Flight
SB has a small airport. Alternatively, the largest nearby airport is LAX (about 1.5 hours away). From LAX, you can rent a car or take the Santa Barbara Airbus (https://www.sbairbus.com/), Uber, or Lyft to SB. Try to avoid rush hour if coming from LAX! Southwest and Frontier aren't on some travel websites, but there are currently good deals for flying into LA on Southwest and for flying into SB on Frontier.
Hotel
We would recommend staying in either SB proper or Goleta. Downtown SB is more fun (you'll have easy access to SB's restaurant scene and the urban wine trail), but you can probably get a better deal in Goleta and it's only a 15-minute drive away. A few hotels are offering us special rates for the nights of 9/6 and 9/7 on a first-come, first-served basis. To get these rates, call the hotels and say you are with the Nolan-Ferioli wedding. SANTA BARBARA: Mason Beach Inn (starting at $219) - 805-963-4277 Hotel Santa Barbara (starting at $229) - 805-957-9300 Inn by the Harbor (starting at $252), Lavender Inn (starting at $275), Brisas del Mar (starting at $285) - all reachable at 805-966-2219. GOLETA: Pacifica Suites ($209 on 9/6, $229 on 9/7 - rates include parking and breakfast) - 805-683-6722, x2 Courtyard by Marriott Goleta ($218) - 805-968-0500 or https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1560981394357&key=GRP&app=resvlink