A Garden-Inspired Wedding With a Rustic Twist at San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, California

The natural foliage of the gardens at San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, California, served as inspiration for this elegant, natural-colored wedding with a rustic twist. “I went to the ranch with my parents when they visited me in Los Angeles, and it was the most beautiful and magical place I’d ever been,” Christine Luksis (31 and an interior designer) says of her marriage to Jordan Winter (29 and a contractor). "There are beautiful gardens and a creek running through the property, and the driveway is lined with lavender and olive trees. It's just so beautiful and peaceful." Guests were welcomed to the occasion through simple black-and-white invitations that resembled the rest of the wedding-day stationery. The wedding party embodied the same color combination, with bridesmaids wearing black knee-length skirts with a matching top of their choice, while groomsmen matched the groom, who wore a classic black tuxedos and tie. As for Christine, she picked a classic ivory wedding dress with a sweetheart neckline that draped elegantly down in a floor-length skirt, blending in with the wedding's natural colors. The couple incorporated gold from their parents' wedding rings into their own, which were exchanged during the ceremony at the wedding arch covered in greenery. The outdoor reception followed, where long dining tables dressed in ivory tablecloths were decorated with natural flower arrangements, arranged with the help of Wink Weddings event planners. There was something about the three-tier buttercream wedding cake accented with leaves around the base of each layer that caught our attention—possibly the way it embodied the wedding day's simple, naturalistic elements. All the details were captured on camera by Amanda K Photography. "We both love the outdoors, so the fact that our whole day was outside was a great reflection of that," Christine says.