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From Rosemary Special Events… From my first meeting with Lauren & Joe when we met to scout out venues in the Napa Valley, I just knew working with them would be a pleasure… they are such a great couple… so much fun and sweet! They wanted a simple, elegant celebration that featured the beauty of Napa Valley… classic and natural with just a touch of modern style.

They decided on Holy Family Mission, a charming and historic Catholic church built in 1912 set in the midst of the vineyards in Rutherford. For the reception they selected the Calistoga Ranch, a beautiful 48-room resort tucked in a private canyon just outside the town of Calistoga.

The wedding took place over Memorial Day weekend. Lauren wanted the wedding day to feel bright, summery and natural so we chose a palette of white and taupe with subtle green accents to keep it light and airy. We had a little weather scare with rain leading up to the wedding but in the final days the weather miraculously turned and they enjoyed temperatures in the mid-80s all weekend.

The traditional ceremony was intimate, simple and gorgeous. Lauren’s parish priest flew up from San Diego to perform the ceremony. Lauren looked absolutely stunning in an ivory, strapless Vera Wang gown. She carried a white bouquet of peonies, hydrangeas and garden roses that was finished with a vintage silk ribbon that her mother had found on a trip to France. Her bridesmaids wore full-length Kirstie Kelly dresses in a blush tone and the men looked very handsome in classic black tuxedos. Bunches of simple white hydrangea behind the altar and on the pews were the perfect accent to the gorgeous wood beamed ceilings and hand painted walls of church. A vintage lace French altar cloth given to the couple by Lauren’s mom graced the altar.

After the ceremony, guests were transported by shuttle up to Calistoga Ranch where they mingled over cocktails, sampled delicious bites of Calistoga Ranch’s spectacular cuisine and took in the 180-degree view of the surrounding lake and canyon. Designer, Nicole Sillapere blew everyone away with her absolutely stunning florals and event décor. In order for guests to savor every moment of sunlight and the natural surroundings, dinner was served under a soft and beautiful white Raj Tent with open sides. Nicole kept it clean and modern with contemporary white chairs, a mix of square, round and long tables with crisp white linens. Fluffy white peonies, Star of Bethlehem, lily of the valley, white tulips and white hydrangea were grouped separately in mixed sizes of white and glass vessels. The programs, escort cards, menus and place cards were gorgeous… each finished with taupe custom stitching. Place settings were accented with a taupe woven ribbon and a single gardenia leaf.

Guests enjoyed a delicious 3-course meal and listened to jazz standards performed by Ever Music Group. Once the sun went down and it started to get chilly, we ushered everyone into an underground wine cave that had been transformed into a chic, candlelit lounge for dancing. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Joe, a really talented singer/songwriter surprised Lauren with an original song he had written for her…. it was very romantic! They had a blast dancing the rest of the night to the sounds of DJ Goyo and enjoyed the chocolate wedding cake created by the pastry chef at Calistoga Ranch. It was such a fun and romantic celebration for such a fabulous couple. Congratulations Lauren and Joe!

Wedding Photography: Jose Villa / Wedding Gown (silver belt): Ivy & Aster, Sweet Pea/ Wedding Invitations: Tiny Pine Press / Other Paper Goods: Mira Aster / Event Planning: Rosemary Hattenbach of Rosemary Special Events / Floral Design & Event Décor: Nicole Sillapere / Wedding Ceremony Location: Holy Family Mission, Rutherford, CA / Wedding Reception Location & Catering: Calistoga Ranch / Wedding Cake: Calistoga Ranch / Tent: Raj Tents / Hair & Makeup: Darcy Hunt & Elise Newman of Primped Napa Valley / Band: Ever Music Group / DJ: DJ Goyo of Uptempo Productions / Wedding Dress: Vera Wang / Bridesmaid Dresses: Kirstie Kelly / Film Work: Richard Photo

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Post tags: CA, Calistoga, Calistoga Ranch, Classic, DJ Goyo, Ever Music Group, Green, Holy Family Parish, Jose Villa, Kirstie Kelly, Lela Rose, Modern Style, Nicole Sillapere, Northern California, RAJ Tents, Rutherford, Taupe, Tented Reception, Uptempo Productions, Vera Wang, Vineyard Wedding, White
Post categories: Casual Elegance

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And to top off all of that gorgeous, we have the sweetest little film to share by StillMotion. Enjoy…

Maciej and I are huge foodies. We love food and wine and above all else-CHEESE!  Maciej proposed at Stone Barns while we were on a morning hike.  He packed a picnic of all my favorite cheeses and in one of the cheese wrappers was the ring box. When I opened that cheese he had written “I love you, you are my best friend, will you marry me?” on the inside of the cheese wrapper.

When beginning our wedding planning we knew we wanted lots of amazing food and wine.  We also knew we wanted a rustic theme to carry through as we love being outdoors as much as possible. Calistoga Ranch offered us exactly what we were looking for.  We wanted to keep it small with just our closest family and friends.  It was really important to Maciej and I that we were able to take the time to take in how special this weekend was-and to truly understand the reason everyone was gathered together, to celebrate our marriage.

I had fallen in love with these save the date dish towels I’d seen on Chewing the Cud’s website and I knew I wanted to do something similar.  With Viola, we came up with our entire wedding theme, “One Big Love Feast!” It fit us perfectly-the entire weekend was going to be one big love feast.  We followed the theme with an amazing invitation by Chewing the Cud that was a flattened vintage spoon with our initials on it attached to a heavy card to push the rustic theme.  The spoons were such a nice touch as everyone was able to keep them as a memory.

It was really important for Maciej and I to plan the wedding ourselves as we wanted to feel connected to each part of the wedding-from the readings to the welcome bags for the guests, which included some of our favorite snacks!  Together we had a great time being creative and finding small touches that we hoped would make our wedding feel just like “us.” We welcomed guests to Napa with MapTote welcome wine totes filled with lots of our favorite goodies, including Liddabit Caramels & In & Out notepads.  We had our welcome dinner to kick off the “One Big Love Feast” at Gott’s Roadside in St. Helena.

Our rehearsal dinner was a Mexican theme and it took place poolside at Calistoga Ranch.  Viola designed a colorful window pane to indicate table assignments and our floral designer, Martha, created a floral vision that was PERFECT for our theme. We imported our linens from Las Ventanas resort and added little touches from designers I found on Etsy. My bridal party and myself spent the day of the wedding relaxing and getting our hair and makeup done by Julie Morgan. She was fantastic!

The ceremony was held on the lawn overlooking the mountains and the valley.  Viola for Chewing the Cud took a poem Maciej had written for me and designed beautiful ceremony programs, which sat in a hand crafted box she provided filled with Rosemary. Maciej was born in Poland and although his Aunt was able to travel and be with us, his Grandmother was too ill to travel such a distance.  We wanted to make sure she was represented so as our unity ceremony, Maciej’s Aunt presented him with a shawl that his Grandmother made for us.  He wrapped the shawl around my shoulders to represent our families joining together.  It was a very special moment.

We had cocktails on the lawn as the sun set.  After cocktails we moved to the wine cave for dinner and dancing.   We carried our invitation theme through the spoon and fork with our table seating assignments-everyone was either at the Spoon table or the Fork table.  The guests names were written an attached to either a vintage spoon or fork.  The tables were decorated with lots of moss, loads of cream and green florals surrounded the tables and greenery draped from the hanging chandeliers in the ceiling.  The room felt rich with lavender and the exact elegant rustic feel we wanted.  We had a seated dinner with very special speeches coordinated by my sister and Maid of Honor.  She had each member of our bridal party get up and introduce themselves and say what their lives would have been like had Maciej and I not been born.  When we were young I had written her a list of things that would be missing had she not had been born and she remembered that and used it in our wedding!  It was incredibly special to us.  Our cake was another really special surprise for our guests.  We wanted a cake designed to look like cheese!  Amber from Sweet on Cake was amazing and designed the most realistic looking “cheese cake” I have ever seen!  It looked amazing and tasted even better!

My family are die hard Red Sox fans and Maciej is a Yankees fan-so my Dad surprised Maciej by having everyone put on Red Sox hats he bought and having the band play “Sweet Caroline.”  It was so much fun to see Maciej’s face and to see everyone having such a great time. Dancing to the wonderful music by Ever Music Group followed and then a special viewing of our SDE by StillMotion.  The entire weekend was beyond anything we could have imagined.

Wedding Photography: Meredith Davenport for Christian Oth Studio / Wedding Venue: Calistoga Ranch / Floral Design: Blooms by Martha Andrews / Wedding Invitations & Paper Goods: Viola Sutanto of chewing the cud / Wedding Weekend Coordinator: Karin Kamb of Clever Girl Consulting / Rehearsal Dinner Location: Calistoga Ranch / Hair & Makeup: Julie Morgan / Wedding Band: Ever Music Group / Wedding Cake: Sweet on Cake / Wedding Dress: Amsale / Bridesmaid Dresses: Amsale / Groom & Groomsmen Attire: J.Crew / Groom & Groomsmen Socks: Paul Smith / Groomsmen Ties: Jack Spade / Groom’s Tie: Ralph Lauren / Wedding Cinematography: StillMotion / Bride’s Flower Hair Piece & Garter: Twigs & Honey / Bride’s Shoes: Christian Louboutin

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Post tags: Amsale, Blooms by Martha Andrews, CA, Calistoga, Calistoga Ranch, Chewing The Cud, Christian Louboutin, Christian Oth Studio, Clever Girl Consulting, Ever Music Group, J. Crew, Jack Spade, Julie Morgan, Karin Kamb, Napa Valley, Navy Blue, Paul Smith, Pink, Ralph Lauren, Rustic Chic, StillMotion, Sweet on Cake, Twigs & Honey, Wine Country Wedding
Post categories: California Weddings, Napa Valley Weddings, Traditional Elegance

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From Alyssa Brown of Alison Events Planning and Design…Erin and Jeremy got married at a private estate in Sonoma County on a gorgeous summer afternoon. Their whimsical sense of design showed through every last detail, from the card catalog escort card display to the puzzle piece menus. He an astrophysicist, she a law professor and both of them avid readers, their bookish backgrounds provided a lot of inspiration for the big day. In the card catalog, they placed retro candies, wooden puzzles and typewritten cards individually written for each guest, listing out their name, date of birth, table number, subjects they might like to discuss, and people they might be interested in speaking with during the wedding. Table numbers were actual books that represented the interests of the people at each particular table (i.e. Class of ’99 yearbook, San Francisco guide book, etc.).

The floral arrangements on the dinner tables were a mix of bells of Ireland, peonies, scabiosas and more buds arranged in an array of different beakers. The place settings were set with a copy of the Irish Tree of Life and a puzzle piece. Guests were encouraged to put all of their puzzle pieces together, which fit perfectly together to list their menus. After a delicious family style meal in the property’s barn, guests were invited to square dance the rest of the night away while eating hydro ice cream that was being made on-site by a goggle-clad man surrounded by smoke.

Event Design & Planning: Alyssa Brown of Alison Events / Photography: Adi Nevo / Flowers: Natalie Bowen / Invitations: Hello! Lucky / Linens: La Tavola / Catering: Componere Fine Catering / Rentals and Lighting: Classic Party Rentals / Hairpieces: Whichgoose / Venue: Durham Ranch, Mint Locations

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Post tags: Adi Nevo, Alison Events, California Weddings, Calistoga, Classic Party Rentals, Hello! Lucky, La Tavola Componere Fine Catering, Natalie Bowen, Sonoma
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Traditional Elegance

We have lots more to come!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: California Weddings, Calistoga, Solage, Tanja Lippert
Post categories: Casual Elegance

After the outdoor ceremony, the couple held their reception indoors and let their easy, breezy elegance infuse every detail. The centerpieces are totally approachable, with single blooms and fruits immersed in tall vases. A great way to add a bit of intrigue to your tables. Love that. Everything about this wedding is refined, sophisticated and absolutely gorgeous!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: California Weddings, Calistoga, Solage, Tanja Lippert
Post categories: Traditional Elegance

Today’s wedding that Tanja shot is just as beautiful, just as vivid. The style is absolutely chic, built around a color palette of gray, chartreuse and a sea of white. Love, love, love.

From Tanja...

The wedding was on a gorgeous day at the Solage in Calistoga, CA.  The coordinator was Crystal Lequang from Amazae special events , the florist was Asiel Design.  The venue was perfect for a relaxed, beautiful wedding, with the bride and groom’s design choices being crisp and classic.

Solage is a great space with a laid back atmosphere.   The spa, pool areas and bicycles make for a care free, relaxed and fun environment.  I love the platinum/gray color mixed with the bright green, it really mixed the elegant, classy feeling with the laid back, casual feel, perfect for the venue!

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Post tags: Amy and Aaron, California Weddings, Calistoga, Gray, Green, Solage, Tanja Lippert, White
Post categories: Traditional Elegance

It’s it beautiful! The wedding was held in Calistoga where basically everything is beautiful, but it’s the little touches that the bride and groom infused that really made the day lovely. We have lots more coming up in just a few!

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Post tags: California Weddings, Calistoga, Gray, Green, Solage, Tanja Lippert, White
Post categories: Traditional Elegance

photos by Byron Hoffman and Lasting Images

More from Rebecca…Our vintner friend allowed Teri and Scott to use their home and winery courtyard for the
ceremony and dinner. We used all these amazing arrangements of grasses and awesome Chinese wooden boxes and containers for the tiny ceremony….there was no need to over decorate what Mother Nature had so gracefully pulled together! But, we wanted everything to be top-notch quality and authentic.

photos by Byron Hoffman and Lasting Images

After a sweet ceremony, and a cocktail reception with Napa Valley wines and an easy croquet game, the guests walked down the lane to dinner in the romantically lit courtyard. What a vision the glowing 24’ long table was…complete with personalized menus for each person, various detailed votive holders and hand blown hurricanes, soft honey-colored candles and rich candelabras with garden roses, amaranth and multiple custom floral arrangements running between it all. It was an abundant and warm look with the slanting sun-light, deep marigold linens and warm sunset and golden peach floral tones.

photos by Byron Hoffman and Lasting Images

It really was an elegant dinner party, no dancing, just a cozy lounge and lots of sweets to end the evening. …A bit different, and meaningful and memorable, and exactly what Teri and Scott had dreamed of for their first day as husband and wife.

Thank you so much to Rebecca Feeneyof Custom Event Group for sharing this incredible wedding with us! We have a pretty fun announcement coming up next, so make sure you stop back by!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: California Weddings, Calistoga, Custom Event Group, Kathy Hoffman, Rebecca Feeney
Post categories: Traditional Elegance