Elegant Carneros Inn Wedding
I love the little personal touches infused into weddings. It's those details that hit me the most. Take this Napa fete from Amazae Special Events and Jennifer Skog for instance. Not only did this adorable duo's love blossom in the fourth grade, but on top of that they had the Groom's brother officiate their ceremony, followed by the stowing away of their vows with a bottle of wine to be opened back up on their fifth anniversary. Now, how sweet is that? See the rest of this beautiful day right here.
From the beautiful Bride… The two of us have known each other for over twenty years, having met as children in the fourth grade of elementary school. Fast forward through a friendship that lasted throughout middle school, high school and college, we went our separate ways as life led him to Palo Alto and me to San Diego, 500 miles apart. We reconnected years later and things never felt more right. After six years of dating, three of which were long distance before I relocated to Palo Alto, he proposed to me while overlooking the ocean on a weekend getaway to beautiful Carmel.
Our fantastic event designer and planner, Crystal Lequang, helped us narrow venues down until we came to The Carneros Inn. We were smitten with its intimate feel and perfect balance of modern luxury and California chic. As evidenced by the fruit trees and vegetable gardens on the grounds, The Carneros Inn’s restaurant, Farm, focuses on seasonal foods from the Napa Valley. Being lovers of our local markets and farms, this truly spoke to us and we were so excited to craft a memorable and delicious menu of our favorite foods and wines.
We dreamed of a personal, meaningful and classic wedding that wouldn’t be overly formal; romantic yet masculine with a touch of elegance and a hint of the outdoors. We wanted to be mindful of the things that would make our guests feel at ease and a part of a warm celebration of our love. Oh, and of course, we wanted it to be a fabulously great time! We dove right into the details and decided on a palette of soft blushes, champagne, ivory and gold to be carried throughout the day. And there was no shortage of inspiration as we pulled from sources such as the venue’s apple orchard, an extremely unique chair in the style of Louis XV that would become a part of the outdoor vignette, beautiful organically shaped gold charger plates, and even the details of my wedding gown.
Keeping in mind how we wished for the day to be personal and meaningful, we asked Toan’s brother to officiate for us and decided to write the ceremony together with stories of our childhood meeting and hopes for the future. We also chose to write our vows and read them to each other amid both laughter and tears. A wine box ceremony wrapped things up where our vows were stowed away with a bottle of wine to be read and enjoyed on our fifth anniversary. After sealing our commitment with a kiss, we walked back up the aisle to a joyous rendition of “It Had To Be You” and led our guests on a parade through the resort among the fruit trees and cottages and began the celebration.
I loved every single moment of the day, but if I had to choose some highlights I would include: reading my vows to my oldest, dearest friend; feeling overjoyed to be surrounded by our loved ones when we were all seated for dinner; the phenomenal same-day-edit video that was shown, and our first dance. Since I would be the first to admit to having two left feet, we decided to take lessons and had a simple choreographed routine to “Dream a Little Dream of Me” that was sweet and a little playful. Toan would be sure to add that some of his highlights were the awesome band that played covers of his favorite Journey songs, the Vespa that not only served up scoops of gelato but was the perfect photo op, and the very popular late night bites of sliders and grilled cheeses after all that dancing!
Our wedding day was full of happiness and the moments were sincerely us. We are thankful for our nearest and dearest who attended, and of course, our amazing team of vendors. They are all so exceedingly talented, completely genuine and brought so much heart to the day and helped us create extraordinary memories. Toan and I could not be more grateful.
Our fantastic event designer and planner, Crystal Lequang, helped us narrow venues down until we came to The Carneros Inn. We were smitten with its intimate feel and perfect balance of modern luxury and California chic. As evidenced by the fruit trees and vegetable gardens on the grounds, The Carneros Inn’s restaurant, Farm, focuses on seasonal foods from the Napa Valley. Being lovers of our local markets and farms, this truly spoke to us and we were so excited to craft a memorable and delicious menu of our favorite foods and wines.
We dreamed of a personal, meaningful and classic wedding that wouldn’t be overly formal; romantic yet masculine with a touch of elegance and a hint of the outdoors. We wanted to be mindful of the things that would make our guests feel at ease and a part of a warm celebration of our love. Oh, and of course, we wanted it to be a fabulously great time! We dove right into the details and decided on a palette of soft blushes, champagne, ivory and gold to be carried throughout the day. And there was no shortage of inspiration as we pulled from sources such as the venue’s apple orchard, an extremely unique chair in the style of Louis XV that would become a part of the outdoor vignette, beautiful organically shaped gold charger plates, and even the details of my wedding gown.
Keeping in mind how we wished for the day to be personal and meaningful, we asked Toan’s brother to officiate for us and decided to write the ceremony together with stories of our childhood meeting and hopes for the future. We also chose to write our vows and read them to each other amid both laughter and tears. A wine box ceremony wrapped things up where our vows were stowed away with a bottle of wine to be read and enjoyed on our fifth anniversary. After sealing our commitment with a kiss, we walked back up the aisle to a joyous rendition of “It Had To Be You” and led our guests on a parade through the resort among the fruit trees and cottages and began the celebration.
I loved every single moment of the day, but if I had to choose some highlights I would include: reading my vows to my oldest, dearest friend; feeling overjoyed to be surrounded by our loved ones when we were all seated for dinner; the phenomenal same-day-edit video that was shown, and our first dance. Since I would be the first to admit to having two left feet, we decided to take lessons and had a simple choreographed routine to “Dream a Little Dream of Me” that was sweet and a little playful. Toan would be sure to add that some of his highlights were the awesome band that played covers of his favorite Journey songs, the Vespa that not only served up scoops of gelato but was the perfect photo op, and the very popular late night bites of sliders and grilled cheeses after all that dancing!
Our wedding day was full of happiness and the moments were sincerely us. We are thankful for our nearest and dearest who attended, and of course, our amazing team of vendors. They are all so exceedingly talented, completely genuine and brought so much heart to the day and helped us create extraordinary memories. Toan and I could not be more grateful.