Wedding weekends fill my heart with happiness and maybe a huge dose of crazy envy. Because I adore weddings and I also adore a great vacation so when those two are all smooshed together into one fun-filled weekend surrounded by wine country and all your loved ones, it just makes sense. Leah Lee Photography captured all the Healdsburg festivities that include rosé sipping on the lawn and a stripe adorned reception at Barndiva exploding with loads of greenery. It’s the best of all worlds and you can see it all right here.
From the Bride… We wanted to host a fantastic weekend getaway in beautiful California wine country where we also just happened to get married! Healdsburg is a wonderfully quaint town where our guests could stroll from their hotel to restaurants, tasting rooms and even our venue. Everyone started their weekend with hand-made gift bags delivered to their hotel room. They were filled with everything they would need to enjoy their stay. This included maps of the local wineries for their day trips, hotel slippers and locally-brewed beer made by Chris’ uncle. Each bag also had water, coffee and Advil to help them get going in the morning again!
Our rehearsal dinner on Thursday was hosted by Medlock Ames in their beautiful tasting room and garden set right in the vineyard. They served wood-fired pizza, which came out of the oven fresh all night. My dessert catering company, Sweet and Sassy, made chocolate truffles and we created individually-wrapped s’more packages for everyone to make over the fire pit.
On Friday, we were married and celebrated all night at Barndiva, a unique restaurant, art gallery and garden. The ceremony was custom-created by our officiant, and we wrote our own vows. Each of ours were different, but we both ended with, “Thank you for marrying me. Let’s get really really old together.” All of our food and drink was locally-grown and produced, organic and in season! One of our amazing friends made our cake, and my aunt made a special family sugar cookie recipe that honored my grandmother. A beautiful assortment of bite-sized goodies finished off the dessert table. Chris made all the succulent boxes, and our florist provided seasonal flowers that were grown on her farm just down the street! We brought our own vintage vases to house the various arrangements. We created a cigar bar for lounging outside after dinner. With the night sky, candles and hanging lights it was quite a magical setting for a warm summer night. We love movies, so my brother made a custom “mix” of clips including funny, sappy and classic romantic films. We also played a loop of black and white love movies for ambience throughout the night. Dancing took place in the art gallery, which also included a photo booth created and run by one of our groomsmen. The photo booth and pictures that followed were one of the best wedding presents we received! The night ended with midnight snacks, sparklers and a stroll across the town square to our favorite local dive bar.
On Saturday, we took everyone wine tasting in a retro school bus! Lukka, our officiant and a local wine aficionado, led the tour to Bella Winery where we wandered through their caves, enjoyed live music and even had a hula hooping contest! We also visited Quivira Vineyards where we toured their biodynamic farm, enjoyed a picnic lunch and sipped cool Zinfandel under the shade trees.
Wedding Photography: Leah Lee Photography / Wedding Venue: Barndiva in Healdsburg, California / Floral Design: Dragonfly Floral / Dessert: Sweet and Sassy (Owned by the Bride) / Wedding Invitations + Paper Goods: Love.Anne.Joy / Music: Terrence Brewer / Rehearsal Dinner: Medlock Ames / Wine Tour Leader: Lucca of Barndiva / Wedding Dress: Cocoon Silk / Bride’s Shoes: Charles David / Hair: Sarah Kaldunski / Makeup: Teshara Pobric / Groom’s Suit: Joseph Abboud via Nordstrom