Not a hurricane or an earthquake could shake these lovebird’s plans for their Big Day. While they might have needed to conduct some last minute rearranging and creative thinking, their fall wedding came together without a hitch and we have the gorgeous images by onelove photography to prove it. Don’t miss this amazing family-style reception table, complete with personalized menus, and more, right here.
From The Bride… I had always heard that planning a destination wedding was stressful. To try and limit the amount of stress on my soon to be husband and me, I decided to plan well in advance and finalize all details so that we could just soak in the time we had together as an engaged couple, because that time truly is so special and so short. Boy were my plans thrown for a loop!
Two weeks before our wedding, a 6.0 earthquake struck Napa Valley, the largest in 25 years. We had become good friends with many of the vendors and owners of wineries in Napa during our travels to and from over the years, and were so thankful that no one was seriously injured. After the wreckage settled, we realized that our original rehearsal dinner venue was not going to be able to host our guests, and the main hotel in Downtown Napa was unable to fulfill our 40 room block reserved for our guests. To say we went into panic mode was an understatement.
Thankfully, the Gro team quickly rescheduled our rehearsal dinner at another fantastic winery, and was able to transition all of our guests into homes and bed and breakfasts. We thought we had seen the worst of it, until a week before our wedding, the largest hurricane to hit Baja California, Odile, wreaked havoc on our honeymoon destination, and forced us to cancel our plans. The same day we found out about the hurricane, my makeup artist cancelled. Trying to find a makeup artist a week and a half before a bride’s big day is a nightmare, not to mention not being able to schedule a trial. After researching like crazy, my wedding planner, Krisi from Gro, found Danika. She had heard my story and even though it was her two year wedding anniversary, she cancelled her plans and drove to Sonoma to do our makeup. She was such a blessing; I will never forget her and her husband’s selflessness!
I was so fortunate to have such an incredible team of vendors to ride out this crazy storm with. Everyone came together and worked so hard, and we were and are forever grateful for our perfect day.
We wanted our wedding to focus on the covenant Grayson and I were making to each other, and we wanted to host the wedding in Napa to showcase our love of great food and wine. This area is really meaningful to us as it’s been a vacation spot for years, and it is also where we got engaged. We wanted the evening to be extremely meaningful, but not something that guests had seen hundreds of times before. In a nutshell, I wanted a very personal, reverent ceremony followed by a beautiful al fresco dinner party in the middle of a vineyard, surrounded by our nearest and dearest, and that is exactly what we got.
My vision for this dinner party had one consistent theme, which was a single beautifully set dinner table. I didn’t want a sweetheart table, rounds, or tables broken up by family and friends; I wanted everyone to dine together at a King’s Table set for 72, sans linen. Once the layout was set, the other item I wasn’t budging on was the table setting. I wanted mis-matched cut crystal, vintage china, and gold flatware. There were a number of vendors I researched, but ultimately went with Frances Lane based on Lindsay Jernegan’s selection, service, and quality of pieces.
One of my other favorite items for the evening were the custom menus Taryn at Twinkle and Toast created. Instead of the usual place card menu combo, I wanted to combine the two. I had her calligraphy each guests name in gold at the top of the menu, followed by the dinner and dessert selections. She also created the custom watercolor paper that was used.
Finally, my absolute favorite part of the table had to be the floral runner that was created by Nathan Johnson of GRO Designs. I really disliked set color themes, and items being ‘matchy.’ i.e. my maids matching my linens. That being said, when it came to flowers, I gave Nathan free reign to choose florals that were in season and would create an aesthetically pleasing palette. I made sure the rest of the wedding was neutral, so the only real color came from the blooms. His work blew me away. Not only did he make the most incredible runner I’ve ever seen, but he had the blooms coming out of sanded, re-purposed grapevines he found at the San Fran flower market. It was unreal and so special.
Photography: onelove photography | Wedding Planner: Gro Designs | Florals: Gro Designs | Wedding Dress: Amsale | Cake: Sweet on Cake | Jewelry: Maurice Badler NYC | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Joanna August | Catering: Feast Catering | Makeup: Artistry by Danika | Ceremony And Reception: Gundlach Bundschu Winery | Custom Menus: Twinkle And Toast | Live Guitarist: Jesse Macleod | Petit Fours: Patisserie Angelica | Rentals: Frances Lane | Rentals: Classic Party Rentals | Shoe Designer: Valentino | Venue Coordinator: Gundlach Bundschu Winery