As soon as we got engaged last year, everyone wanted to know who photographs a wedding photographer's wedding?? Well, I was crazy enough to do the Engagement photos myself (remember these selfies? but not quite so crazy to photograph the wedding. Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief! But, I definitely wanted to capture a few behind the scenes moments and things that I'd like to remember myself, as I saw them anyway.

When Dan and I started down the planning road, it quickly dawned on us that we wanted to elope...well, sort of. It wasn't so much of an elopement as it was a 'deconstructed wedding' (patent pending! ha!). We couldn't really help ourselves and we told everyone what, where, when, and how. Oops! We wanted to save the ceremony for ourselves, but still celebrate with all the important people in our lives...so, we threw a weekend long party for our would be wedding party the week after we got hitched and have a celebration with our families in the works. Aka, we planned a whole wedding but split it up into parts. For us, it was exactly what we wanted and it let us spend extra time with all the people in our lives instead of all in one day. It has been perfect so far :)

Without further ado, our trip begins with a sad office cat who had to go live with her grandparents for 3 weeks. She tried hiding in the hamper, but was soon discovered.

Our first stop in Santa Barbara was to Anacapa Vitners (AVA) to visit with our favorite wine maker, Seth Kunin. If you ever make it to Santa Barbara, definitely check out Kunin Wines and Anacapa Vitners!

We rented a beautiful bungalow for our stay in Santa Barbara! The photographs don't do it justice.

The wedding day! I loved my flowers that Tracey of Ella & Louie put together - lilacs are my favorite and tulips are Dan's, so we married the two (with a splash of white anemonies). She also did the flowers for Celia & Duncan's wedding last year! It's a small wold we live in.

Skyping with my mom and brother (and Bruno of course) before the day really got rolling with hair and make-up.

At this point, I put the camera down and left it to the talented Jordana of Hazelnut Photography. She did such terrific work! This is what happened after I put the camera down: http://hazelnutphotography.com/blog/merima-dan-the-santa-barbara-courthouse-elopement. Thank you thank you!

After we got back, we called our parents and let them know that it was official!

The day after. Laziness, a lot of hair pins and band aids from those oh-so-comfortable shoes. But, they were beautiful and I didn't care!

Gigi, the bungalow dog. Have you ever seen a chihuahua play fetch? I didn't believe it until I saw it. 

The beautiful Santa Barbara courthouse that will always hold a special place in my heart.

I am now a married woman! Holy moley! If I could share one thing I learned through the experience...don't sweat the small stuff. Things will go wrong (it rained on our wedding day!) and things will go right, but at the end of the day the only thing that's truly important is that you're marrying your love and partner in life. It's all alright :)