On Discovering A Garden: FIRE AND RAIN and a SANTA BARBARA WEDDING STORY

Fire and Rain and A Wedding Story

It was the countdown to the wedding.

Everything was coming together and proceeding as planned.

Then a massive fire blew in from the south. Soon it had burned 281,893 acres.

The couple stood outside at night wearing protective face masks and watched the flames move down the mountains toward the house before they had to leave the area on mandatory evacuation orders. They packed some clothing and raced out of the house leaving behind all of their hand-crafted wedding decorations out of necessity. What was going to happen?

A week later the fire was finally contained, and they gratefully moved back home and began working to finish the wedding decorations for their January wedding. With last minute tasks and preparations underway, everything would soon be ready. Glue guns, glitter, and ribbons were flying.

Oh yeah.

Even a fire of biblical proportions hadn’t been able to stop this wedding.

It was happening.

The engaged couple, who had known each other for five years, had been planning a sparkly gold and white themed wedding of their dreams for the better part of a year. Excitement was high, playlists had been created, flowers chosen, and wedding favors had been purchased. Every room in the house was strewn with hand-made lanterns, candles, and glittery things that would hang from the trees and light up the night at the 1880 Union, an historic hotel in northern Santa Barbara county where they were to be married. It would be magical. Guests and members of the wedding party would be flying into LAX from Alaska, New York, Pennsylvania, and Colorado to make the drive north to Santa Barbara for the wedding. The groom's large family and many friends would be driving north as well.

What happened next was deadly and devastating.
When the weather forecast mentioned possible showers over the weekend, umbrellas were ordered for the 14 member wedding party and last minute inquiries were made about renting a tent to cover the band and the outdoor dance floor. A little rain on your wedding day is supposed to mean good luck. Luckily the rehearsal dinner would only be a short walk from the wedding venue. An email blast to the guest list let everyone know to wear sturdy shoes in case the grass was a bit muddy.

Rain began falling in the middle of the night. The wildfires that had previously swept through the area had created hydrophobic soil in the mountains that could not absorb the deluge of rainwater. Truck-sized boulders no longer secured by burnt trees and chaparral were loosened and carried downhill by flash floods causing damage to major gas lines that began exploding around 3:30am sending up 80-foot high flames into the rainy night sky.

The bride and groom woke up to the sound of the explosions. The dark sky glowed an eerie salmon-pink color, visible for miles around. It looked apocalyptic. But the fire had been contained, hadn't it? What was happening?
They peered out the glass doors to the backyard of the creekside house. In the strange pink glow they could make out a thick muddy sludge creeping through the yard swallowing trees and plants like a slimy black snake. Everyone quickly moved to the second story of the house hoping that the higher location might somehow be safe from the immense amounts of mud flowing swiftly down the mountain.

The runoff from the rain had raced down the canyons in deadly torrents carrying mud, rocks, detritus, and boulders that smashed neighboring houses like eggshells, while exacting a wreckage of cars, trees, furniture, refrigerators, and ceiling beams that now lay strewn in a muddy swath of mayhem.

People had been ripped from their homes in the middle of the night by powerful currents of viscous liquid and carried downstream. Some were still buried under muck and rocky debris.

Electric poles had toppled each other in a giant’s game of dominos. Electricity and cell phone services were gone so no one really knew what was going on. Without any clue of the destruction all around them, the bride and groom, not wanting to miss work the next day, made their first attempt to evacuate the area in total darkness. Downed power lines, smashed cars, fallen trees, and deep rivers of running water blocked every single exit. The unbelievable devastation of familiar homes was sickening to see in the headlights of the car. After two hours of unsuccessful attempts to escape the area, they returned home in a state of shock. The town was in ruins and covered in a blanket of mud. They waited through the night without phones, electricity, gas, light, or heat, in a state of uncertainty. A light rain continued to fall and they were facing dangerous possibilities.

When daylight arrived they made repeated attempts in the rain to evacuate without luck. It was two days before they were finally able to locate a sheriff who could escort them safely across running water. They left the house in a matter of minutes without extra clothing or suitcases. The bride and groom spent the rest of the day taking care of the onrush of other evacuees who had been lucky enough to find a way out of the devastation.

Everyone had a story to tell. Many had been rescued by helicopters. Some had been pulled out of the rubble by first responders. Seven thousand people were displaced. The water delivery infrastructure had been destroyed and would take months to rebuild. Suddenly every available rental house in the area was booked up by evacuees. Hotels were filled too.

As the week progressed, officials continued to search for bodies, and the town began to try to dig out from underneath the layers of concrete-like mud that filled houses, roadways, and businesses. Police cars were everywhere. Water was contaminated and sewage and gas systems were broken. Streets were closed and mandatory evacuations remained in place. No one was allowed to go back into the affected neighborhoods. The county announced that it could be several months before utilities were fully restored to the area and people would be allowed to safely return to the homes that were still standing.

Highway 101, the only way into town from the south, was closed indefinitely. The train tracks were damaged, so no trains were running. A few enterprising boat owners started to ferry firefighters and other first responders on the ocean who needed to get to into town to work search and rescue.

The ongoing highway and road closures meant that family members and friends living even minutes south of the mudslides would not be able to attend the wedding. The Los Angeles based dance band wouldn’t be able to drive up. Without any access to their home, the couple could not retrieve the personalized wedding decorations they and their friends had spent countless hours handcrafting.

With only seven days to go the couple was forced to make an impossibly hard decision. Disoriented, and exhausted, grieving for family friends who lost their lives, they consulted with their wedding venue. It seemed that the catastrophic events had effectively shut down their dream wedding. They made the sad decision to cancel the wedding. It added another dimension of sadness to the devastation they had been experiencing.

The wedding dress was safe at a seamstress’s shop and the honeymoon trip to Thailand and Cambodia was non-refundable so the couple considered getting married at the courthouse. They posted news of the cancellation of their wedding on a social media site that caught the attention of many generous and lovely Santa Barbarbarians who responded with offers to help them pull together a wedding at the courthouse. Two separate wedding planners, Selena Marie Sweeney of Selena Marie Weddings and Events, and Tanya Paye from RSVP Weddings and Events, stepped forward and volunteered their services to coordinate at least twenty-five other people who volunteered to freely give their time, energy, and incredible talents to create a magnificent wedding for this couple. In the face of the destruction all around, people genuinely wanted to help. What happened next was remarkable.

Thank you Tanya. You were totally awesome throughout.
Three days!!!!!!! Impressive!!!

Thank you Selena. You were fantastic and brought so much. You thought of everything and added your wonderful magic to the day.

The brand new Hotel Californian offered their incredible ocean view rooftop for a sunset ceremony.....

.....AND their beautiful new ballroom for a sit-down reception.

Thank you to the Hotel Californian for the exquisite wedding and reception venues.
It was a truly magnificent setting.

Thank you Margaret Joan. Your floral talents dressed up the entire affair and added heartfelt loveliness and beauty.

Thank you Elizabeth. A beautiful and wonderful surprise cake.

Flowers, cake, lighting, music, linens, furniture rentals, catering, graphics, hair and make-up, photography, videography and countless other services were donated by generous Santa Barbara individuals and companies for the occasion.

One of the biggest heroes... Thank you Shaun. You were so generous and kind.
And the El Encanto Hotel was such a big part of the day.

The officiate volunteered her time. Thank you Miriam. You were fabulous.

There were rivers of grateful tears at the tremendous outpouring of generosity and the caring of strangers who worked so hard to create an enchanted wedding experience.

They put together this magnificent wedding in just three days!!!! Unbelievable!

Some friends from the south drove seven hours out of their way to arrive from the north.

Laurie and Cyrus....so good to see you.

The 101 freeway, the only artery into town remained closed. Family members of both the bride and the groom stood in long lines to attempt to board fully-packed, standing room only trains that were finally running.

Thanks to all of the wonderful, giving, generous, and hard-working people who put together a wedding for this couple, a truly outrageously gorgeous and glorious Santa Barbara wedding came together in three days time and they were married and left on their honeymoon, still not knowing if they would have a place to live when they returned.

But with such a miraculous wedding behind them, it was easy to believe that everything would work out.

Thank you to all of the wedding party members....who came from near and far and went above and beyond to get to town and make this day special for this couple. So much gratitude for your love and unwavering support.

It was a time of tragedy and heartache and trauma that will never be forgotten, but there was an overwhelming amount of love and generosity and caring that will always be remembered.

A community was devastated and an entire village came together to help in whatever way they could.

The most heartfelt and enormous THANK YOUs for this absolutely beautiful fantastic wedding that you all put together in THREE DAYS!!!!!!!!!

Gratitude goes out to so many including:

Belmond El Encanto Hotel: Lodging

Hotel Californian: Venue

RSVP Wedding and Events: Wedding Planning

Selena Marie Wedding and Events: Wedding Planning

Margaret Joan Florals

Tiger Lily Rentals

Milk and Honey Furniture and Vintage Rentals

Kiel Rucker: Photographer

I Heart My Groom: Additional Photography