Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara

I got married here on January 3, 2016. From the first email contact to the day of the ceremony, the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara was a pleasure to work with, not to mention a beautiful place to get married!
Greg, the coordinator, answered all emails in a timely manner, and answered any questions promptly and in a friendly manner. Jon, who was there for both the rehearsal and ceremony, was incredibly helpful. He offered advice when we asked, moved furniture and arranged the church décor based on our request. We even had to change the time of our rehearsal, and he kindly accomodated us.
The sanctuary has a workroom and restroom off to the side for the bride to get ready in. You can rent additional space if needed.
The price was very reasonable compared to other venues, and I would recommend getting married here at this lovely church.

My husband and I had our wedding ceremony and reception here in October, and we couldn’t be happier with our choice of venue. The sanctuary and courtyard are both gorgeous — our guests are still talking about how pretty the space was — the price was very affordable, and the staff was incredibly kind and easy to work with. I highly recommend this lovely spot for a wedding. Oh, and pro tip: spring for the courtyard string lights. Totally worth it. They are gorgeous!

As a wedding planner, it is wonderful to work with professional, helpful, and friendly staff when coordinating the elements of a wedding. Greg and John of USSB were just that! They made my job so easy and every part of the wedding went smoothly. They provided lighting, sound, microphones and were there to make sur

My son and daughter-​in-​law were married in the Sanctuary of the USSB on May 30^th, 2015. Greg made the advance planning so easy and patiently answered the many questions we had. He gave several tours to the bride and groom so they felt very comfortable with the Sanctuary as a venue.
At the rehearsal the night before, it was made clear to us that we had one hour to practice. That turned out to be more than adequate for the staging, processing, etc. John had arranged for mikes for the officiants and the musicians and on the day of the wedding, that went off without a hitch.
The ceremony itself was simply magical. We had guests from all over the country and they loved both the space and the location. It’s perfect for taking pictures!
Overall we found USSB staff a pleasure to work with, very flexible, and with helpful ideas. The Sanctuary is beautiful and I’m still floating!

Updated on 2÷3÷2015:
Shady business practice! Don’t be fooled like we were.
3 stars is my new rating for Unitarian Society due to poor communication from their staff members who had allowed us to decorate, but just recently reduced our deposit refund because the flower committee had to come in to redo what we were told we could alter. Also, and this part really sucks, we were charged extra time for the rehearsal. No one gave us a warning that we were exceeding a time slot, and their representative was very flexible (giving us the feeling that we were all good). If you’re gonna bill me, there’d better be a declaration of business practice that rips off trusting clients.
—
It’s been 4 weeks since our wedding ceremony at the Unitarian Society, and we’re still getting lots of very positive comments about how beautiful the ceremony and it’s venue looked. We were very fortunate to have staff members willing to let us decorate around the holiday décor, in hopes of bringing the right colors to the forefront. The weather was very nice, and the stained glass shone bright.
We also made arrangements to use their Jefferson Hall for our dessert party, the night before. These venues were perfect for our group. Plus, with Alice Keck park right across the street, we had a perfect setting for photos. All in all, just what we were hoping for; 5 stars!