I can spot a Jose Villa wedding a mile away. It’s the light. That soft, totally scrumptious light that is a telltale sign a Jose wedding is in my immediate future. But the true beauty of this affair lies in the unabashed elegance and simplicity. The kind that makes you want to kick off your heels, grab a glass of wine and stay awhile. A wildly talented bunch like Melissa Panico of MAP Events and Cherries Flowers are behind all those perfectly edited details that go hand in hand with Jose’s images and a film by Joel Serrato that brings it all full circle. So hats off to you my friends. This little number is a keeper. See even more right here.
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From the Bride… We chose to get married in Sonoma for many reasons—the sheer beauty, the great wine and food, because it had been the destination of our first trip together—but an important factor was that we really wanted to take our guests out of their normal lives for a brief moment. To slow things down, put a glass of wine in their hand and take them into a little fantasy. We were incredibly lucky to work with the most amazing vendors who created that fantasy world for us and our guests with every detail, big and small. At Jose Villa’s suggestion, we found the perfect location, Kunde Family Estate, a sprawling working winery of over 1800 acres of vine covered hills, lakes, horses and cows. Even with the rustic surroundings, we wanted to dress formally—so we let that contrast inspire the rest of the design: crystal chandeliers in towering pine trees, ornate candelabras on old wooden farm tables, dancing in a gorgeous winery ruin from the 1800s with crumbling walls and an open roof to the stars.
We can’t say enough about our team who made our day more perfect than we ever could have imagined. Jose Villa and Joel Serrato captured the beauty and intimacy of every moment in the most graceful and unobtrusive way. Melissa Panico is a total rockstar who guided us towards the best creative collaborators, and made a very logistically complicated wedding (we had to bring literally everything in including power) absolutely seamless. Katherine Oliver from Cherries flowers and Larry Ginesi from Illusions Lighting turned a dream in our heads into a magical reality. Scot Anderson at Sage gave us food that our friends are still raving about. And Kunde was absolutely the most spectacular and inspiring setting ever. We feel so grateful to have found this wonderful, talented, amazing group of people—our wedding day was truly perfect! It transported us all to a magical place that we can always return to, both with Jose and Joel’s photographs and film and in our glowing memories.
Photography: Jose Villa Photography | Cinematographer: Joel Serrato Film Photographer | Planner: MAP Events | Floral Design: Cherries Flowers | Wedding Dress: Lusan Mandongus | Cake: SusieCakes | Caterer: Sage Catering | Hair And Makeup: TEAM Hair and Makeup | Lighting: Illusions Lighting | Wedding Venue: Kunde Family Winery | Band/Dinner Sound: Jenna Lebowitz Of Jenstar Productions | Blue Grass Band: Transit Of Venus | Bridesmaid Dress: Various - J. Mendel, DVF, Maje | Cocktail/Dinner Music: Transit Of Venus | Rentals: Wine Country Party | Rentals: Classic Party Rentals