The Bride Wore Oscar de la Renta for Her Intimate Wedding at San Ysidro Ranch

The next day, Owen and Alexa had their bachelor and bachelorette “parties.” The boys’ day began with a bagel and coffee bar, followed by surf lessons at the Montecito Surf Club. Meanwhile, Alexa rented cabanas at the Rosewood Miramar. After a quick reset, the ladies headed to the Miramar Beach bar for cocktails and then onto dinner and a Princess Diaries–themed slumber party. At the same time, the boys had a barbecue and game night. “Those days were perfectly us,” Owen says. “And, it was fun to see the differences in how we spent them, especially with the backdrop of our wedding the next day—which was a beautiful blend of both of us.”

From the moment Alexa and Owen got engaged, they knew their ceremony wouldn’t be traditional. “Neither of us had a version of what we needed our wedding to look like,” Alexa explains. “And, the one thing that I was adamant about was that I wouldn’t be walking down an aisle. For one, I can’t handle that level of attention when I’m not giving a performance, speech, or making a legal argument—it felt too vulnerable for me. I knew that I wanted to walk into whatever ceremony we had with Owen by my side, supporting me. We also know my grandma loves a good party, so we wanted to have that moment with her. My mom brought up the idea of San Yisidro Ranch and how our day would flow fell into place [from there].”

As a type A person, wedding logistics came easily for Alexa, especially with the help of the couple’s event planner, Nina Moore. “Some of our family and friends thought we were crazy for having a planner for a small wedding with only 31 guests, but having Nina allowed us to relax, put all our energy into the decisions that mattered, and ensure our guests’ needs were thought of,” Alexa explains. “Having a tie breaker when decisions got tough was also a great way to move forward.”

Because of the intimate guest list, the couple didn’t have to spend time worrying about a large seating chart or a giant room block, and instead, they got to focus on making sure each detail mattered, encouraging connection, and bringing warmth to their guests. “We custom-crafted and sourced so many individual pieces for our wedding weekend that we actually had to hire a moving company to drive it all up to Montecito,” Alexa admits.

When the bride started the wedding process, she thought she’d end up wearing a suit or a simple dress. “I went back to Oscar de la Renta a few times, but wasn’t finding the perfect look,” Alexa explains. “Finally, my dad let me know that he was feeling left out of the process, so I brought him with me for my final meeting with my stylist Heather at Oscar, and he pulled out a 2020 Oscar dress. I had never seen it before—the dress was high fashion and playful, yet elegant. It felt daring, unique, and like a second skin.”

The ceremony took place at the Santa Barbara Courthouse on September 15, 2025. Alexa and Owen were first married by the clerk: an ode to their legal professions. The outside of the courthouse has Greek and Roman motifs that they chose to feature throughout their wedding—on the invitations, the welcome booklets, and even on the plates.

On the day of the wedding, just Alexa, Owen, their photographer, Jess, and the court clerk were present. “Owen carried my giant dress, which felt so extra in the courthouse,” Alexa says. “But we loved the juxtaposition. We sat in the courthouse room, quiet as a library, soaking in the first bit of stillness we’d gotten all weekend. Our documents were processed and, after taking our oaths, we signed the certificate, making it legal.”

After saying their vows inside the courthouse, the couple headed to the lawn, where their party had gathered. “Our grandmas served as the flower girls, and my grandpa was the ringbearer,” Owen remembers. Within five minutes, they said their “I dos” and had their first kiss as a married couple.

Owen then stepped on the glass, which was wrapped in Alexa’s grandpa’s prayer bag. After the ceremony concluded and some photos were taken, the newlyweds were whisked away in a vintage Rolls-Royce, back to San Ysidro for the reception.

When they arrived back at the ranch, they took a moment to admire the setup their vendors had crafted before dancing by themselves to the music of their string duet. Guests entered the space as the couple was having their first dance to the song “All I’ve Ever Known” from Hadestown. “It’s a favorite musical of ours, and the song describes the female lead finally letting her walls down to let someone take care of her,” Alexa explains. “That is exactly how I feel in my relationship with Owen.”

Once our guests finished filtering in, the horah began. “It was fun to see Owen’s family do the horah for the first time,” Alexa remembers. Cocktail hour followed, and then a four-course dinner. During the meal, Alexa and Owen slipped away to take sunset photos in San Ysidro Ranch’s famous gardens, including the lemon tree grove and lavender field. After that, the bride’s friends helped her slip into her second look. “I certainly didn’t need a second dress at my 31-person wedding,” Alexa notes. “But I came across a mini version of a classic Vivienne Westwood dress that my grandmother loved, and I knew I had to go for it. I know it’s a piece that I’ll pass down to my kids.”

After changing looks, Alexa and Own poured their Champagne tower and speeches were given, followed by the father-daughter dance. “Owen has a lot of moms—three to be exact, plus three grandmas, and my mom who likes to pretend she birthed him,” Alexa jokes. “So every single one of them, as well as Owen’s dad and grandpa, also deserved a dance. We started with one parent and then enlisted the help of our siblings—Owen has two brothers—to bring up the next parent halfway through the song so that we could trade dance partners. It was so special to see the surprise and joy in everyone’s eyes, and it was so heartwarming to see our siblings dancing with them all as well, right next to us.”

After dinner ended, there was a stint of dancing before the couple cut their Meyer lemon wedding cake, followed by an after-party held at the speakeasy at the Ranch. There, drinks continued to flow, old stories were told, and impromptu karaoke continued until closing time.