oh the barn. I just knew that this was the place where we would get married. We were so lucky to be able to get an appointment that day. My husband drove up to Santa Barbara to meet with Tricia the property manager. He expressed that we wanted an early fall, September wedding. She told us we were in luck because a couple who had reserved the property for September 7th was backing out, and that typically the property is reserved a year in advance! I was sold, however I could sense some hesitation from my husband. He felt that he didn’t know what to do with the barn. So I told him no problem, I would take care of doing the barn. Then due to his crazy work schedule, I ended up planning the ceremony on the beach as well. So I went from just having to show up in my dress to planning an entire wedding in three months!

I had the time of my life planning this wedding - who knew! From the moment I saw the barn (in pictures) I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted lots of neutral colors -blush, off white, taupe - with antique silver accents, chandeliers and elaborate draping. I wanted the overall feel to sing comfortable elegance, because that is our style. The extravagant décor paired with the rustic barn gave that classy elegant feel, but it was also casual comfortable because it was in a barn! I was very hands-on in planning this wedding, and I had the best planner and team to help my carry out my vision from across the country. I finally got to visit the venue about a month and half before the wedding day - it was basically our final walk through! It was everything I dreamed of and more.

I knew that I wanted my mom to make my dress. She is a wonderful designer and she has always made my dresses for any major events in my life. I knew exactly what I wanted my dress to look like and together we made that dream into a reality. It was so special being able to wear something that my mother made with love on the biggest day of my life. I will forever cherish that experience that I shared with her.

The day of the wedding was a dream. It was the best feeling in the world hearing people “ooh and ahh” over the details of the wedding and the stunning location. Everything was carried out flawlessly and I was able to relax and truly enjoy myself, I was marrying the man of my dreams with our closest friends and family there to celebrate with us. Life couldn’t be any more perfect.

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