Natural Vineyard Wedding With Sunflowers
I carried a beautiful bouquet of sunflowers on my wedding day, so I'm a total sucker for a beautiful floral design centered around the happy bloom. Ulysses Photography captured a day perfectly fitting of the sunflower, and can I just give you a little spoiler alert? It's beautiful.
From the beautiful bride... We started our planning knowing we wanted a September wedding, but had few other concrete ideas. We hoped to achieve the right balance we felt we had found in my engagement ring (a diamond wedding band): somewhat different yet traditional, as well as down-to-earth but beautiful. Our vision was a family-oriented, natural, seasonal, sustainable and local event A love for the Hudson Valley and a familiarity with their former owner brought us to Benmarl Winery. We knew Benmarl was the perfect venue for us from our first steps on their property. The ceremony is set up on a hill overlooking the valley that leads to the Hudson River and the reception is held under a nearby tent. There are sheep and chickens wandering through their grape vines. Their property allowed us to decorate minimally and yet achieve a gorgeous setting.
Pamela’s Traveling Feast catered and she saw our vision immediately. Sourcing much of her personalized menu locally, serving paired Benmarl wines with the appetizers, offering a local brewery's beer, allowing us to serve family-style food, and baking seasonal pies in lieu of a wedding cake were some of the many ways she helped bring our vision to life. Along with Pamela, all of our vendors were local. Their familiarity with each other and the venue as well as their expertise in each of their fields paid off in spades. Our florist, Heather at A Night in Bloom, was warm and encouraging, sourced the most gorgeous flowers, and arranged the site perfectly. She also gave us the most amazing gift of donating our centerpieces after the wedding to local charities so they could bring joy to many more people. DJ Danielle, gave us useful advice, played music for our ceremony and kept the dance floor full all night. Our photographers, Ulysses and Jenni from Ulysses Photography, kept us smiling, laughing and comfortable. They captured the real emotion in the day as well as the most amazing moments that we would have missed without them. They were in all the right places at the right time.
We added a few personal touches (with much inspiration from Pinterest and shopping on Etsy) like a candle burning in the memory of loved ones lost, a basket full of pashminas for chilly guests, and handwritten escort cards stained with wine and displayed in vintage window shutters. We sent guests home with pumpkin-scented soy candle favors. With mother nature's help and all of our favorite people, our wedding came to life in the most amazing way possible- as a beautiful reflection of us.