We are all kinds of giddy over this Sonoma County wedding by Maya Myers Photography. It is bright and beautiful with sweet rustic touches mixed with modern elements...just the way we like it. I love the fontabulous table numbers paired with the vintage blue mason jars. The dinner plate dahlias are just out of this world amazing and the fact that these lucky guests got to take bunches home at the end of the night makes me green with envy. Click here to see even more in the full gallery!
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From the Bride... We got engaged at Hog Island Oyster Farm in Point Reyes. Jamie and I are both rather obsessed with food so though we met in New York and still kind of feel like New Yorkers, in some ways living in the Bay Area is really ideal for our culinary lives. We really wanted our guests (mostly coming from the East Coast) to experience culinary California so we knew food was probably the most important aspect of our wedding. In the end we chose Living Room Events with head chef Douglas Monsalud because of their approach to California cuisine and their relationship with many of the vendors at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market AND Douglas' friendship with one of the owners of Hog Island (!!). We already knew we wanted to have an oyster bar and probably about 95% of the ingredients were locally sourced (the figs, stuffed with Sonoma goat cheese, house cured pastrami for the sliders, bread from Acme, our favorite bakery, the oysters, etc etc). We wanted all our wines to be local as well and we found an amazing Grenache Rose from Quivira Vineyards, which was just miles from the site, a white wine from the Sonoma coast where the weather is cooler, and a Pinot from Sonoma, as well.
As an artist, there were a lot of aspects I wanted to incorporate as a unique look to the wedding and details I wanted to make instead of buying. I designed the invitations and a friend helped me letterpress them. I printed the Ketubah frame with a woodblock print that I carved of an olive branch then I found a local calligrapher to add the Hebrew and English text. I made table numbers, seating cards, programs, menus, and Polaroid board. We made the salted caramels for our favors and I screen-printed the thank you tags.
We liked the venue (Healdsburg Country Gardens) itself because it was a clean slate- we were allowed to choose all our vendors and bring in whatever we wanted. But the site was also incredibly beautiful before we supplied a single flower. I bought the flowers from a dahlia farm in Petaluma, called Aztec Dahlias - a husband and wife operation. We picked up the flowers, which were cut as we waited, and Jamie's mom arranged them using the vintage blue bell jars that we had collected from flea markets with the help of several friends.
Jamie is a filmmaker and teacher so he asked one of his students shoot 16mm film of the wedding on a vintage Bolex camera. Our photographer Maya Myers, who we met when she photographed our friend's wedding the previous year, uses a documentary approach to the weddings she photographs so her style mixed with her personable nature was a perfect fit for our day. We chose Genevieve Roja of Lily Spruce Events for our day of coordination because of her eco-conscious planning abilities. She brought in additional elements and ideas to our wedding like the chalkboard signs, made from old wine crates and the raffia and newspaper station for the guests to take home the flowers. Our ceremony music was played by a Kora musician named Karamo Susso. Karamo, originally from Mali, has been playing the Kora his entire life. For our reception we found our band "Kicking the Mule," at a bar in Oakland. The lead singer Freddie Hughes is a true Oakland Soul veteran. They were incredible!
Wedding Photography: Maya Myers Photography / Cinematography: Student of the Groom / Floral Design: Mother of the Groom + Aztec Dahlias (Flowers) / Wedding Design & Planning: The Bride & Groom / Wedding Coordination: Lily Spruce / Wedding Venue: Healdsburg Country Gardens / Wedding Invitation Design: The Bride / Letterpress: The Bride + Friend of the Bride / Catering: Living Room Events / Ceremony Musician: Karamo Susso / Band: Kicking the Mule