Wow. Not only have I found my new favorite wedding venue, I’m totally sold on winter weddings. And it’s all thanks to this intimate Napa gem planned and designed to perfection by Soiree by Simone. Full of simple yet stunning details, the images from Tia & Claire Studio are sure to knock your pretty, little socks off. Don’t miss a thing! Click here for the full gallery!
Don’t even think about skipping over this gorgeous film from LoveSpun Films:
From Soiree by Simone… Being from Texas where large weddings are the norm, it was decided that they would do something a little bit different. Olivia’s vision was an intimate destination wedding for only the most important people in California’s wine country.
From the start, Olivia had her heart set on an elegant winter affair in one of the most beautiful regions in all of Northern California. It was equally important that the food and wine experience was unsurpassed while still feeling very relaxed. Olivia toured a half a dozen beautiful venues and nothing really felt like it was “the one” until she experienced Calistoga Ranch. The exclusivity, serenity and gorgeous accommodations felt just right, and the vision of having a romantic and warm candlelit dinner was exactly what she was looking for.
A full four days of festivities were planned for their forty-five person guest list – a welcome reception at Hotel Yountville, a custom wine blending class, hot air balloon rides, and a fantastic family-style rehearsal dinner at Michael Chiarello’s flag ship eatery, Botegga.
When we began to conceptualize the wedding design, it was important to us that it felt warm, romantic and inviting, but still very connected to the winter season and the environment of Napa Valley. We loved the olive trees that are lush along the Silverado Trail, the hardy nature of succulents and herbs, and all the exposed wood at Calistoga Ranch. Since we used the magical wine cave for both the ceremony and dinner reception, we wanted all floral to be very structured and for the lighting to play a large role throughout the entire event. It was also important that we matched the elegance and formality of Olivia’s gorgeous Monique Lhuillier gown.
We loved the cool tones and bright contrast of our color palette of white, lavender, slate gray and moss. We also focused on using natural wooden components such as exposed wood kings farm tables, various styles of wooden dining chairs and natural wood floral vessels. To compliment the cool tones, we decided to bring in silver metallic and mercury glass accents in the form of tall taper candlesticks and votive candles to add that special sparkle.
Since the wedding was so close to Christmas, Olivia really wanted to incorporate one of her favorite family holiday traditions into their wedding by giving each guest a special ornament as a take home keepsake. To incorporate this element into her event, we created elegant ornaments made of clear glass spheres filled with Air Plants attached with slate tags with each guests’ name and table using white ink calligraphy. The ornaments were then placed on a bed of dried lavender on top of glass trays at the entrance of the dinner reception and were used as escorts and then taken home as favors in custom letter press boxes.
One the most special and beautiful details that we created for Olivia and Seth were our Prayer Scrolls. As a couple, along with their families, they have a deep spiritual faith which played a huge role throughout their entire wedding. We asked Olivia to select her favorite scripture about love which we broke into individual lines and had embroidered on to ivory muslin scrolls. As part of the dinner prayer, we placed a single scroll across each guests’ dinner place setting and had them recite their line around the room in sequence of the scripture. It was so beautiful to hear the words spoken by each person in their group that was there to celebrate in their union.
Wedding Photography: Tia & Claire Studio / Wedding Venue + Catering: Calistoga Ranch in Calistoga, California /Wedding Planning & Design: Simone Lennon from Soiree by Simone / Floral + Event Design: Yasmin Zialcita Ali from Floral Theory / Wedding Cinematography: Jessica Ringer from LoveSpun Films / Lighting: Enhanced Lighting and Sound / Event Rentals: Hartmann Studios / Vintage Rentals: One True Love Vintage Rentals / Linen Rental: La Tavola Linen / String Quartet: Garden Strings / Band: The Wall Street Band / Letter Press Invitations: Oblation Letter Press via Union Street Papery / Menus + Escort Cards: Union Street Papery / Prayer + Chair Scrolls: Tree and Ink / Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier “Catherine” / Bridesmaids’ Attire: Monique Lhuillier / Hair + Makeup: Sarah Hyde, sHe Artists