It’s no secret that Sonoma happens to be one of the most beautiful wedding locales in the world. The land of breathtaking scenery and fabulous wineries can definitely do no wrong in our book. So, when you combine all of the beauty that Sonoma has to offer with another destination known for drop-dead gorgeous weddings (the great state of Texas), it’s a combo like no other. One that is chock-full of fab DIY, Texas-inspired details (mason jars, burlap, reclaimed barn wood) and an entire gallery of pretty from Jamie Grenough Photography. See it all right here.
From the Bride… As a born and raised Texan, my only condition to getting married in California was that we have a Texas-inspired wedding, adorned with Texas Stars on all self-designed printed materials and endless burlap, twine and mason jars. In addition to our thematic vision, our top priority in committing to a venue was finding an outdoor space, which allowed us to personalize every detail and have free rein with our vendor decisions and DIY projects. The Robertson House was the perfect template we had envisioned. While the grassy ceremony and cocktail hour spaces would be easy to construct, it was the tennis court that would be used for the reception (dinner and dancing) that had me uneasy. I didn’t want my guests feeling like they were trapped inside of a cage. To solve this problem, I decided that we would transform the tennis court to feel like you were indoors with an open-air roof. To my amazement, I couldn’t find any examples of tennis court transformations online! Left to my own imagination, I incorporated 14 panels of 10×12-foot, ivory draping, spaced every 10 feet along the perimeter of the tennis court, and had white uplighting arranged at the base of each drapery panel. In addition to the up lighting, I ordered globe light strands online, along with natural paper lanterns and had them strung across the court to complete the transformation (thank you to my family for helping hang the bulbs in 90-degree heat the day before!). Once the sun set, the space was a romantic vision of bringing the indoor feel to the outdoor reception (without spending thousands on tenting).
Our DIY was truly a team effort of two people — my now-husband, Jeff and me. I designed our logo (featuring the Texas Star, of course), all the invitations, welcome bag programs, ceremony programs, dinner and cocktail menus, water bottle labels, etc., but Jeff was a true rock star, spending countless hours with me paper cutting, matting, hole-punching, embossing, tying twine. You name it, he was right there in the mix ready for his next crafting task. One of the more fun DIY projects was naming our tables, which were named after Texas slang words like, “Y’all, Kinfolk, Fixin’ To, Howdy, Holler, Getchasome, etc.” For each table name, I purchased reclaimed barn wood frames off of Etsy to showcase the name, which also included a short definition of each slang term. Our escort cards doubled as our takeaways, as they were clear bottles filled with peanuts and white, chocolate Jordan almonds encased in takeaway koozies that featured our logo on one side and “I Do’s and Cold Brews” on the other. Each guest’s name and table name were tied with twine around their bottle, and they were all displayed in alphabetical order in wooden wine crates on old shabby chic tables that we brought in from home. I work in the wine industry, so our guest book also carried through the wine theme, asking guests to sign a cork with their name on one side and one word of advice on the other. All of the corks are now displayed in our home.
Cocktail hour featured a playlist of our favorite country songs, Mexican-themed appetizers and signature cocktails served in mason jars, aptly named, “Getchasome” and “Married Man’s Mojito.” In true Texas fashion, dinner was a Tex-Mex buffet fiesta filled with all of our favorites, including fajitas and enchiladas. To top it off, our cake was done by our favorite San Francisco cupcake purveyor, SusieCakes and included their signature red velvet with cream cheese filling, along with my favorite, homemade carrot cake. Tabletop arrangements included burlap table runners from Etsy, mini mason jars for tealight candles, reclaimed barn wood table frames indicating the table name and simple flower arrangements in rustic wooden boxes for the round tables and groupings of three different size mason jars on the square tables.Every detail was hand-chosen and in most-cases hand designed by us, and we wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Wedding Photography: Jamie Grenough Photography / Wedding Venue: Robertson House in Sebastopol, California / Floral Design: Vanda Floral Design / Catering, Rentals, Drapery + Uplighting: Pacific Connection / Wedding Cake: SusieCakes / DJ: Modern Mix Music (415-716-0987) / Transportation: First Student / Wedding Dress: Martina Liana / Bride’s Necklace: Tiffany & Co. / Hair + Makeup: It’s A Date At The Powder Room / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: J.Crew / Bridesmaids’ Necklaces: Dogeared / Men’s Suits: Ralph Lauren + Michael Kors