Joe & Sarah ~ A Perfect Weekend in Sonoma

Joe and Sarah were so much fun to work with. They live in Chicago, and the wedding would be 100% destination, so putting together a full weekend of fun for their guests was a top priority! They LOVE wine and have visited Sonoma quite a few times, so were excited to share the beauty of wine country with 70 of their closest friends and family. They chose the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn as home base for their wedding weekend. Given that they planned to consume a lot of wine over the course of the weekend, they wanted their guests to be together, to make it easy to shuttle everyone between the different venues and weekends’ activities. Renting shuttle busses is always a good idea in wine country, allowing your guests to relax, sip and not worry about driving.

We kicked off the weekend on Friday with a wine tour. The guest’s enjoyed lunch at the Fairmont, and then the bus picked them up and took them to Cline Cellars for a tasting. It was a really nice setting. Cline offered them a private, tented pavilion for the tasting, overlooking a beautiful pond. It was very relaxed and a great way to start the day. Next, we were off to Kunde. Kunde is one of my favorite wineries. It is so beautiful and the wines are great. The group enjoyed an outdoor private tasting and then were lead on a tour of the wine cave and adjacent vineyards. Lastly, we were off to another one of my favorites, Landmark Vineyards. We did another wine tasting, as guests mingled throughout the beautiful property, chatting and playing lawn games. Given we were now at our third winery for the day, it was time for some dinner! The Fig Rig (the girl & the fig’s food truck), pulled up and offered the guests an array of pork belly sandwiches, burgers, grilled cheeses, fig salad, French fries, mac n’ cheese, fig crisps and brownies. You can imagine what a big hit this was!! It really was a perfect way to start the wedding weekend.

And then we were on to the wedding day! Sarah and Joe have been an item for 15 years. So, needless to say, this day has been highly anticipated by many for a long time. They wanted to throw the biggest party of their life…and that’s what they did! They have been long time club members at Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards, so they knew that was the perfect venue for their wedding. They wanted the best food, the best entertainment and the best décor. And they, got it! They made sure to work with some of wine country’s top-notched vendors to make sure their wedding was one that everyone would remember forever. One of my favorite details from their wedding is that they made each guest a personalized menu card, with their name at the top (which eliminated the need for a separate placecard), and each guest’s specific meal choice (including some special customizations that were made for certain dietary restrictions). This sort of attention to detail is something that can be possible (without driving yourself completely insane) if you spend two years planning your wedding, like Joe and Sarah did. I know that the guests loved that personal attention, making them feel so welcome as they took their seats at the dining table. They finished off the night with a 9 piece dance band, All Star Jukebox, which included a horn section and locally famous Misa Malone, from Beach Blanket Babylon. They kept the dance floor packed all night long!!

Overall, I truly loved getting to know not only Joe and Sarah, but all of their 70 friends and family as well. Seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces all weekend long, made me so happy and is exactly why I love what I do for a living! Being able to show guests all of the reasons I choose to work and live in Sonoma is really a blessing. To see how their wedding day came together, check out these gorgeous photos by Jen Philips Photography.