I drank a lot of wine and had a lot of fun in Sonoma, but the real reason I was there was for my friend Emily’s wedding.
The festivities started with an adorable school bus ride to the venue. Caitlin and I remarked that we seemed to have gotten a bit taller since the last time we were on one of those.
L-R: Alexis, Sarah, Caitlin, Liz, Emily, me and Julia
It took us to Cornerstone, which is a gorgeous venue with lots of cool art/architecture installations, across the street from Gloria Ferrer, and one of the prettiest places I’ve ever been to for a wedding. (Although, I am from NJ. The bar is not very high here.)
The format of this wedding/venue was actually really similar to Anne’s wedding: outdoor ceremony in the grass, dinner in a tent and dancing in a barn. Even the chupah was similar to Anne’s wedding tent.
At one point, the rabbi mentioned something about being present in the moment. When you are staring out at a vineyard in Sonoma, it’s pretty hard not to be.
[photo via Caitlin]
I am SUCH a wedding sap and apparently didn’t take any pictures during the ceremony because I was crying too hard to operate a camera or phone, but it was a beautiful ceremony and Emily and Justin literally radiated so much happiness and love. At one point, the rabbi asked us all to take our sunglasses off so that the happy couple could look at each of us in the eyes and see our happiness and blessings for them. Or, um, my makeup dripping down my face. Either one.
Dinner was in a beautiful tent with lanterns strung across the ceiling.
For dinner, I had the chicken with asparagus and some sort of potato pancake-y thing. I don’t remember a damn thing about how this was prepared, other than deliciously.
Wedding sunglasses at attention.
More wedding sunglasses.
Hava Nagila! (True story: there’s some Italian song my Italian mom likes to hum to Bailey and she sometimes ends up humming Hava Nagila instead…)
They had an awesome playlist, and I danced my face off.
The next morning, the farewell brunch was hosted at the Macarthur Hotel on the veranda, and it was gorgeous.
[photo also via Caitlin]
The brunch was AMAZING. (Again, I haven’t been to many post-wedding brunches, so the bar is fairly low here, although Lindsay’s post-wedding brunch in Maine had lobster, so that is a definite contender.)
Do you see that guacamole and pico de gallo goodness in the foreground of the plate? BREAKFAST ENCHILADA, ladies and gentlemen, BREAKFAST ENCHILADA. I relish in any opportunity to have guacamole before noon. The bacon was also among the best bacon I’ve ever had, and that one does have a pretty high bar.
It was a beautiful, happy weekend and I’m so happy for Emily and Justin and happy to have been able to witness their happy day.
Married people: favorite part of your wedding or thing you’d do over again? Non-married people: anything a part of your dream wedding? After this wedding, I’d say that naming the specialty cocktail after my dog like they did (SO FREAKING CUTE) may be on my someday list. Also, a brunch with breakfast guacamole.
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I love how the rabbi told everyone to take their sunglasses off. It is nice to make eye contact with people in a special moment! I'm so single, weddings don't even jump on my radar. I haven't even been been tempted to make a secret Pinterest board for my hypothetical, future wedding.
Favorite part of my wedding, bacon wrapped shrimp appetizers! And our recessional was the music from the Throne Room scene from Star Wars--my husband is a huge Star Wars fan so we LOVED it.
@hannahviolin: BACON WRAPPED SHRIMP? Amazing. And the Star Wars recessional is really cute :)
I was hoping you'd post wedding photos. Your hair looks good btw.
My favourite wedding part was coming down the aisle. My dad was crying, my friends were grinning at me like crazy people and my lovely man was red-eyed at the front of the church. It was amazing.
@Cathryn: Thanks! A friend did it. I still can't do curly/wavy hair myself.
Aw :) Did you cry at your own wedding? I am pretty sure that I would be a mess one day at my own wedding.
@Theodora:
Thought I would, got a little choked during my vows but pretty dry eyed which surprised me. I did however BOUNCE in excitement during the whole ceremony. The video is hilarious.
Looks gorgeous! My dude and I are eloping but part of our elopement plan is dinner at a very special place in Yountville (next to Napa). These pictures made me wish it was November right now!
Two favorites from my wedding: our food was a clam bake with tons of fresh sea food. Men LOVED coming to our wedding and talked about it for weeks. Most of my hubs friends annually suggest a anniversary party at the same place. And we used bubbles instead of rice/birdseed and my husband keeps a pic of us walking out looking so happy with bubbles all around on his desk.Very happy memory!
Aw :) I actually haven't been to a wedding with rice/bubbles in a LONG time. Very cute!
I had no idea by husband would tear up when he saw me coming down the aisle, but he did. And it was the sweetest thing. I can still picture him waiting for me at the alter.
We had a day after brunch too. I liked being able to do that. During the wedding you are all over the place. The brunch gave us a time to relax and actually enjoy time with our close friends and family. The best part of our wedding was that we had Chipotle cater it. People seemed to like the change in normal wedding food.
Chipotle??? You are my hero.
The best part of our wedding was the epic dance party. It was amazing to have all our favorite people breaking it down together.
Beautiful pictures! I love your dress. I don't have many big plans for my wedding but I do know that I want to have an early morning wedding with a brunch reception. I am totally a morning person!
My favorite part was definitely dancing my butt off at the reception- I'm really glad I wasn't a prissy bride! Adding an hour of time to the reception was clutch.