Black Tie Sonoma Valley Carnival Wedding

What began over a casual glass of wine turned into a lifelong love for this adorable pair. So, when it came time to plan the wedding a vineyard celebration was an easy decision. The ultimate black tie carnival packed with peanuts, Sweet On Cake concoctionsferris wheel rides, and cotton candy! Along with a gallery full of goodies, the fun has just begun from Jessica Burke. More up NEXT!

Colors
Styles
Rustic

From the beautiful Bride…Bryce and I met at a wine bar and love all things wine, so with my family in the Bay Area, it made perfect sense to get married in wine country. Plus, between our respective colleges, grad schools, and jobs, we had family and friends attending from all over the US and thought that if we were going to make everyone travel, we might as well give them a great destination!

Before getting engaged, I had not spent a lot of time thinking about what kind of wedding I wanted. I probably toured over 20 venues, from castles, to farms, to resorts. While we visited many beautiful properties in the Sonoma area, I fell in love with the big oak tree at Kunde under which we ultimately got married with my childhood Rabbi officiating.

With a beautiful vineyard setting as our backdrop, we wanted to let the landscape speak for itself, so we chose soft, neutral colors like champagne and blush, and natural wood elements that wouldn’t distract from the view.

Being goofy people who don’t like to take things too seriously, we knew we wanted a fun wedding that would let our personalities show, but that would still be elegant and timeless. I am not a big sweets person, but I absolutely love cotton candy. I jokingly said to Bryce that we should have a Ferris wheel and before we knew it, a theme was born: black tie carnival. (Bet you never thought you’d hear those words in the same sentence!) Once we had a theme it was easier to decide what did and didn’t fit into our vision. We had bocce and lawn bowling at cocktail hour, late night popcorn, a crate of peanuts holding our escort cards, and, of course, cotton candy. Rather than having a big, tiered cake, my mom and I spent months collecting cake stands to show off the amazing concoctions from Sweet on Cake.

When we sat down to make our list of wedding priorities, food and fun were at the top for both of us. We were lucky to be introduced to Jessica Lasky Catering who created a perfect late summer menu of fresh and local ingredients to delight our 140 guests. (People still tell us it was some of the best food they’ve ever eaten!) As for fun, All Star Jukebox kept everyone on the dance floor all night.

Our wedding day was so full of love and joy (although it went by in a blur!) and we are incredibly thankful to Jessica Burke Photography and Reel Eyes Media for capturing it so beautifully so that we can cherish those memories forever.

Photography: Jessica Burke | Videographer: Reel Eyes Media | Floral Design: Cherries Flowers | Cake: Sweet on Cake | Caterer: Jessica Lasky | Hair + Makeup: Meaganne McCandess Hair and Makeup | Band: All Star Jukebox | Ceremony Music: Giovanni Mandala | Transportation: Pure Luxury | Cocktail Hour Band: Entire Productions | Ferris Wheel: LA Party Works | Linens: BBJ La Tavola | Location: Kunde Family Winery | Photobooth: A Flying Camera | Planning: Shannon Leahy Events | Rentals & Tent: Wine Country Party