Krimsky EventsWeddings planned by Sonya Krimsky

There are only a handful of “once in a lifetime experiences” you’ll get in your life, and often times a wedding celebration is one of them. My wife and I feel that the entire staff at the Holbrooke Hotel, along with Sonya at the helm (the hotel manager), had met every single expectation, desire, and dream come true for our special day!

She was a great communicator with courteous and exceptional treatment in handling every question we had. This experience paired with The Holbrooke Hotel as a GORGEOUS venue with amazing food and cocktails…we seriously could not have asked for more.

This place has it all! We hosted our ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception here and then ended up staying for the after-party as well. Many of our guests even stayed the night at the hotel, they LOVED it!

The feedback we got from our guests was “elegant, beautiful, convenient, best wedding food, good service, great drinks” — honestly, we got so many compliments we couldn’t keep track. Not a single negative review on our wedding. And the Holbrooke made it easy!

She set up our room block, went over the food and beverage options with us, came up with a floor plan for the reception, and even sent brunch up to the bridal suite while we were getting ready. She found a place for us to store our decorations, helped us monitor our beverage count (so that we stayed on budget), and curated a 5-star team for our event. She even got the chef to make a special Horchata drink for us to serve our guests.

We hosted our ceremony and reception in the North Star Hall (there’s a 360 virtual tour on their website! Makes planning the room so easy when you can see it AND measure it in real time) — a room so beautiful that it needs minimal decorating! We hosted our cocktail hour downstairs in the Iron Door Bar, our guests loved it so much down there that they went back after the reception. The food was amazing and the bar and catering service was great!

They offer the venue for a Food & Beverage Minimum and included in the price are the tables, chairs, linens, silverware, drinkware… everything you need! They even print out menus for your guests with your special tagline at the top and offer a list of preferred vendors. Right down the street, you have bakeries, restaurants, bars, a candy/ice cream shop, and gift shops — plenty of places for out-of-towners to enjoy within walking distance.

The Holbrooke was seriously amazing. Our daughter’s wedding turned out better than we could have ever imagined. We loved the atmosphere, and the food was delicious. You can tell that we are very happy that we choose the Holbrooke. Go check them out… Best regards, Mary and Mike

We had a perfect wedding day here. The staff were friendly and helpful. The food and drinks were delicious.

Hooray for Sonya Krimsky and the rest of the staff at the Holbrooke Hotel! So professional, responsive, kind, and informative! We couldn’t be happier with our beautiful wedding event at the hotel and with all the additional amenities we were afforded.

Our family and friends are still reaching out months later to tell us that our wedding was superb. Bravo!

Mar Monte was very easy to work with and we had a great time throughout the planning process, and during our reception! We also went with Mar Monte due to its location on the beach and more “classic” Santa Barbara vibe (the recent remodel looks great!).

And the food was so, so good. We greatly enjoyed the tasting and had zero changes we wanted made to the final menu. Everyone was very happy with their dinners at the actual reception, and we got a lot of compliments from guests afterward!

Service was right on schedule during the reception, and staff were very attentive to our guests. I was also impressed with their cocktails! My husband and I were able to take on-the-beach photos during dinner, and we all enjoyed the mountain and ocean views from the ballroom.

We would definitely re-book if we were to do everything over again. (We had 90 guests attend, and had everyone plus a dance floor in the Pacific Ballroom, plus used Seaview for the photobooth and bar — everything fit perfectly!)

We can’t say it enough how thankful we are for everything she did to accommodate our needs and made our wedding day special. Our family and guests raved about how well everything went and how amazing she was.

The hospitality of the Mar Monte staff is unparalleled. Gavin at the front desk made sure that our guests were all comfortable and their stay was to their liking. They honestly made our wedding a day to remember for everyone, and our special day one of a kind.

Thank you so much for all your hard work! We will definitely be back in the future and tell everyone we know how great of a stay Mar Monte is!

From the moment we began planning our wedding weekend, the hotel team was an absolute pleasure to work with. Managing a large hotel block can be complicated, but they made the process seamless for both us and our guests. Communication was prompt, organized, and professional throughout the entire planning process.

Our rehearsal dinner was held in the Fireside Ballroom, and the setting was absolutely beautiful. The team did an outstanding job ensuring everything was set up exactly as planned, allowing us to relax and enjoy the evening with our family and friends. The food, service, and attention to detail exceeded our expectations.

Our welcome reception took place on the Oceanfront Terrace, which provided the perfect backdrop for gathering with our guests and kicking off the wedding weekend. The atmosphere was wonderful, and the staff ensured everything ran smoothly from start to finish.

Many of our guests commented on how much they enjoyed their stay and appreciated the convenience of having everything in one location for the wedding weekend. We are incredibly grateful to Sonya and the entire hotel staff for helping create such a memorable experience and would highly recommend them to anyone planning a wedding or special event.

We hosted our rehearsal dinner here, and reserved a bridal suite and boardroom to plan our wedding at Cabrillo Pavilion across the street. Cristina Rojas was very helpful and responsive with our block room reservations.

Everything went just great and their staff was extremely kind and responsive. The dinner was held outside on their bocce court and was so beautifully decorated with lights and candles and the food was delicious. They accommodated all dietary requests. Everyone was so happy with it. They helped us have a fantastic weekend!

From the very beginning, she was incredibly responsive, flexible, and genuinely invested in making our day exactly what we envisioned. Wedding planning comes with a lot of moving pieces (and questions!) but Sonya always made us feel like nothing was too much to ask. She was always just a phone call away and so willing to talk through an idea, or help us figure something out whenever we needed her.

Her flexibility throughout the entire process was such a breath of fresh air, especially in the wedding industry — where vendors & contracts make things feel so rigid. She was always willing to work through ideas, accommodate changes where she could, and help us find a solution.

The food and beverage was also AMAZING! Everything was so good and our guests could not stop talking about it. One of our favorite details was the ice cream sundae station. My husband doesn’t drink, so instead of focusing only on specialty cocktails or a traditional bar experience, we really wanted something fun and special that felt like him too. We asked if an ice cream sundae station was possible, and the team absolutely delivered! It ended up being one of our favorite parts of the night and made the reception feel that much more personal to us.

Most importantly, everything came together beautifully on the wedding day. We’re so grateful for all of the time, care, and effort Sonya and the entire team put into making our reception such an amazing experience for us and our guests. We truly cannot thank them enough!