Wedding in Chester California Part 1 Barn Dance Rehearsal Dinner

Michelle and her family live in San Francisco, but her father bought this amazing property in Chester California as his get away. They often have parties on the property and have even begun renting some of their cabins for folks who love to get away to fish and relax.
So when Michelle began to plan her wedding the property was her first choice.
She brought in Joanna Robinson as her event producer. The property has a lodge, main house and cabins, but under Joanna's direction an outdoor kitchen was built and electricity brought in to light up the reception. I won't get ahead of myself, but will start with the Friday evening rehearsal. Joanna created a down home barbecue provided by Party Grill.
Red and white checkered table cloths, carnival games and a barn dance completed the evening. Many of the guest brought tents and camped out the entire wedding weekend.
Photos by Justin of Bonneau Photography

Fall wedding at Hans Fahden Winery Calistoga

All photos by Laurent Levy

My lovely bride choose her gown at an antique store and had it altered. It had a slight lavender hue to it, so beautiful. To fit the vintage gown we created a presentation style bouquet using calla lillies and garden roses. Then wrapped the stems in real satin. I think it is one of my all time favoirtes!
For her bridesmaid we went with multiple colored calla lilies in purples. then added fall colored roses and tied it with silver satin.
The Chuppa was constructed out of birch and done simply to not compete with the beautiful ceremony area at Hans Fahden.
Guests went from the ceremony area by the pond up the hill to the tea room for cocktails and the into the beautiul wine cave. Rather than placing centerpiece down the table, we construced a runner of twigs, succulants, flowers, grapes and hundreds of candles.

Tahoe Wedding at the Chateau in Incline Village

Jessica was married at the Chateau in Incline Village in North Lake Tahoe. http://inclinefacilities.com/weddings/chateau

She wanted to include a bit of an earthy look, so along with the roses and dahlias, we added herbs, succulents and pods to the bridal bouquets and then finshed off the stem wrap with twine.

I have to say I LOVED Cal Neva! http://www.calnevaresort.com/It is an old resort hotel in Tahoe that for a time was owned by Frank Sinatra. The place has such a 60's vibe. Jessica and her wedding party stayed here before and after their wedding in Incline Village. Frank Sinatra built a theater and there are some cool caves you can tour that he had put in for himself and the "Rat Pack" to move around unseen in. Don't the groomsmen look so retro in front of the old Cal Neva sign?
Another interesting thing about Cal Neva is the hotel sits right on the California/Nevada boarder, so as you can see in the photo above, you can be in 2 states at one time.

Photos by http://karleebphotography.com/

All photos by

Mexican Resort Centerpieces

Last weekend my bride Jenn flew in from New York for her Calistoga wedding. For her rehearsal she went with a Mexican theme reminiscent of a vacation in Mexico.
For the containors we used cans from our local Mexican bakery. I think they turned out darling!

Janet and Ryan at Solage in Calistoga

In July we had fun doing the flowers for Janet and Ryan's wedding.
The ceremony was held at the St. Joan of Arc Church in Yountville, and then the reception took place at the amazing Solage Resort in Calistoga.
Solage is an Eco friendly resort and so beautiful!
Janet went with a pallet of grey, ivory and red. We rotated the florals at the reception between red and ivory.
On the willow patio we hung over 100 hanging candles, it looked gorgeous!
We also hung white orchids from the trees that lined the walk way into the reception.
Photos by Colin Micheal.