Maddy & Will • Married • Santa Barbara Historical Museum
Being a part of this team of creative geniuses capturing Maddy and Will’s heartfelt/most stylish/wedding day ever at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum was a complete honor and privelege. This day was definitely one of the top highlights of 2019 for me and I couldn’t have dreamt of a more beautiful day.
As featured on Martha Stewart Weddings. “Maddy Nikkel and William Few were both recruited as athletes to compete at Ole Miss—that's how the California girl met the Georgia boy in Oxford, Mississippi. "I was (and still very much am) completely head over heels for this Georgia boy!" Maddy says. "We balance each other out perfectly and he is my best friend."
After the pair became engaged (this involved a romantic beach proposal), they began planning a destination wedding in Santa Barbara from the bride's hometown of Clovis, California. "It helped a lot having a local Santa Barbara wedding planner since we were not from the area and couldn't always drive there to explore multiple options," says Maddy. "Katelin of LaVie Events kept us organized and made sure everything was on track day-of. I had nothing to worry about."
One area the pair didn't need help with was choosing a venue, as the groom had his eye on a winner from the beginning. "Will actually pushed me to go look at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum because he felt it would be perfect for our big day," says Maddy. Although the bride's style tends to be more modern, she agreed to give the historical locale a chance. Luckily, she was sold, and the couple booked the venue the same day they toured it. "I loved how romantic it felt," she says. "It was also one of the only venues we looked at that had a ceremony area, cocktail area, and reception area all in one location; they were completely separate, but connected spaces. We felt that would be ideal, especially for a destination wedding." Will was particularly pleased that his pick was the one they ultimately went with. "He reminds me every day that he was right about the museum!" Maddy jokes.
Although the bride originally had a contemporary black-and-white color scheme in mind, as they pair got deeper into the planning process, they began to draw inspiration from the museum itself. "The mood of the historical site, the color of the buildings, the natural stone, and the greenery of the grounds all ended up influencing my choices," says Maddy, who chose a palette of white, gray, gold, and rust. "The overall theme of the wedding was modern-meets-historical," she adds. "I was used to California casual and Will was used to more formal celebrations. We tried to create a relaxed California vibe with hints of formality to blend our upbringings, and it turned out absolutely perfectly!"
