It’s Monday morning, but don’t worry about the week ahead – we’ve got some pretty great weddings to share with you. Starting with this sweet as wine California Wedding from Zoom Photography. It’s hard to decide on a favorite part of this fête. All the pretty little details, planned and coordinated by MAP Events, are pure perfection. If I had to choose, I would have to say my swoon meter is off the charts over the luscious flora courtesy of Atelier Joya. But honestly, this whole wedding is filled with divine eye-candy, so spend some time this morning taking it in, imagining your morning cup of joe is really a good glass of wine. And when you’re ready for more, click here.
We knew we wanted a fall wedding in Wine Country centered around the harvest so that we could share this wonderful time of year with our family and friends. Many of our family members had been married in September, so we continued the tradition and selected September 25, 2010.
Because it holds a special place in our hearts, there was no question that Wine Country would be the setting of our wedding. When selecting a venue, we wanted somewhere we could have our reception dinner and as much of the wedding outside as possible to enjoy the beautiful fall weather in Wine Country. And because of Walter’s food background, the most important aspect in selecting a venue was the food and wine served.
Solage Calistoga is an environmentally-friendly resort with a rustic and yet sophisticated vibe. At the restaurant, SolBar, which also handles event catering, they work with local farmers to showcase the farm to table philosophy. We decided to have a four course dinner paired with wines selected from some of our favorite wineries. The best way to have everyone together for dinner as a group was to have our guests seated at a long king’s table.
To incorporate our love for the classic jazz standards, we had a jazz quartet play during the ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner. For the ceremony, the quartet played “The Best Is Yet to Come” while Walter walked down the aisle, “Let There Be Love” while I walked down the aisle, and “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything” as we exited the ceremony.
After dinner, the sliding doors opened to reveal a 10-piece Motown band and the lounge we had created inside. We wanted to separate the dinner area from the dancing area to create a fun vibe and keep people dancing! We also took dance lessons to polish our first dance to Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.”
Photography: Lauri Levenfeld & Jessica Epstein for Zoom Photography / Flowers: Atelier Joya / Invitations: Ceci of New York / Wedding Coordination: Jennie Janzen of MAP Events / Lighting: reFRACTion / Band: Keith Johnson All Stars / Venue: Solage Calistoga