
california dreams and a romantic Santa Barbara beach wedding
Josie & Wolfgang
Austria, December 2018
After a few trips of our younger generation to California, it did not come as a surprise to us that Joanna and Michi were planning their wedding in the sunny Golden State. After Michi has asked for our blessings, as it is with all good Austrian men, his proposal was in the cards for quite some time. The planning of the right time and the wedding venue had to be made carefully, as our lovely relatives Agelina, Gabriela, Susan and Noe came from Texas to CA to attend the wedding and everything had to perfectly match. The soon-to-be-married couple and their daughter Selina, Michi's parents Ulli and Mani, and the two of us have flown in for this romantic beach wedding from Vienna, which was arranged in Santa Barbara, a paragon of Californian chic.

California and the ease of being
As a lifestyle pioneer, California is one of the most famous states of the USA. It’s home to iconic San Francisco and Los Angeles, Napa Valley, Sierra Nevada mountains and Yosemite National Park. Sunny California is also famed for its progressive, casual lifestyle. Of course, megacities like LA also have their shady sides. There are the rich, the affluent and the not-so-lucky, and the latter ones unfortunately are more than a few. As a vacationer, of course you want to focus on the bright sides and there is a lot of them.
By the time you read this, Joanna and Michi are married with all papers in hands, and we are back from a wonderful ten-day vacation in southern California. Calabasas was the perfect choice to pick our hotel, ideal for our tours planned by Michi and Joanna on a stretch from Laguna Beach to Santa Barbara.

Malibu, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Santa Monica, the hip and trendy Venice Beach, all the established landmarks of LA, not to forget also the Farmers Market and the Griffith Observatory, Laguna Beach and whale watching in the sea between Newport Beach and Santa Catalina Island were the highlights on our trips in southern California to enjoy the american way of life. Our main route was the impressive Highway No 1, where the motor traffic seems never ending. A surprise-visit for a full day at Disneyland LA was the absolute highlight of little Selina - how excited she was.

Back to Vienna ...
Some weeks later on a perfect sunny October day in Vienna, the church marriage of Michi and Joanna was partied with cocktail and dinner at the "Neuland Wirtshaus", hosted by the groom's and bride's parents. A great five-piece jazz orchestra played the wedding guests into the late of the night, alongside sweet speeches from the fathers-in-law and best friends of the happy couple.
California dreams, . . . they will come back.




