We were so lucky to find Magnolia Farm. The owners had recently finished a complete renovation of the house and grounds and when I contacted them had only hosted one other wedding. It was the perfect location for us. There were 6 bedrooms that accommodated my closest family members for the wedding weekend and it was just one mile from fabulous hotels and restaurants on the Sonoma Plaza. And the entire place, from the original, 150 year old house, to the modern addition, to the barn, to the expansive lawn and amazing pool dripped with charm. It was a truly special place. Unfortunately, the house was sold about two months before the wedding, and I don't think the new owner is planning to use it as a rental property in the future.
A note on using rental properties as wedding venues: When I started looking at renting a home for our wedding I had no idea what I was getting into in terms of time and expense. It was wonderful to have the flexibility that a non-wedding venue afforded, but the extras that you need to rent at a place like this really add up. Things like lighting, portable restrooms and heaters don't come cheap. And they're not an optional expense if you're inviting 100 people to an unlit backyard for 6 hours.
I think even more unexpected was the amount of time it took to get the property ready for the wedding. Our family and friends helped us set up the reception tables and move lounge furniture before our rehearsal. My father in law and brother in law were up at 8 am on the wedding day to help me set up ceremony chairs in front of the house. Keeping all 12 people who stayed at the house well fed meant my mom and aunt seemed to perpetually be at the sink washing dishes. It was just a lot more work than I expected. However, looking back and remembering how willing everyone was to step in and help out warms my heart to this day.
I contacted Nole after I saw her beautiful wedding featured on pretty much all of my favorite wedding blogs. I loved everything about her wedding, but was especially drawn to her beautiful paper products that she designed herself. I was thrilled to find out that she was willing to custom design my programs, table numbers, menus and place cards. Her prices are more than reasonable and she was quick, patient, responsive, friendly and so creative. The final products were stunning and she went above and beyond with small details that really brought every element together. I don't know what I would have done without her!
I love the ladies at Hitched. Everyone at the salon is friendly and down to earth. They have a great sense of style and the dresses they sell are absolutely beautiful. I ended up buying my invitations at their fine paper salon and they couldn't have made the process easier. They remained patient with me through revision after revision and we loved the final product. They have a great selection of invitations and the hardest part of the whole process was choosing just one design.
We ordered our custom map of Sonoma from Moments of Color. Not only was the price right (just $50 for a custom map with unlimited revisions), but the quality and the customer service were great. I sent them correction after correction and they patiently updated my draft time and again. Once the draft was finalized they sent me a pdf that I sent to UPrint, which was the most economical option I found for printing 100 5 by 7 cards. The final product looked great and arrived quickly.
A friend of ours designed our Save the Date Card and we sent the pdf off to Vista Print. For the price (free, plus shipping and handling), the post cards were much better quality than I expected and they arrived quickly. No complaints here.
Patty and Maria, BBY Pin Hair and Makeup, Hercules, CA: Highly Recommended
Finding reasonably priced hair and makeup artists in the Bay Area is really difficult. Let alone finding people willing to come to your location. I feel lucky to have found Patty and Maria, who met both of these criteria. They're both so talented-I loved my hair and makeup and I've never seen my mom look more beautiful. Basically, they work magic. Plus they were such a calming presence at a time when anxiety was running high. I should mention, however, that they both have demanding day jobs and aren't the easiest people to keep in contact with, but your patience will definitely be rewarded if you book them.
We haven't received our video yet, but the ladies at Razor Bryne were nice enough to work within our budget, even though it was significantly less than their usual rate. Their associate filmed our wedding day and was so unobtrusive, I barely noticed she was there. I can't wait to see the final result.
We hired Elle to handle our lighting after meeting the owner, Brandon Cruz. He was just so friendly and enthusiastic. Plus his quote for the strings of globe lighting I was aching to have was several hundred dollars less than the local company quoted. We ended up ordering the globe lighting for our dinner area, plus lighting for the dance floor and our lounge area. Unfortunately the lounge lighting was never connected, but Brandon happily refunded that charge and apologized profusely. Everyone loved the globe lighting and it provided the perfect ambiance for our garden party.
First I have to say the Girl and the Fig is an institution in Sonoma and their food and service is absolutely phenomenal. The wait staff at our wedding were professional, attentive and friendly. The bartenders kept the liquor flowing. And the food (especially since it was prepared and served outside) was fresh, flavorful and hot. However, dealing with their catering manager in the months leading up to the wedding was probably the single most stressful aspect of wedding planning for me. My first contact there was friendly and easy to work with. I was especially grateful that she agreed to waive the corkage fee that they usually charge clients who provide their own alcohol, which made them just fit in our budget. Unfortunately, this manager soon left and we were in the hands of a new manager who seemed intent on nickel and diming us every step of the way. Things that I was told would be included in the contract were suddenly being charged to me, and every time it was a fight to get the new fee removed from our bill.
Unfortunately, the wait staff dropped an entire crate of dinner plates before dinner service. I have to give them credit for rushing to the restaurant and getting backup plates to our venue before any of us were the wiser. However, they refused to pay the nearly $400 fee for the plates they broke, because we didn't agree to pay a 20% service charge to give them the responsibility of handling the rentals, which I found disappointing. (Luckily I paid for the rentals with my American Express card and was able to file for reimbursement through their Purchase Protection program. Less than two weeks later my account was credited the full expense. I love American Express.)
Happily, it seems that the catering manager that I dealt with has left the Girl and the Fig, so hopefully dealing with them will be easier in the future. The food really is great. And I did enjoy working with the chef who prepared the meal on site. She was responsive, friendly and helpful throughout the process.
We used Wine Country Parties to rent tables, chairs, linens, heaters, dinnerware, glasses, etc., etc. Basically we used them for everything. The ordering process was easy and delivery and pickup went off without a hitch. So imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail explaining that 80 napkins were missing and they were sending us a bill for $400. Now 80 napkins take up a lot of space. It's not like they can be misplaced just anywhere. And I know that they were in the linen bags that were returned to the delivery truck. But Wine Country Parties continued to demand a $400 payment for a solid month, even though I insisted that the napkins were returned. During this ordeal I heard from our caterer that Wine Country Parties has done this to their clients before. They finally removed the charge from our bill, but I wouldn't do business with them again.
I tried my dress on at Kleinfeld's in NYC and loved it, but couldn't bring myself to spend $3,000 on a dress I would only wear once. I went home and googled the style number, only to find the exact same dress being sold for a fraction of the cost by a woman who had my exact measurements about 45 minutes away from my parents' house. I sent my mom to make her first Craigslist purchase. She loved the dress. She loved the seller. She loved the seller's fiancé. I loved that it was such a great bargain.
Broach: Purchased from
I knew I wanted something to pin on my dress' sash and happened to find
Shoes: Sigerson Morrison via Zappos
Who doesn't love Zappos? I found my gold flats, which I've already worn several times in "real life" on sale. They arrived on my doorstep the next day.
Veil: Occansey Veils: Recommended
Easy, completely customizable, friendly, fast and very affordable. Absolutely no complaints.
Alterations: Louise Austrie,
My dress had been altered on the cheap by the previous owner before she decided to buy a different wedding dress. The person who did the alterations made a complete mess of the lace and Louise expertly fixed the problem. She made the dress fit so well that even though we forgot to close the hook that made the back a key hole (a mistake I didn't even realize until I got home that night), the dress never budged and looked like it was made to be a v-back.
Louise also made my sister's dress from scratch. We gave her some inspiration and she ran with it. My sister and I both loved how it turned out. Louise really knows how to sew, she understands a woman's body and has great taste. She was a great resource for us.
Ketubah Design: Jessica Kraft: Highly Recommended
My husband and I wanted to use our vows as our ketubah text, but quickly found that most artists charged upwards of $200 extra for customized text. Not Jessica. She's young and her designs are fresh and totally customizable. No additional fees on top of her already reasonable prices. She was happy to go through several drafts with us until we got the text and design perfect. We love our ketubah.
Inn at
About half of our guests stayed at this charming inn about a block from
Sonoma Valley Inn: Recommended
I reserved a block at this Best Western for our guests coming with families. This hotel, which is about two blocks from the Plaza, was the only hotel we blocked that could accommodate a family of four in one room. I did think the rooms were overpriced at $289/night, but they make it very easy to reserve blocks of rooms, with a minimum of commitment.
El Dorado Hotel: Highly Recommended:
At $200/night I knew I wanted to block this hotel for all of our young guests. It’s the most affordable hotel in
We decided to host a welcome reception at the El Dorado Kitchen instead of doing a traditional rehearsal dinner. They have a nice reception space that opens onto an adorable courtyard with a huge fig tree that was perfect for our casual reception. The heavy passed appetizers and the dessert bar were all delicious (I wish I hadn’t been too excited/anxious to really enjoy the food). And everyone enjoyed the open bar. All in all it worked really well for us and allowed our friends and family to meet and mingle before the big event.
The service was pretty good, but some of the food we ordered took a long time to come out of the kitchen, and they didn’t set up the desert table until about an hour into the event even though I’d specified that all of the food was to come out at the beginning of the night. It took a couple of trips to the manager before they finally got their act together. Despite that small hiccup, I would recommend the El Dorado Kitchen and plan to eat their again sometime soon.
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