Charm and Romance Filled This Garden-Inspired Wedding at Kestrel Park in Santa Ynez, California
Erin DiAngelis and Andrey Antonov chose Kestrel Park in Santa Ynez, California, for their wedding because the venue is "like an English garden fairytale setting, which perfectly matched the classy, timeless and romantic vibe I was going for," says Erin. "My bridesmaids were in different shades of pink and blush—I let them choose the style they wanted and the shade. The groomsmen wore black and everything had a soft and sweet outdoor garden feel. We also incorporated a few Ukrainian traditions since that’s where my husband is from." Ultimately, the couple wanted a wedding that felt classic, refined and filled with romance—a vision they successfully brought to life with the help of ample flower arrangements and a feminine blush-and-cream color palette.
"The decor was like something out of a magazine," says Erin "The venue was gorgeous enough on its own, but the decor took it to a whole other level. I’d say most of it was stuff that our wedding planner choose based on what we told her we liked—for example, we knew we wanted to have a long community dining table and a lounge area near the dance floor with modern-ish furniture." To complement the decor, plenty of florals were layered in. "The arrangements on the tables and for myself and the bridesmaids were very feminine and dreamy! The florals definitely enhanced the wedding," Erin shares.
Beyond planning a beautiful and charming wedding, it was important to Erin and Andrey that their wedding feeling personalized to them. To do this, they had an accordion player perform during dinner "in honor of Andrey’s grampa who used to play in Ukraine. We also had a plate breaking area for our guests during cocktail hour (which was so much fun!). It’s another Ukrainian tradition. Sidecar let us create personal drinks—one that was Smokey and strong for Andrey and a lighter, sweeter one for me. The slow-motion booth was one of our favorite touches! We had so much fun with that!"
While celebrating with friends was certainly a highlight, the couple says their very favorite moment of the Kestrel Park wedding was exchanging vows. "We were most excited about the dancing and celebrating with our friends and family leading up to our wedding day, but looking back, the best part was actually sharing our vows. It was such a heart wide open moment, standing there in front of the people we love and expressing our love. We wrote our vows separately and we ended up saying almost the exact same things! After the ceremony ended and we’d made that commitment to each other, it felt like we were in our own bubble of love, glowing and oblivious to everything around us," says Erin.
Looking back on their wedding, Erin and Andrey offer this advice to current to-be-weds: "Don’t get so caught up in the planning that you forget to make the day about your love and the future you’ll spend together. Also, I felt pressure to do things other people wanted and in the end, it’s not a big deal- whether you do it this way or that way. What’s most important was that we got to celebrate with the people we love and we’re married now. Hire a good photographer since that’s the part that you keep for the future! Don’t want to cut corners on that! Lastly, whoever you decide to hire, make sure that they 'get you' and they’re not trying to push their agenda on your day."