Category: Wedding Ceremony

We all love “new”, right? New cars, new clothes, new guy (Ok, you’re probably past that one.) To prove our love of all things “new”, we’ve added a fresh crop of wedding, ceremony and rehearsal dinner locations to the Here Comes The Guide website. Be sure to check them out soon, before they’re all booked up! You might also want to visit our “New Stuff” page on a regular basis, where you’ll find updated lists of all our newest California wedding locations and vendors.

I wanted to tell you about a recent wedding we heard of at one of our favorite Malibu private estates, Enchanted Sea Cottage. The expert design architect behind it all was Gianna Provenzano of Gianna and Company, and, let me tell you, she knows glamour. First of all, the couple was married on a private Malibu bluff overlooking the ocean (how’s that for making a statement?). To keep the focus on the natural scenery, Gianna smartly placed natural wood chivari chairs facing the ocean for the guests.

A chicken coop and water tower used for events? As the location scout for Here Comes The Guide, I just couldn’t resist exploring this anomaly of a Wine Country reception venue/event site, situated along the Gravenstein Trail just outside Sebastopol, also known as “the Berkeley of Sonoma County.” How, I wondered, could this former working farm possibly host a wedding or corporate event?

My sister Sandra is getting married in October 2008 and Tyler, her boyfriend (he hates the word fiancé) has family in Mendocino so they travel there frequently. When they started planning their wedding there wasn’t even a question about where it would take place: The Little River Inn in Mendocino.

Maxine’s creative design and fabulous group of vendors made this wedding one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen a lot of events!) One of the things that I thought was so unique was Maxine’s idea to have the ceremony “in the round” instead of the traditional setup. This meant that all of the guests had a great view, and not just of the backs of the brides and groom.

She’s Indian; his family is Scottish; they’re both federal prosecutors who meet, fall in love, and stage a wedding the town is still talking about. (TV execs, are you listening??) Honoring the bride’s heritage, the groom arrived at the ceremony like a prince…

I’m always interested in how an industry pro arranges her own “I Do” bash, and recently I chatted with Il Fornaio’s former Marketing Director Tammy Bradley for the details of her elegant garden ceremony at the incomparable Kohl Mansion.