PLANNER: Merryl Brown, MA, CWP™, Merryl Brown Events, Montecito, Calif., www.merrylbrownevents.com, merryl@merrylbrownevents.comYEARS IN INDUSTRY: 8 PHOTOGRAPHY: Corbin Gurkin PhotographyBUSINESSES: The Food Matters (catering/staffing), Christine Dahl (dessert), Classic Party Rentals, Rivre Works (specialty rentals), Mindy Rice (floral), Star Power (generators), Karizma – deBois (band), Santa Barbara String Quartet (ceremony music), Executive Limo, BlueStar Parking (valet), Design Sound, Images by Lighting, Hoo Films, Briana Stuart (hair), Tomiko Taft (makeup), Lazaro Press & Design (collateral materials), La Tavola Linens, BB Rodeo (dance floor), ThoughtBox Photobooth, Marborg (restrooms/trash) WEDDING DATE: Oct. 10, 2015DATE COUNT: 220INVOLVEMENT: Full production and design THE COUPLE: Blake and Teddy met seven years prior to the day of their wedding. Though both grew up in Santa Barbara, it wasn’t until being secretly set up at a Stanford University football game that they crossed paths. Falling in love almost immediately, the pair has been inseparable since that weekend in October. They share a love of family and friends, are extremely active, love to walk on the beach, catch up on favorite shows, and enjoy good meals together. They are a t-shirt and jeans kind of couple. Blake is a tennis coach at the University of California—Santa Barbara, so the wedding reception tent was built on the bride’s father’s tennis court. INSPIRATION: Elegant, romantic, feminine, garden, light, airy, natural, and organic were among the words the couple used to narrow down the inspiration. This “Audrey Hepburn meets Gone with the Wind” wedding was full of soft, romantic, floral, linens, and lighting. "AHA" MOMENT: The couple wanted their tent to feel as though it was in a garden when, in fact, it was on a tennis court. We masked the fencing with faux hedging and then used drapes to hide the space between the hedging, creating the illusion of the tent being perfectly tucked into a fully hedged and verdant garden. Everything else built off of this, and in the end, it was a stunning and magical spot.MOST UNIQUE DESIGN ELEMENT: The wedding arbor was an old, architectural feature on the property. It was covered in vines and set before a lovely koi pond. We covered it with more lush vines, greenery, and garden roses, so it looked as if they were always there, profusely growing and delicately fragrant. It created a space that felt enveloped and sacred. COLOR PALETTE Muted whites, dusty gray/blue, light blush, natural BUDGET: $300,000STAFF HOURS: 286PLANNING TIME: 14 months CLIENT MEETINGS We held monthly sit-down meetings and numerous phone meetings to discuss details as they came up during the planning process.SET UP /STRIKE DETAILS: We had a six-day build out for set up and a four-day strike with valet and at least one member of our staff present to direct vendors/oversee for about eight hours each day that anyone was on the property. Set up started Monday during the week of the wedding, with removal of all existing furniture on the property followed by subfloor installation on the tennis court, tent infrastructure, carpet, draping, lighting and AV, rentals, two kitchen installations, green room installation, all restroom and recycling delivery, and generators, and then final ceremony, cocktail, and reception-area rentals and floral/other details up until the day of event. Strike began immediately after the reception ended on Saturday evening and lasted until Wednesday of the next week. BUDGET BREAKDOWN: 11% catering, 7% alcohol, 29% rentals/tenting/carpeting, 5% draping, 16% floral, 3% set up/strike labor, 5% photography, 3% sound, 5% lighting, 12% other.BIGGEST CHALLENGE: The heat. The only thing that I would have done differently was to invest in fans and A/C as it was a very warm evening. Also, in the future, when there are vendors, whom I don’t know, that the family has chosen on their own, I will take the time in advance to get to know them personally and not just via email. WPM