RED sure is the color of LOVE!

This past weekend was the beautiful winter wedding of J & J! I feel like I have been waiting all year for this one. Not only did I know it was going to be my last one of 2008, it was at the jaw dropping Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena. I could not wait to see the barrel room in all its glory. RED was the word of the day. It was absolutely stunning. The linens were red, the chair covers were red, the fabric draped on the ceiling was red, the flowers were red, even the lighting was red. The room was kept dark with spot lights on the tables. The ambiance was very romantic, but it wasn't the easiest light to set up in. My photos came out dark but you can see the red - love ambiance I'm talking about.

Sweetheart table complete with holly and silver snowflakes.

These candelabras were 5 ft. tall. There were 10 that lined the walk way for the guests to find their way through the barrel room to the ceremony. During dinner they were moved to the outer edges of the dining area. Each table had 4 votive candles on the table surrounding the cubes of red tulips.

Notice the spotlight on the center of each table adding to the dramatic look and feel. I look forward to posting some professional shots in a few weeks. Congratulations you two and what a perfect ending to a wonderful wedding year!

Pretty in Pink!

The Livermore wine valley is one of my favorite areas to work in. There are so many wonderful wineries in every nook and cranny with beautiful views. From the big players to the little intimate venues, you can't go wrong. This wedding was at the beautiful and well known Wente Vineyards. The bride stood out with an all white bouquet as the rest of the venue was decorated with splashes of pink, hot pink and mauve, with accents of sage and chocolate.

and they did!

Rustic charm

I was contacted by a cute and soft spoken bride that was having a rustic, fall Napa wedding. It was going to be at a farm house on a private estate. She wanted a very natural feel to the flowers with a lot of texture. She also had dozens of ideas filling her head and wedding binder. We changed from urns, glass bowls, to watering cans, to french buckets, to galvanized buckets and finally decided on mixed ceramic containers. The color was to be the same, but the shape would vary on each. This added to the natural look of everything. It was as though someone had made them on a pottery wheel out in the barn and had collected flowers from the field to fill them. She found a great vendor on Etsy to make various containers and ship them over for me to fill. With the flowers being all orange and burgundy, I decided to use green oak leaves to accent those two colors. The oak leaves were great subtle accents for the boutonnieres and corsages. There was even a grapevine wreath decorated with fresh flowers that hung on a rustic fence that led the guests to the ceremony site. I look forward to receiving some of the professional images as I am sure they are beautiful. The bride and groom were very happy and wrote a nice yelp review. Enjoy!

Fall colored bridal bouquet

rustic centerpieces

Grapevine wreath that hung from the farm house fence.

Alstromeria boutonniere with oak leaf and berries

Boutonniere and corsages with alstromeria.

De ja vue...

2 couples, same hotel, same church, same winery, 2 different, yet equally beautiful weddings. I was here a few months ago at Holy Family Mission Church in Rutherford and Andretti Winery in Napa and returned again on a beautiful summer day in August for the wedding of Jill and Scott. They had a classic and romantic Napa Valley celebration down to the grapes in the centerpieces. The color scheme of eggplant, mustard, olive and burgundy were echoed in the rich colors of the landscape and architecture. The beautiful photography is from J.P. Langlands and the wedding coordinator was Yong Suk Willendrup. Enjoy!

The bride carried a bouquet of all eggplant calla lilies with golden crystal jewel accents.

The bouquet was wrapped in gorgeous fabric from her dress with a stunning crystal applique.

The boutonniere had actual olive branches and olives hanging from it!

Real edible grapes hung from the centerpieces.

Doesn't that look good!

In honor of Halloween...

I will take you to Ralston Hall Mansion in Belmont. It is a U.S historic landmark and was founded in 1864. It is absolutely stunning inside and out and just "screams" high society. Upon researching this venue I found out it is haunted, or said to be. Some claim it is on the top ten list of the most haunted mansions in Northern California. OOOoooh, scared yet? Well let me tell you, the only spirits I felt that day were happy loving ones, as this was one of the most supportive and tight-knit groups I have ever come across at a wedding. Everyone was joking and friendly and just genuinely happy. A funny story and a total "duh" moment for me...I do a lot of weddings for many different religions, cultures and beliefs. I come across many new and interesting traditions and cultural practices that have opened my eyes to many great things. At this particular wedding as I was pinning the groomsmen boutonnieres on, in between the guys shouting the latest score of the game and fist pumping to every awesome play, I noticed something interesting going on. I saw the ladies in the front row with large jingle bells. They were stringing them and passing them around. I thought to myself, "Hmmm wonder what they will do with those...will they jingle them as the bride walks down, when they are pronounced Husband and Wife or at the end when the couple walks down the aisle?" I never did ask, and I kept thinking about it as I crawled in traffic on my way to the Bay Bridge. I felt like such a dork as it hit me on 80 passing Berkeley. Earlier that week the bride had given me a response card so I could see her colors. Rather than having ______# will attend or _____with regret, this clever bride had as one of her choices, "___will be there with bells on." Duh! They were all there with bells on! Isn't that cute! Here are some pictures of the event...enjoy!!!

Bridal bouquet in shades of white ivory and pinky peach.

Bridesmaid bouquet in mostly peachy pink with touch of ivory

Ceremony urns with curly willow and flowers

Table centerpieces in glass urns

Lush and romantic

Tall trumpet vase centerpieces were on every other table.

Look at that chandelier! WOW!

Very romantic set up.

Coordinator: Bellissima Vita

Photographer: Noah Hawthorne