Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara

A very special thank you to The Unitarian of Santa Barbara, and especially to Joanie! Two days before our wedding, my husband and I had to make a last-minute venue change, and we are so happy and pleased to say that The Sanctuary ended up being our ceremony location! Joanie was outstanding. Her immediate response and accommodation along with her graciousness and sincere gratitude made for the perfect day. USSB was breathtakingly spectacular and lovely—a dream come true! Once again, we are so grateful to Joanie and USSB for making our day the happiest of our life!

My husband and I had a “mini/micro-wedding” at USSB December 30th, 2023. After being together for almost 7 years and 2 years engaged, we decided to move forward and elope! We spontaneously made the decision about 3 weeks before the date we chose to do it on. After so much searching and favor from the Lord, we fell upon USSB and fell in love with the sanctuary space. It was absolutely beautiful and perfect for what we were looking for. We had a small, intimate ceremony with our immediate family and a couple friends followed by a dinner at a local restaurant. THE SPACE: The indoor chapel is stunning. We are so thankful to have our ceremony and forever photos in a beautiful space like this one.The arch detailing of the architecture and the large stained glass window made our ceremony photos look like a dream. It was just the perfect space for an intimate ceremony. Our family sat in the first two rows of seats. We decided not to mic up or use the sound equipment the church provides, but our guests could hear everything and it was nice to have everyone close to us. The sanctuary also has a beautiful grand piano so we hired a close friend who is a professional pianist to play before & during the ceremony. That was a beautiful touch. We were also provided a space for myself (the bride) to get ready in. With it all being short notice, we did not arrange for a rehearsal or a tour of the property before the day-off. I was not able to get an early hotel check in to get ready in SB before the wedding, so it was really useful to have somewhere to change and touch up hair & makeup before walking down the isle. The exterior of the church was absolutely beautiful for photos after the ceremony. THE PROCESS: Incredible! We worked with Joanie who is just wonderful. She worked very hard to flip the space for us since it was so close to the holidays, AND she did it on short notice! Joanie made our dream come true. She was kind, excited with us, and so generous with her time. Joanie always got back to me very quickly even though we were communicating in between the holidays. POST-WEDDING REGRETS: The only thing I wish I could have had the opportunity to do would be to have a large wedding at the USSB! The property is just stunning and truly makes the perfect wedding venue inside and out. I’ve said it a million times already, but the sanctuary was the perfect space for an intimate, romantic ceremony. I cannot have pictured having our “mini/micro-wedding” anywhere else. I don’t have all of my photos yet, but I will attach the ones I do have! So-Cal Photographer Instagram: @leenanesh

Loved our wedding at the Unitarian Society. We had about 100 guests and it was the perfect venue. The sanctuary is gorgeous and the courtyard worked great for the reception. Would highly recommend.

Let me start off by saying having everything in one place makes the day so less stressful and the Unitarian Society allows you to do just that! Throughout the whole planning process they were responsive and supportive. The day before their on site person was amazing! Working with my coordinator to know everything for the day before, their on site person also helped tear down the room while the wedding party left to continue the party. Not only was this a beautiful location but an accommodating one. Last minute due to the wind we needed to move inside and honestly I think it was even more beautiful! I’m so excited for all the future people who get married here because it’s really a special place with a ton of history(my photographers grandparents even got married here)!