Tanja Lippert. How I love her so. Aside from gifting us the most popular wedding to date on SMP, she is also the photographer behind one of my personal faves. Tanja not only lands clients with the best taste ever, she manages to turn every wedding that she photographs into an epic love story. Which scores big marks from me given that I still cry when I watch The Notebook despite the fact that I’ve seen it a thousand times. And don’t even pretend like you don’t. So this next wedding is in homage to Tanja, her insane photography skills and a wedding that is so romantic I’m blushing just a little big. Click here to see an absurd amount of additional deets.
Click here for the FULL wedding!
A snippet of the day on film from Luke Goodman Cinematography…
From the bride + groom… When Will and I started planning our June wedding in my hometown of Lodi, we wanted our wedding day to be a true celebration and reflection of what we love, who we are as a couple and our own family traditions. Our planning conversations centered around how our wedding would feel and reflect the little things we love, from sea glass to food and music. Thankfully we have a talented and loving family, friends and vendors who also helped make our day complete! Getting married in Lodi was a natural choice. It would be a hometown wedding for my parents as I grew up in Lodi, and Will and I love the outdoors and wine! From the moment we toured Oak Farm Vineyards on a gray wintery day…we fell in love with the old oak tree, lake, barn, row boat, rustic truck, vineyards and overall natural flow of the venue.
Guests entered under homemade fabric garlands and letters that spelled “wedding.” The rustic truck was used as a backdrop to share our history with wedding photos of our parents and displayed the plate Will used to propose to me. (We now have a matching set. As a wedding day surprise, I made Will a special plate that read: “Yes, I will marry you and love you forever.” The caterer used it to serve his salad.) Our uncles conducted an intimate ceremony under the oak tree in an outdoor chapel, complete with custom wooden arches. We stood under a flower chandelier surrounded by our friends and family. Both our parents and siblings took part in our ceremony with special readings.
Cocktail hour took place along the lake where our guests collected their escort cards along the fence and our friends carried ribbon poles to lead a parade to an alfresco dinner. Antique windows, a mason jar chandelier and lights hung along the patio and each table setting was complete with a piece of sea glass and personalized menu. Guests made wishes with the sea glass, which we have now added to our personal collection. We drank from silver anniversary goblets that belonged to my great grandparents in the early 1900s and we used Will’s grandparents’ cake topper. Instead of cake, we toasted and served A&W (Ashley & Will) root beer floats with striped straws. My mom also made her signature oatmeal chocolate chip cookies as a take-away. Although we put a lot of effort into creating our own details, we cannot express enough how much we LOVED our vendors. Honestly, not only did they capture the emotion and feeling of the day, they are all overall genuine people and feel like family. I truly believe having vendors who have a history together makes a world of difference and has an overall effect on the flow and emotion of a wedding. We met Tanja Lippert, Tia Reagan and Luke Goodman at my brother’s wedding in 2010. They introduced us to Martha at Blooms by Martha, and Debbie at Wine Valley Catering from Napa. Marne, a family friend, helped coordinate the day, and my “rock-star” father scouted out and hired Pop Rocks, who kept the party rocking all night! Overall we had an amazing celebration and we felt so loved. Many thanks to our amazing vendors, family and friends!
Wedding Photography: Tanja Lippert Photography / Wedding Venue: Oak Farm Vineyards in Lodi, California / Flowers: Blooms by Martha Andrews / Wedding Gown: Marisa / Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka / Groom’s Suit: Hugo Boss / Grooms Shoes: Salvatore Ferragamo / Hair: Tia Reagan of Freebird Productions / Cinematography: Luke Goodman Cinematography / Band: Pop Rocks by Jay Siegan Presents / Guitarist: Greg Williams / Catering: Wine Valley Catering / Wedding Cake: Simple Sweets Bakery / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals + Giuffra’s Party Rentals / Wedding Invitations: The Aerialist Press / Silver Goblets: The Bride’s Great-Grandparents / Cake Topper: The Groom’s Grandparents / Cookies: The Bride’s Mother