Santa Barbara Wedding Venues
I’ve lived in Santa Barbara for over 20 years and can say Santa Barbara is a pretty incredible place to get married. There's no shortage of beautiful places to say "I do." Hotels, gardens, museums, clubs, private estates and even an old carousel. Santa Barbara is a destination vibe, wrapped in mountains on the north side and an ocean hugging the curves along the south. Just over the hill on the 154 and 101 is the beautiful vineyards and estates of Santa Ynez. Centered at the heart of the Spanish architecture is the iconic Santa Barbara Courthouse. People come from all over to get married in this beautiful space and take advantage of the greenery in the sunken gardens.
I put together this guide to help you explore some of my favorite wedding venues in Santa Barbara, Montecito, and the Santa Ynez Valley. You'll find real wedding photos and a little insider knowledge from someone who's spent a lot of time behind the camera at these places.
Whether you're dreaming of a big celebration with everyone you love or something a little more intimate, I hope this helps you find a place that feels like you.
Have fun exploring!
I've been photographing weddings in Santa Barbara for over 18 years, and I've had the chance to experience so many of these venues firsthand. I've seen how the light changes throughout the day, discovered some amazing little corners for photos, and learned what makes each location special. And trust me, every venue has its own personality. Feel free to hit me up with any specific questions on particular venues you’re considering.
Santa Barbara Wedding Venues
Rosewood Miramar Beach Resort
Dos Pueblos Orchid Farm
Hilton Beachfront Resort Santa Barbara
Montecito Club
Directly across from the beach, Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort captures that classic Santa Barbara coastal feeling with its palm trees, Spanish-inspired architecture, and ocean views. The open-air Plaza del Sol historically was a train turntable before it was converted for ceremonies and event celebrations. From a photographer’s perspective, I love the opportunity to step across Cabrillo Boulevard and be photographing sunset photos on the beach and then step right back into the party after.
Montecito Club has one of those views that makes you stop for a second, with Santa Barbara's coastline and harbor stretching out below. The expansive lawn creates a beautiful setting for outdoor ceremonies, while the historic ballroom and chandelier-filled interiors bring a completely different feel to the reception. I love the contrast between those open coastal views and the more intimate indoor spaces.
The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara
Hotel Californian Santa Barbara
The Ritz-Carlton Bacara feels like its own little coastal village, with Mediterranean-inspired architecture, winding pathways, and dramatic oceanfront lawns. The Bluff and Ocean Lawn offer incredible views of the Pacific, while the courtyards and terraces create more intimate settings. It's a large venue for photography allowing a lot of variation because you can move between grand coastal landscapes and smaller architectural details without leaving the property.
Hotel Californian has an elevated stylish personality all its own, blending Santa Barbara's Spanish Colonial architecture with bold Moroccan-inspired interiors. Its patterned tile, dramatic courtyards, and rooftop views give wedding photographers like myself a fun mix of texture, color, and light to play and create with. The beach and Funk Zone are blocks away given us plenty of places to explore during golden hour beyond the hotel itself.
San Ysidro Ranch Montecito
Santa Barbara Club
Riviera Mansion (University Club of Santa Barbara)
Santa Barbara Zoo
Rockwood Santa Barbara Woman’s Club
Santa Barbara Historial Museum
Simpson House Inn feels like stepping into a quieter, more romantic side of Santa Barbara. The historic Victorian property is surrounded by lush gardens, winding pathways, and intimate outdoor spaces. Each side of the building can be setup to flow into a different part of your wedding day. The covered shade earlier in the day on the rear of the Simpson House Inn makes it ideal for a ceremony location. Just across the street is the sensory park for the blind, Alice Keck Park. The park is designed to attract diverse wild life and offer a sensory experience. Because of this the well designed landscaping make it a wonderful space to photograph.
Loquita brings the aethetic of Spain to Santa Barbara's Funk Zone, with Spanish tapas, paella, and two inviting outdoor patios depending on your group size. It's a stylish setting just down State Street from the ocean for couples who want their wedding celebration to feel more like an incredible dinner party. After dinner guests can transition inside where the inside dance floor opens up and kicks off the party.
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
Santa Barbara Inn
The Harbor Restaurant - Stearns Wharf Pier
Belmond El Encanto
One of Santa Barbara’s newer wedding venues, The Harbor Restaurant at Stearns Warf Pier offers an experience not just on the water, but over the water. The vein that runs through Santa Barbara is State Street. State Street transitions to Santa Barbara's historic Stearns Wharf which will lift your guests up over the ocean and offer views you can’t get anywhere else. From a photographer’s perspective, there’s nothing quite like the experience of looking back at Santa Barbara framed by the mountains with water between you and your view. It feels like the view you’d get from a boat looking back over the sweeping coast. The Harbor Restaurant shines best at sunset, when the waterfront softens into beautiful evening light and the pier begins to glow.
Is it a wharf? Is it a pier? Technically it’s actually both. There are 4 major historic structures in California that function simultaneously as both a public, vehicle-accessible commercial wharf and an ocean-extending recreational pier, and this is one of them.
Perched above Santa Barbara, El Encanto combines coastal views with the quieter charm of a garden estate. The wisteria-covered arbor, lily pond, and winding pathways throughout the cabins give photographs a beautiful sense of quiet and peace. It's a setting where the pace slows down and smaller, unscripted moments can feel just as beautiful as the ceremony itself.
Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club
Santa Barbara Mission
Dos Pueblos Orchid Farm is one of Santa Barbara's more eclectic wedding settings, with its beautiful greenhouse, lush tropical plants, and cliffside ceremony deck with 180 degree ocean views. The glass structure is a blank slate to create your own wedding vision, particularly for couples who want something a little different. The greenhouse historically had a sales floor which makes for a cute cocktail hour space with it’s winding paths and greenery. The whole venue is set apart from Santa Barbara and feels very peaceful and quiet.
Rosewood Miramar Beach brings a beautiful sense of coastal elegance to weddings in Montecito. Between the oceanfront setting, garden lawns, and chandelier-filled ballroom, there's an incredible variety of spaces to photograph. I especially love how a wedding here can move from soft golden light and relaxed outdoor moments into a completely different and elevated party atmosphere once the evening celebrations kick off inside.
The Santa Barbara Club brings a sense of history and understated elegance to a downtown wedding. Its beautiful garden lawn and traditional interiors create an intimate atmosphere that feels removed from the surrounding city. Photographically, I love the contrast between the warm outdoor overhead globe bulb light and the blue sky during blue hour just after sunset. The historic architecture and classic club atmosphere create a timeless setting for photographs, with a warmth and character that become even more beautiful as the celebration moves into the evening.
San Ysidro Ranch feels like a little world of its own, tucked into the Montecito foothills among beautiful gardens and historic buildings. The winding paths, rose-filled grounds, and old stone details create intimate places for wedding photographs without needing elaborate backdrops. It's especially lovely for couples who want their celebration to feel private, romantic, and wonderfully removed from the everyday.
If you love animals, the Santa Barbara Zoo might be one of the most playful places in town to get married. Its lush gardens, palm trees, ocean views, and opportunity to feed their giraffes during cocktail hour create an experience guests will remember. How often is it that guests get to visit animals during a wedding. From a photography perspective, if you’re opening your wedding up to kids, the Santa Barbara Zoo is a child’s wedding dream. The beautiful coastal backdrop and winding paths throughout the greenery that surround the different spaces makes this a fun space to host a wedding that is different and uniqe.
Riviera Mansion combines historic Santa Barbara character with the welcoming atmosphere of a private estate. Its classic architecture and elegant interiors create a wonderful setting for a wedding that feels both polished and personal while being downtown. From a photography perspective, the location near the greenery of Alice Keck Park gives us a photographic space to sneak out to during golden hour without taking couples away from their guests for long.
The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is one of those places where the architecture does so much of the work for you. The ivy-covered pergola is most often used for framing the ceremony and the lead up to the space walking in create an atmosphere that feels distinctly Santa Barbara for your guests. Its historic adobe buildings wraps the large courtyard with a fountain as the focal point. The fountain is far enough offset from the center of the open courtyard space to design your reception layout without having to work around the fountain. This leaves plenty of room for a head table, lots and lots of guests and a dance floor to carry the party. From a photographers perspective, the space is open enough to meet guests where their energy is at. This lets me capture those guests on the dance floor as well as those who may prefer more connected, quieter conversations.
Nestled near the Santa Barbara Mission, Rockwood Woman's Club has a charming, old-Santa-Barbara feeling surrounded by an oak grove park on one side and the mountains on the other. It offers a lovely balance between a traditional celebration and something more relaxed. At night the front doors open connecting the ceremony space to the reception party, allowing your wedding guests to dance or sneak away for smores by the outside fireplace. The photographer in me especially appreciates the elevated walkway above the dining area for unique photography angles.
Loquita Santa Barbara
Simpson House Inn
Kimpton Canary Santa Barbara
Villa & Vine
Kimpton Canary brings a stylish, boutique-hotel feel to downtown Santa Barbara, with Spanish-inspired details and a rooftop overlooking the city's red-tiled roofs and surrounding mountains. The rooftop is particularly beautiful as the afternoon light transitions into golden hour and then sunset. Planning the right timing for your wedding around the natural light transition can create an unforgettable experience for your guests. It's a great setting for couples who love a little editorial flair, with the energy of State Street and downtown just outside the hotel's doors and down a block.
Villa & Vine brings a little European romance to downtown Santa Barbara, with its Mediterranean-inspired courtyard, green vines, and beautiful Spanish architectural details. The intimate layout creates a cozy downtown atmosphere for a wedding where guests can settle in and enjoy the celebration from ceremony to dancing. Photographing here is all setting up a day-of timeline to use the courtyard's warm orange globe bulb lights set against the deep blue sky during blue hour.
Moxi Museum Santa Barbara
Rincon Beach Club
MOXI is such a fun departure from the traditional Santa Barbara wedding venue. Its contemporary architecture, interactive exhibits, and rooftop overlooking downtown create a playful atmosphere that encourages guests to explore the space. From a photographer’s perspective, the science side gives wedding guests so many opportunities to connect with each other during cocktail hour throughout the different hands-on exhibits. These little moments of play and exploration create incredible candid photography moments that help capture who someone is.
Rincon Beach Club combines a relaxed coastal atmosphere with beautiful garden space, just a block down the road from the beach in Carpinteria. Couples can celebrate surrounded by greenery or incorporate the ocean into their ceremony background. From a photography perspective, I love having those two completely different environments so close together, especially when there's time to sneak away for a few portraits at sunset.
Santa Barbara Inn’s remodel pushed heavily into an elevated, classic coastal Santa Barbara feeling, with white stucco, red tile roofs, graceful arches. Just across the street is the ocean giving us a lot to play with when it comes to your wedding photography. The the lawn in front of the Santa Barbara Inn has a beautiful green background and is positioned perfectly for portraits when the sun is higher in the sky. This gives us a beautiful photography space to shoot wedding party portraits before heading over to the ceremony. Convivo Restaurant & Bar is the restaurant at the Inn and is a beautiful cocktail and dinner space with an ocean view for more moderately sized weddings.
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden celebrates California's native landscape, with winding trails, a peaceful redwood grove, and beautiful views of the Santa Ynez Mountains. If you’re a couple who feel most at home outdoors, this venue is worth visiting. The meadow offers a blanket of wild flowers and is framed by the mountains in the backgrond making it a perfect space for a first look. The Pritzlaff Conservation Center just on the other side of the street offers two stories of elevated view for your ceremony and reception. Your guests can enjoy the views during the ceremony and cocktail hour.
Old Mission Santa Barbara is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks, with its twin bell towers giving it the name, Queen of the California Missions. The traditional architecture gives wedding photographs a timeless sense of place, while the diverse rose garden and mountain view frame your guest’s experience. If you’re Catholic and drawn to a traditional church ceremony, the Old Mission Santa Barbara is especially meaningful for couples to connect to Santa Barbara's history.
Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club offers something a little different, with its green polo fields, mountain views, and a relaxed yet sophisticated atmosphere. The actual building is a historical site that’s been visited by many well known personalities. The openness of the property creates a wonderful sense of space for outdoor celebrations. For photographs, I love the history of the Polo Club and the opportunities to lay out your wedding to fit your vision.
Santa Barbara Courthouse, Sunken Gardens, and Mural Room
The Santa Barbara Courthouse and Sunken Gardens is such a popular destination wedding location for couples traveling to Santa Barbara that it gets it’s own section when it comes to sharing what I know about Santa Barbara’s wedding venues. On busy days, the Santa Barbara Courthouse can host up to 16 weddings per day between the two marriage commissioners working out of the Hall of Records, the two hour reservation time slots for the Sunken Gardens, and the Mural Room reservations. That doesn’t even include the non-reservable weddings that pop-up around the exterior locations where couple’s bring in their own marriage officiant. It can be busy with weddings. The couthouse is also a working courthouse with four courtrooms so you’ll see lawyers, jurors and county employees on weekdays as you move throughout the space.
I’ve broken the Santa Barbara Courthouse down into the different ways you can have your wedding there.
Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunken Gardens
The Sunken Garden reservation is perfect if you’re planning to have more than 15 guests. For example, you have 100 guests attending your ceremony.
When you reserve the Sunken Gardens at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, you’re given a two hour time slot to set-up, have your ceremony, and break down. The Sunken Gardens are large, and you get to choose which direction you want to face for your ceremony. Spoiler, since the space remains open to the public, even with a reservation, I recommend angling your cerermony so that people aren’t walking through the background of your wedding. Meaning, anywhere but the Main Archway that faces the main entrance door leading into the courthouse. That way you don’t have tourists in the background waiting in a line for their turn to enter through the metal detector.
Santa Barbara Courthouse Mural Room
The Mural Room is Santa Barbara’s original Court Room. Fun fact, Peter Pan is hidden amongst the Mural, good luck finding him.
The Mural Room is a good option if you’re planning to have more than 15 guests. For example, if you have 50 or more guests attending. The Mural Room can visually can feel a little large in photos if you only have 10 guests and your family only fills the front row leaving the rows behind empty.
Some couple’s love the dark, lowkey elegant vibe of the Mural Room. It’s dark in there. Other couple’s choose to have their wedding at the Santa Barbara Courthouse for the greenery and prefer the Sunken Gardens over the dim Mural Room. Keep in mind that the doors must remain open to the public during your reservation, and it’s common for tourists to walk into the Mural Room during the ceremony and take photos from the back. Some of the tourists are from other parts of the world and cultural norms around wedding ceremonies may differ.
Santa Barbara Courthouse Hall of Records
Reservable Wedding Appointment
The Santa Barbara elopements are limited to 15 total people. The couple, the photographer, and their 12 guests total 15.
Couples can battle it out with other couples on the Santa Barbara County Courthouse’s reservation website to get their preferred ceremony time. It’s a battle, spots get reserved fast. My favorite times are when the sun is low in the horizon. During the Winter months that’s later in the day around 2:00p. In the Summer months it’s earlier in the morning. The covered shade allows more diffused lighting around the exterior of the courthouse for photos.
The process begins with the couple doing about 10 minutes of paperwork inside the Hall of Records. It’s mostly confirming the Marriage Application is correct, mother’s maiden name at birth is spelled correctly, seeing if there are any name changes, adding the witness (I can be a witness and save you the $50 or so they charge to be your witness if no family is present), swearing the oath, and signing the marriage license.
From there we head out to the Sunken Gardens for a quick 5 minute ceremony. They will ask you if you want to have the ceremony inside. From a photographer’s perspective, the answer is a hard no. The inside upstairs photograph’s terribly in my opinion. They do allow rings to be exchanged, but unfortunately they do not allow vows. Following the ceremony, the witness signs (maybe me, maybe a family member) and then the marriage commissioner heads inside to finish the paperwork where they will eventually find us taking photos to deliver your completed marriage license.
Santa Barbara Courthouse Hall of Records
Express Wedding for Walk-ins
If you aren’t able to battle it out on the Santa Barbara County Website’s reservation system for your chosen date, then don’t worry, you can still have an express walk-in wedding. You’re limited to only one guest.
How is it different? The express weddings take place at the counter rather than in the Sunken Gardens. Both the express weddings inside the Hall of Records as well as the reservable wedding ceremonies that take place in the garden are roughly only 5 minutes. You can still take photos around the courthouse when you’re done.
Will I get an available time slot? If you get to the courthouse early when it open at 8:00am, there is a good chance the marriage commissioners may be able to slide your walk-in in between their other appointments. If you arrive after their lunch hour, it becomes less likely that they can squeeze you in that day, so be sure to get there early. I can wait with you, be your witness, and photo coverage time won’t start until they call you up to begin your appointment. It’s fun conversation and hangout time together while we wait together.
No Reservation
BYO Officiant
Santa Barbara Courthouse’s no-reservation option is perfect for couples with under 15 total people who don’t want to compete with other couples for a Hall of Records ceremony appointment reservation, don’t mind an exterior courthouse ceremony location in spots A-H, and who don’t mind bringing in their own outside officiant (hiring a local officiant or a friend gets ordained online).
This option gives couple’s timing flexibility. Spots A-H located on the exterior of the courthouse are non-reservable. Meaning, as long as you don’t have more than 15 people, you have an officiant, you can walk up and have your wedding. This is great for couple’s who want to say their vows as the Hall of Record’s Marriage Commissioner ceremony doesn’t allow vows and it typically only 5 minutes.
This option also works well for timing your ceremony with dinner plans as you can schedule it later than the last available Hall of Record’s appointment at 3:00p.
Just remember, no chair, no throwing flower petals, and if you’re hoping to take photos on the interior of the Santa Barbara Courthouse with the gorgious archtitecture, the inside closes around 4:15’ish. The employees who work there are out around 4:30 or shortly after. Yes, 5:00p is what they publish online. I’m there, I see the times they do the interior rounds inside the courthouse to sweep people out. They’re out of there as quickly as possible each day. If you’re inside the courthouse before 4:20, you may be able to squeeze out a few more photos before you’re booted outside as the interior is closing.
No Reservation Ceremony Locations
Thoughts from a photographer
The Santa Barbara Courthouse lists Spots A through H on their website as available spaces where they allow 15 or fewer total people to gather without a reservation for a wedding ceremony. All of these locations are along the exterior perimeter of the courthouse, not in the interior of the Sunken Gardens. They are just as beautiful. The Santa Barbara Courthouse is a publicly shared space, and if someone is occupying a space, we need to wait until they are finished. Typically there’s no one hanging out along the exterior of the courthouse, mostly people congregate on the inside of the Sunken Gardens. If, in the rare case there is a wedding in the exterior ceremony location you want, then we wait 10-15 minutes for them to finish and clear out before we have our ceremony. It’s all part of sharing the space. Also, it’s a completely free wedding ceremony location, so waiting a few minutes for our preferred space is a small tradeoff.
So which spot? You’re looking at their website and they have Location (A) (B) (C)…all the way through (H). Here’s my thoughts, from a photographer’s perpsective who has photographed many, many weddings around the exterior of the courthouse.
Spots (A) (B) & (C) are located along Anacapa Street. It’s a busy one-way road that bisects the main entrance of the courthouse from Parking Lot 7 where everyone parks who is going into the courthouse. It’s busy, and there is noise. Location (C) has less noise, but you can still very much feel the presence of the cars and hear the tourists arriving.
My more preferred locations are along East Figueroa Street. The upside, it’s a bit more private compared to Anacapa Street. The downside, (and I’m going to be direct), it’s not uncommon for the tourist buses with their loud airbrakes pull up near location (F) and offload tourists. It’s also not uncommon for unhoused individuals to be sleeping in grass along this stretch. The last downside is that the police station is ½ block down on East Figueroa Street, so occasionally if there is an emergency call you’ll hear sirens as they pull out. If this is in the middle of the ceremony, it can be quite loud.
I have a few location specific insights that may help you decide which is a good spot for your ceremony. There is a large AC unit close to location (G) which is pretty loud when it kicks on during the hotter months. (F) feels open to the public and jurors who are working the courthouses across the street use the adjacent crosswalk to cross. You’ll see quite a few officers crossing the street at location (F).
My preferred two favorite spots are (D) which is a beautiful archway, and location (H) which is an incredible angle of the courthouse in the background providing the courthouse’s AC doesn’t kick on. It doesn’t typically stay on for a long time when it does kick on. The sound will eventually end.
It’s free to get married there, but it does come with some tradeoffs that require a bit of flexibility and understanding in that the courthouse is still a working, operating courthouse and not exclusively for weddings. After the ceremony we can run around the courthouse and take photos and the different photo spots.