Category: Wedding Ceremony

There are so many options in the Napa and Sonoma Wine Country, both for wedding locations and for lovely places to stay. We decided, just this time, to forgo the spa/resort route (though, I love me some spa!) and instead chose the super-cozy and yet boutiquey Cottages of Napa Valley.

This week we’re celebrating with everyone who finally has the ability to marry in California. It’s about time.

You would think the right way to hold a wedding bouquet would be obvious. “Uh, in two hands?” But no, it isn’t. I’ve endured countless clueless TV weddings, where the bride botched the bouquet thing. One of the more memorable flubs was the wedding of Karen Darling on ABC’s Dirty, Sexy, Money. This was like her 5th time down the aisle or something Elizabeth-Taylorish. This chick is super high-society (think Ivanka Trump), with the crème de la crème of wedding vendors in attendance (who should have done something with her hair!), along with a host of paparazzi.

You and your fiancé have spent practically every free Saturday since he popped the question touring possible wedding locations. In your determination to find “the perfect place,” you’ve braved traffic jams, crazy drivers, exorbitant gas prices, and sticker shock. On the first outing, he was a real trooper, agreeing wholeheartedly when you nixed the place that didn’t offer linens in periwinkle.

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.