Planning a Destination Wedding in Napa or Sonoma
A lot of the weddings we plan are destination weddings. Given that Napa and Sonoma is a top wedding destination in the USA, we work with couples from New York, Chicago, Texas and all over the US and the world! Couples are often concerned about being so far away, which is why they enlist our help. It’s important to have a local contact that can do site visits and meetings on your behalf. In this day and age, technology makes things very easy for me as a planner. I will often Facetime couples or take videos and photos, to be able to share everything they need to see and know during a planning meeting with a vendor. One of the most common questions I get is, “How many in person visits will we need to make to wine country during the planning process?” Most of my couples will visit at least once, some will come twice and I’ve worked with a few brave couples who don’t visit at all during the planning process. It really depends on how familiar you are with the area, and how much trust you have in your planner! Some couples come to us with a venue already in mind from a previous vacation to wine country. If you already have a venue in mind, you won’t need more than one trip to wine country during the planning process. If you do not have a venue in mind, you may want to consider making one trip to view a few venues before signing a venue contract. As your planner, we will help you narrow down all of the many options in advance, so you can focus on visiting your top 5 venues that fit your style and budget best.
After selecting your venue, you may also want to consider doing a planning trip to wine country about 8 or 9 months before your wedding day. I typically spend 2-3 days with my destination couples, depending on if we are just planning a wedding or if we are also planning other events throughout the wedding weekend. On this visit, I suggest doing 1 or 2 tastings with caterers, doing a cake or dessert tasting, a hair and makeup trial, a visit to the rental company to select placesettings and overall event design, as well as a walk through at your venue to discuss flow and layouts. It’s also nice to squeeze in a design meeting with the florist if your schedule allows. If you have engagement photos included in your photography package, you will also want to make time for that. You may also want to visit a few hotels you are considering for room blocks, to be sure they meet your expectations. If you are also planning other events over the course of the weekend, you will also want to spend one day visiting potential venues for these events. As your planner, we put together a detailed itinerary for your planning visit to make everything as easy as possible for you! All you need to do is book a flight, a rental car and a hotel and we will take care of the rest for you. Napa and Sonoma counties are large, so having a professional put together a schedule for you is very important. We are able to put together a schedule that logistically works well, so you don’t waste any unnecessary time driving in the car. We want to leave you with as much free time as possible to enjoy your visit as well!
Here is a sample itinerary for your wedding planning visit:
Day One
- Meet your planner at your wedding venue to discuss layouts, create a wedding timeline & discuss wedding details
- Do a tasting with catering option #1 (keep in mind that you will need to schedule these a few weeks in advance and will also need to have your wedding menu and proposal narrowed down already)
- Visit a rental company to design placesettings
- Visit a florist to discuss design
Day Two
- Do a hair and makeup trial
- Take engagement photos with your photographer (if included in your package)
- Do a tasting with catering option #2
- Do a cake tasting
Day Three
- Visit possible hotels for room blocks
- Visit possible venues for your rehearsal dinner and other events you are planning that weekend
- Go wine tasting and enjoy yourselves!
If you have any questions about planning a destination wedding in Napa or Sonoma, please send us a message. We are always happy to help! Happy planning!