Napa Valley and beautiful weddings go together like great wine and delicious cheese—it’s a perfect pairing. And this Sonoma wedding at the iconic Cornerstone Gardens is the perfect pairing of incredible vendors like This Love Of Yours Photography, A Charming Affair and Bright Event Rentals who executed this gorgeous couple’s vision of “a rustic wine country wedding with a classic, chic, and romantic atmosphere” perfectly. Eat up all the pretty details in The Vault!
From The Bride…Ty and I met five years ago in New York City while playing on a flag football team organized by mutual friends. It was a winter league, meaning a field of frozen snow and very cold players, but Ty told me it was love at first site when he saw me walk onto the field in my “sleeping bag” snow suit and earmuffs. Ty proposed three years later on a hike in Big Sur, California, a few months after we had moved across country to start our new life together in San Francisco.
Following the proposal we were eager to begin planning all the details of our special day. Having spent many of our free weekends since the move in Napa and Sonoma, we both envisioned a rustic wine country wedding with a classic, chic, and romantic atmosphere. We pictured earthy greens, soft shades of lavender, and natural, romantic bouquets of ivory and white florals. We loved the idea of combining rustic wood with modern silver accents. I had always dreamed of a lace dress with a beautiful open back, and fell in love with a gorgeous Liancarlo design that seemed made especially for our wedding.
We fell in love with Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma, as the venue truly highlights the beauty of Northern California, especially for our many out of town guests visiting for the first time. Cornerstone has a stunning vineyard lawn for cocktails and appetizers, a lush tented garden for alfresco dining, and a cozy barn with fire pits for after-dinner dancing. Since we both love hiking and exploring all the great outdoor activities around San Francisco, we wanted to make sure to include local accents like eucalyptus, succulents, and rosemary to represent our West Coast life together. Our amazing wedding planner, Erin Goodrich, was able to further enhance our natural vision by creating a magical display for the table seating cards, with each name pinned beautifully to a sprig of local lavender.
Ty and I absolutely love food and we knew this would be a big part of our special day. We wanted the food to match our rustic vineyard vision, so we focused on sourcing local ingredients to make the day come alive. Given my love of cheese, I decided we had to do something creative for desert. We summoned our favorite local cheese company, Cow Girl Creamery, to assist us with creating a four tiered “wedding cake” made from blocks of cheese, which Erin then decorated with flowers. To ensure Ty’s sweet tooth was also met, we worked with our favorite local bakery, Batter, to create a simple two tired ivory cake along with eight unique varieties of mini-cupcakes. One of my favorite details of our wedding was the “Sweet” and “Savory” signage that illuminated two opposite sides of the barn, highlighting my love for all things savory and Ty’s for all things sweet.
With food there must be great liquor, so we created several cocktails for the special day to complement our vision. The “Mrs.” was a rosemary cucumber Moscow Mule and the “Mr.” was a whisky-based Gentleman Johnson, in honor of Ty’s southern roots. We also sourced all wine and beer from local vineyards and breweries to highlight another of our favorite aspects of living in Northern California.
I know everyone must say this, but our wedding day was truly the most special day of our lives. Ty and I had sore cheeks from smiling and laughing so hard, and every second of it provided different moments of joy. To be surrounded by all of your loved ones at once is unlike anything we had ever experienced. The best piece of advice I was told before getting married was to enjoy every second of the day and not let minor details or nervousness creep in. I could not encourage this more for other brides to be! Take time as a couple to steal some precious moments alone, and savor every second of your special day as it will all be over way too quickly!
Photography: This Love of Yours Photography | Wedding Dress: Liancarlo | Cake: Batter Bakery | Ceremony Venue: St Francis Solano | Reception Venue: Cornerstone Sonoma | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Bella Bridesmaid | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Dessy Collection By Vivian Diamond | Catering: Park Avenue Catering | Hair + Makeup: Gigi Moss | DJ: Von Wooster | Ties: Dessy Collection By Vivian Diamond | Ceremony Music: John Simon | Transportation: St Helena Wine Tours | Transportation: Beau Wine Tours | Beverage Services: BevMo! | Cheese Wheel Cake: Cowgirl Creamery | Event Planning, Styling, + Floral Design: Erin Goodrich Of A Charming Affair | Guitarist + Vocalist: Andy Kong | Rentals: Bright Event Rentals | Rentals: Kristina V Events | Signage: 43 Layers