When love, creativity and a beautiful setting come together the results are amazing! Taking full advantage of the breathtaking views at Barndiva (how fantastic is that name!) this crafty couple created a wedding day that was purely them through and through with details that are just as gorgeous as they are meaningful. Blueberry Photography perfectly captured this sweet, rustic day and you can see it all in the full gallery!
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From the Bride… Rustic, seasonal, and meaningful were the words that inspired our wedding in Healdsburg, California. Evan and I are both poets, and we approached our wedding plans with the same thoughtful attention we put into our creative work. We wanted to make our wedding as “local” as possible, supporting vendors either in proximity to the venue area, San Francisco (our home) or Fresno (where I’m originally from). We searched for vendors with a creative, unique sense of style and purpose to their craft. All our wedding flowers came from a farm nearby to our wedding venue, and the food and drinks served at our reception were locally sourced from nearby farms as well. With jewelry designer Jennifer Dawes, we created custom wedding jewelry inspired from rustic, natural motifs. In addition to the sustainable and ethically-conscious metals and stones, Jennifer incorporated diamonds from Evan’s grandmother into my jewelry. She also designed a lovely pearl, “bibbed” necklace — in honor of my birthstone and our wedding month (June!). Kugelplex, a modern day Klezmer band, provided a rocking hora (never-ending — I’m talking 20+ minutes!) for the reception, as well as a beautiful rendition of Beirut’s “Postcards from Italy” for my procession down the aisle. Our guests raved about the band, even those unfamiliar with Klezmer! Amanda, our photographer, went above and beyond her duties to scope out and venture with us for our location shots, which surpassed my most magical dreams. Vineyards, a rust-colored bridge, the hills of Sonoma county — we had it all!
Our wedding was also full with spiritual life, family and dear friends. We choose to have a carried chuppah, which the groomsmen processed in with (and held the entire ceremony!). Evan and I walked down the aisle separately with both our parents, arm-in-arm, to signify the joining of our two families. The glass we broke was a gift from Evan’s brother and aunt, who together (weeks before the wedding) learned to stitch a “chai” symbol (a Jewish symbol for life) to decorate the cloth bag that holds the glass. Evan’s aunt also traveled to attend our wedding from Israel, where she brought us a special cup and holiday set to use at our wedding (and in our home ever after), handmade on her kibbutz.
Our wedding party gave us fantastic support throughout the process and patiently hung in there with us through our location shots and more. We let the bridesmaids pick out their own dresses and the groomsmen pick out their own suits, following our blush and gray color scheme. It was our hope that in letting them choose their own outfits, we let our friends shine with us. In keeping with our “meaningful” approach, we wanted their character to be true. The fun part (for us!) was gifting the groomsmen’s blush ties, which we carefully matched to the personality of each groomsman. There were countless other meaningful contributions to our wedding, such as our antique getaway car loaned from a family friend, and a bottomless cork collection our family and friends collected for us in preparation for the wedding place cards. Evan and I imparted poetry everywhere — on our invitation, we included an “epithalamium” (traditional wedding poem), and we wrote our vows into a single poem, which we repeated to each other. Our guests were captivated! Many memorable moments of our wedding came from the unplanned parts. Through those moments, we learned to let go of getting too caught up in the details and let the magic happen.
Wedding Photography: Amanda Tung + Assistant Jessica of Blueberry Photography / Wedding Venue: Barndiva in Healdsburg, California / Venue Contacts: Lukka Feldman + Amber Keneally (info@barndiva.com) / Floral Design: Bonnie Z. of Dragonfly Floral / Wedding Day Coordination: Alicia Battle (510-967-1051) / Officiant: Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan (415-412-2823) / Wedding Stationery: Hello! Lucky / Calligraphy: Jade Edwards (559-709-2824) / Music: Jason Ditzian of Kugelplex / Wedding Dress: Tara Keely via Mia Bella Bridal / Hair + Makeup: Jocelyn Gomez of JS Makeup Artistry / Groom’s Suit: Seymour’s Fashions / Bride & Groom’s Wedding Jewelry: Jennifer Dawes of Dawes Design