I knew I wanted to elope to California, the issue was where. I started hunting around and looking at major cities. While everywhere in California will marry you, the locations all differ quite a bit. Since California is such a broad state, you can get a variety of backdrops in your photos. Northern California has beautiful sequoia and redwood trees. Mid California is Yosemite National Park with gorgeous trees, water and landscapes. Further South you are getting beaches and gorgeous buildings. I decided I wanted a beachy backdrop and started looking at places along the coast. Monterey looked beautiful but too small for my taste. I also wanted to have guests at my wedding and it looked like the small venues couldn’t accommodate. That is how I landed on Santa Barbara. That place literally has everything you can want. It is big and city-like without being Los Angeles. It has gorgeous beaches and quaint shops without being a little like Carmel by the Sea. Santa Barbara has all kinds of wedding packages too. I can get married in gardens, on rooftops overlooking the red tile roofs, along the American Rivera, or right in the city. I am not sure what wedding package to get, there are so many to choose from! My family is pretty stoked because the area is gorgeous. My brother in particular is excited to check out the recreational cannabis dispensaries while he is there. I will most likely book hotels in the city area where getting cannabis will be easy. It is like I am telling my brother to get high at my wedding.