WEDDINGS B E L O V E D N U T P I A L S A T T H E B I LT M O R E
A Chance Encounter FOR BRIANA RASINSKI AND DAVID NACHMAN, both
their relationship and the decision to
wed in Santa Barbara was due in large part to fate. The couple met at a Manhattan social club Rasinski opened with her brother. “I was about to head home for the evening until I saw David coming down the stairs,” she recalls. Opting to stay a bit longer was a decision she says “would change the course of my life forever.” After narrowly escaping Hurricane Sandy, the newly engaged New Yorkers sought refuge in Napa Valley. Having spent time in Santa Barbara with her uncle and aunt Craig and Susan McCaw, and together as a couple, the pair knew they wanted a California wedding. Using the opportunity to scout for locations, they scoured Napa to no avail and “opted to postpone our flight home and drove down the coast,” says Rasinski. “Weary from a long day, we made it to Santa Barbara in time to check into the Biltmore. As we walked through the lobby and outside in the warm ocean air, hearing the waves crash, we knew that this was the place for our big day.” Describing her inspiration to wedding planner Alexandra Kolendrianos and floral designer Mindy Rice as “mission revival on the beach,” together with her mother, Rasinski designed an “event that would work in harmony with an idyllic beach backdrop.” Following her walk down the aisle, they exchanged vows, which they wrote themselves, and chose readings for each cousin in a “traditionally structured but unconventionally substantive ceremony” in the Four Season Resort Biltmore’s Mariposa Garden. –A.D.H.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
In lieu of a traditional rehearsal dinner, the couple held a groom’s reception at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum; a mariachi band serenaded guests as they feasted on Mexican eats from Los Arroyos and sipped margaritas; Nachman with the McCaw family: warm and whimsical colors punctuated the decor; delicate place cards by Lazaro Press.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MEGAN SOREL
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