Bohemian brides can easily be identified by their rule-breaking, non-confirming ways, and this stunning bride, Amanda, shows that you can leave the typical traditions out of your wedding planning, and still throw the most killer soiree. Love that she ditched the first dance, the bridesmaids, she even said no to a MC, and ditched having the obligatory introductions. We are guessing that sidestepping all these traditions took loads of pressure out of the planning process. It is always so liberating doing things we want to do, versus what we are supposed to do, and that is the core of the bohemian bride.

Us at Dreamers & Lovers are happy to have been a small part of Amanda’s wedding, as she wore our best-selling bohemian wedding dress – the Adelaide lace gown. We were fortunate to have met Amanda in our studio for her fittings, and we knew that this dress truly captured her unique style.

Here, Amanda shares her breathtaking photos with us, as well as nuggets of wisdom for other laid-back / bohemian brides to be. Without further adieu:

Please share your story, such as how you met and how he proposed, what makes you guys the perfect match?

We actually met at a Cinco de Mayo Happy Hour in 2011 in Culver City. Charley had just moved to Los Angeles and I was moving to New Orleans for graduate school so we casually dated for a few months. Both of us had been in tricky long distance relationships before and thought they didn’t work so we were stubborn and didn’t want to do long distance but we would talk almost every day. Around November we realized it was the real deal and decided to try long distance and within two years I had moved back to LA. Charley proposed on a sunrise hike in Santa Monica Mountains to Inspiration Point on a Saturday morning where it was just the two of us and our Cocker Spaniel, Foggy.

What type of bride were you?

I am from Los Angeles but a lot of my friends and family live out of state and Charley is from Montreal so we knew a lot of people would be flying in for the wedding so we wanted to have a “destination wedding” that was close to us. We both love Santa Barbara and have had some amazing weekend trips there so it seemed like a good fit for our wedding weekend. Our focus was family and friends and celebrating our love so I would say we didn’t have a defined theme, color palette etc. It all sort of fell into place as we planned based on our preferences. I was worried about finding the right location, dress, food (the most important aspects for me) but once we nailed the basics the rest was fun to plan (with the help of Pinterest for different ideas).

What inspired your wedding decor? Why did you choose the style you did?

We got really lucky in choosing venues that essentially were already decorated for us. Our ceremony was in the Mural Room at the SB Courthouse, which is very decorated and covered in ornate touches so we only brought a rug, a simple white chuppah, and a few gold tables along with some white flowers. We held our reception later in the day at The Lark Restaurant, which has a beautiful private dining room that we simply added table runners, framed photos and a few small touches that fit us. I loved the California casual boho style, which is what our touches were based on (lace, burlap, gold etc.)

What was the best advice you received when you were planning your wedding? Any advise for brides still in the planning process?

The best advice I received and the biggest piece of advice I have for brides in the planning process is to do what you want to do and just say no to everything else. Following this advice, we opted out of an MC, a bridal party, a first dance, an introduction, and a lot of other “traditional” wedding aspects because well…we didn’t want to do any of them. We also kept the weekend only to close family and friends (about 40 people) and didn’t invite the people who weren’t involved in our lives. This was hard because it meant not inviting a lot of extended family but since we wanted it to be our weekend and not an obligatory celebration, this decision led to a weekend where everyone truly bonded and created a very special wedding weekend. Not everyone who is getting married can do this but if you are able to only include people who truly know and love the both of you, it creates a true celebration of love.

We wish Amanda and Charley more happiness than they could have ever imagined. Their venue was breathtaking, with all its exquisite tile work, ironwork, and those perfect murals. The photos paint a picture of their wedding as a stress-free happy time, with a beautiful chilled out bride.

Couple: Amanda & Charley
Ceremony Venue: Santa Barbara Courthouse
Reception Venue: Lark Restaurant
Photographer: CLB Creative
Dress: Dreamers & Lovers Adelaide Boho Lace Wedding Dress