A Wine Lover’s Romantic Napa Wedding

Christine Diaz
May 1, 2017
Categories: Real Weddings

When you love red vino as much as this couple, you get married in wine country. Sugar Rush Events incorporated rich, red accents inspired by the bride and groom’s favorite drink into this stunning Napa Valley wedding – from the groom’s statement burgundy tux to the deep hues infused throughout the florals. Get inspired by all the delicious details, captured by Brooke Beasley Photography.

From the Bride… Our wedding was a labor of love for me. Seven months of magazines, Pinterest, and watching “Say Yes to the Dress” religiously. Our band was amazing. The food was ridiculous, and the flower and Edison bulb lighting combo set a great atmosphere. I had originally requested twinkle lights, but our in house designer recommended Edison bulbs to create the look and feel that we wanted, and they were amazing! They provided great rustic exposure with a soft light. They really added to the entire décor and brought the look all together.

We are BIG red wine fans! Everyone knows it. You come to dinner at our house, we drink wine. We come to your house, we bring wine. Keeping with the theme of how everyone knows and loves us, we provided customized stainless steel wine bottle openers to our guests. Now no one will have an excuse not to drink wine, and they will have great reminder of the time that they had celebrating our new adventure.

But I’m most proud of my dashing husband’s burgundy tux. It took a lot of convincing to get him to wear it, but he looked absolutely amazing in it. I wanted him to stand out. He had already sacrificed by agreeing to get married on the west coast, close to my family, so I wanted to make sure he felt special. He’ll never admit it, but he loves fashion just as much as I do, so I wanted to make sure that my dress wasn’t the only thing getting attention.

Though I love every detail about our wedding, I think my favorite detail was incorporating my grandmother into the celebration. My something old was her wedding set, which I inherited. My something borrowed was her handkerchief, which my aunt lent me. We used her wine glasses for the head table and my great grandmother’s rose tinted champagne glasses for the head table’s toast. We ended up with this incredible picture of my great grandmother’s wedding ring (which my sister borrowed from me to wear for the wedding), my grandmother’s wedding rings, my mom’s wedding rings, my sister’s wedding rings, and my engagement ring all together – and it’s a really unique picture that tells a great story of the women of my lineage.

I am the youngest of three. I wasn’t able to attend my brother’s wedding, and my brother wasn’t able to attend our sister’s wedding, so it was a wonderful rarity to have all of us together. Even though most people will tell you that my brother and sister were roasted by my parents during most of the wedding, there were a couple of really special moments that my siblings and I had with all of our new family members, like the little dance off between my brother and me and the salt shaker (don’t ask). Also, our officiant, Bonnie, surprised us by incorporating our family members during the ceremony. We had a family friend marry us and she kept everything under wraps until the rehearsal. She had selected, “I carry your heart with me,” by E. E. Cummings and separated the verses amongst our parents and siblings. It was unexpected, beautiful, and utterly special to be able to include them in our moment. Being across the country, I didn’t realize how important it was to share this milestone in my life with not only my husband, but those I’ve always looked up to.

From the Groom… We did a first look before the ceremony in the spa area of the Solage. The space was pretty, and I didn’t notice the lighting – or really anything! – as I was standing there facing the wall while Heather came into the room. When I turned around and saw her, it was perfect. She was stunning, elegant, and beaming. I don’t think I knew what radiant truly was until I saw her right then. Seeing the same look of excitement and joy in her eyes when she saw me made my heart swell.

After choosing a beautiful location in Calistoga, Heather’s decorative brilliance for both the ceremony and reception spaces, and everything going as planned leading up to the big day, it rained. It rained so much that the bottom of Heather’s dress got soaked walking into the reception area. After we entered the room, and she basically mopped the floor the whole way in, she looked at me and said, “At least the floor will be clean.” And that is why I married her. No matter what, there’s always an upside, and nothing will stop a good time. We had delicious food, drank great wine, and danced all night to an awesome band with our closest friends and family.