Are you looking for the best Santa Barbara elopement and wedding locations? If so, you’ve come to the right place! I love traveling to the Central Coast for my couples, and I’ve recently fallen in love with the city of Santa Barbara. So if you’re thinking about tying the knot here, here are some of my favorite venues!
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden // Best Santa Barbara Elopement & Wedding Locations
Of course, you can never go wrong with getting married at a botanical garden. So you know I had to add this spot to my list of best Santa Barbara elopement & wedding locations! This is actually the very first botanic garden in California to only focus on native plants, how cool is that? The entire garden is 78 acres, and you’ll get views of the Santa Ynez mountains and Santa Barbara Channel Islands. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a dream to me.
If you want to get in touch with them about your wedding or elopement, you can email events@sbbg.org.
Santa Barbara City Hall // Best Santa Barbara Elopement & Wedding Locations
If you want a Santa Barbara elopement and wedding location that’s simple yet beautiful, City Hall would the be the perfect spot. You can have an in-person civil ceremony performed by a County Clerk if you want it to be short & sweet. Or you can have a private ceremony with up to 15 guests, but you have to provide your own officiant! You can get married at any of the 8 locations at City Hall, but you can’t make reservations for any of them. If you want to have a larger ceremony, there 4 different outdoor lawns that can be reserved in advance.
Lizard’s Mouth Trail // Best Santa Barbara Elopement & Wedding Locations
Now if you know me, you know how much I love outdoor views. That’s one of the reasons I love places like Big Sur and Yosemite so much – because you can get crazy awesome landscape views from certain vantage points. When I was searching for the best Santa Barbara elopement locations, I knew I wanted to include a less traditional one that could still give you beautiful scenery. And that’s how I found Lizard’s Mouth Trail! It leads to a mountaintop rock formation, and you get the best views of Santa Barbara and the Pacific Ocean. It’s technically located in the Los Padres National Forest, and there’s no required fees or permits if your group is under 75 people. And if you’re feeling really wild and crazy, you can go boulder climbing nearby!
Santa Barbara Zoo // Best Santa Barbara Elopement & Wedding Locations
I know what you’re thinking… “Sadie, why would I have my elopement at the zoo with tons of people??” but just hear me out! They have an official ceremony site that can accommodate up to 200 people with parking, or you have the option to rent out the entire zoo. They do have a designated planner you have to go through, Events by Rincon, but they’ll tell you everything you need to know about planning a private event here. You’ll always have a security guard onsite to assist with anything you need, and there are two event hosts present to help with all of your vendor deliveries. Plus, if you’re having a wedding with kids involved, they’ll have an absolute blast!
Sunstone Winery // Best Santa Barbara Elopement & Wedding Locations
Do you want a French Countryside themed elopement but don’t want to actually travel to France? I have the perfect Santa Barbara elopement location for you. Sunstone Winery sits on a 22 acre estate, and has insane views of the Santa Ynez Mountains. It’s built from limestone literally imported from a small village in France, so the French feeling is 100% authentic. The suites available on the property and kinda out of this world… you have to check them out for yourself. Their villa can sleep up to 10 guests, so it would be perfect if you wanted onsite accommodations for your intimate elopement! The 805 is known for their top tier wines, so that paired with their private chef that you can hire for your day = dream Santa Barbara elopement.
Santa Barbara Historical Museum // Best Santa Barbara Elopement & Wedding Locations
Have you ever thought about getting married at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum? If you want a beautifully designed evening wedding venue, this would be perfect! Located in the heart of Santa Barbara’s historical district, you’ll be totally transported when you get married here. You can have both your ceremony and reception in the courtyards between the hours of 4 – 10 p.m., so perfect for a sunset elopement or wedding. There are technically two private, interconnecting courtyards (with foundation!) that are all yours when you choose to say “I do” here. Keep in mind that for rentals, lighting, catering, and bar, you have to choose vendors off of their pre-approved list. Other than that, you have free reign!
Dos Pueblos Orchid Farm // Best Santa Barbara Elopement & Wedding Locations
There’s not a ton of information for this venue on their website, but don’t let that deter you from checking out this Santa Barbara wedding venue. Dos Pueblos Orchid Farm is actually one of the biggest orchid farms… in the world. It was transformed in 1943 by Samuel Mosher, who purchased the 45,000 acres of Rancho Dos Pueblos. There’s a gorgeous greenhouse at this venue, along with stunning coastline views of the Pacific Ocean. Whether you’re having a small elopement or bigger wedding, I definitely recommend checking out this venue!
The Ritz Carlton Bacara // Best Santa Barbara Elopement & Wedding Locations
If you’re looking for a very luxurious Santa Barbara wedding venue, you might wanna check out the Ritz Carlton Bacara. Being the epitome of California-style luxury, this hotel venue over 70,000 sq. feet of event space, and 42,000 sq. foot spa and wellness center. There are two natural beaches that you’ll have access to at The Ritz Carlton so you can easily take a swim during your stay here. They have a total if 2 outdoor venues and 2 indoor ones, being able to accommodate up to 1250 guests (just in case you’re planning the wedding of the century).
Best Santa Barbara Elopement and Wedding Locations
Well, that’s my official list of the best Santa Barbara elopement and wedding locations. If you want to see a Santa Barbara elopement in action, you can check out Abby & Merrit’s blog post! And when you’re ready to book me as your photographer, you can fill out my contact form and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.