First of all, where is everyone? Isn't Napa a popular place for weddings, come on people!
Secondly, I grew up in the Bay Area (Half Moon Bay) and am hoping to get married at some vineyard/winery in the Napa area in August 2011. FI and I have made lists of places that we want to visit the next time we're home (currently stationed in Alabama) but I want to see who has experiences they can share?! Even if you just visited, I need a better way to narrow down our list.
Here's some of our top picks so far, in no particular order...
Calistoga Ranch, Calistoga
The Carneros Inn, Napa
Sebastiani Vineyards, Sonoma
Hans Fahden Winery, Calistoga
Cornerstone, Sonoma
Cline Cellars, Sonoma
Testa Rosa Winery, Los Gatos
Silverado Resort, Napa
Carmel Valley Ranch, Carmel
See my problem? lol, TIA!
Re: Napa/Sonoma Venues...Planning from 2500 miles away!
We Just went up to wine country last weekend, and I've visited some of these at other times, here are my thoughts:
Calistoga Ranch, Calistoga - Beautiful, full of themselves
The Carneros Inn, Napa - Really like this place, don't know about ceremony venues
Hans Fahden Winery, Calistoga - Nice price, nice venue, probably won't pick it as we want to eat outside
Cornerstone, Sonoma - We just saw this place. I LIKED it, but there was a smell of cow poop the second time we were there. It was very windy that day, that might be why. If you could deal with the risk of that, it's one of the more interesting venues, worth a visit. Cool barn. Looks better than in the photos. Fun.
Testa Rosa Winery, Los Gatos - Not a big fan. Cheezy photos on the walls.
The place we loved was...drumroll please... Kunde Vineyards. Beautiful, classy, Boot Hill was great, the "Ruins" are amazing. Pricey, but not compared to some of the sites you have on your list. Check it out.
GL!
anyhoo...
misscarolb: not sure what your budget is, but Solage in Calistoga is gorgeous. also, artesia in sonoma.
i am looking in healdsburg this weekend. but i want more of a rustic scene. any recs?
t+sBio
My parents are being very generous but, since FI's family isn't pitching in, our budget has to cover everything from the rehearsal to the honeymoon. That being said I'm trying to keep our ceremony/reception around 20K and we'll have about 80 guests.
I'm not very picky about most things; I want pretty scenery and good food. The flowers, dress, and other details aren't as important. So a huge majority of that 20K can go to the facility fee & catering.
Hope that makes sense!
oh...just thought of another beautiful place! Viansa!! my very good friend just booked her wedding there for next April. its GORGEOUS! check it out! GL!
t+sBio
We're going out in June to look too! It's the only time FI can get off before X-mas and he doesn't want to miss out on venue shopping...plus I hear there's wine
Which places are you looking at? Have you picked a wedding date yet?
I'm from Chicago and planning over here too. things weren't too bad planning from here. If it helps, here are some of my vendors that i chose after my trip there in March.
Venue: Viansa Winery!!
Officiant: Reverent Tim Mills
Florist: Lavendar Florist with Josette
Photographer: Jeremy Lawson (from Chicago), but he will travel to Napa and is amazing. You could also check out Jenny Elwick who is super sweet and talented. She's also pretty inexpensive
Makeup: SOnia Roselli - Voted Chicago's Best Makeup Artist. Will also travel to Napa and is absolutely amazing!! This is probably the most exciting of vendors!
Hope this helps!
Bernice
I love Kunde, but it's beer/wine only and, like many places, requires music to be turned off by 10 pm. That's kind of frustrating, considering our friends and families are coming in from all over the US and we can't have an open bar, and they've gotta be out by 10.
ANYWAY! These are some places I like so far:
Kunde Vineyards
Barndiva (Healdsburg)
Harvest Inn (St. Helena)
Bardessono (Yountville)
If anyone has insight on any of these, I'd appreciate advice!
And yes, Huntsville is lovely
peter.bernice: We have Viansa on our list but from what I can tell (from the website) it looks like the only ceremony sites are either in the courtyard or wine cave. Do you know if they have more of and outdoor space, overlooking the vineyard or something? Because if not, we're going to have to cut them from the list! Thanks.
the White Barn (at Oak Hill Farm, in Glen Ellen)
Stryker Sonoma (Geyserville)
Chateau Felice (Healdsburg)
Awww I'll miss you all! I'm going from June 17-23!
Misscarolb - Viansa actually allows you to get married in their lawn area, which is what I completely prefer also. That's where we'll be getting married versus the courthyard. It's a really pretty space! I would definitely check it out
Are you all checking places out in June? some other places i loved, but didn't have a chance to visit was BR Cohn, Paradise Ridge, and Cornerstone Gardens. All have vineyard views, but BR Cohn and COrnerstone Gardens were just out of our budget! And Paradise Ridge didn't have enough outdoor space.
it is SO beautiful in northern california - why spend the majority of your time at a beautiful vineyard in the dark?? you know?
we havent officially booked our place yet, but we are 90% going to book it. we'll have our ceremony from 3:30-4. Cocktail Hour from 4-5. Reception from 5-10. then we'll just have an after party back at the hotel bar. this way - all of our OOT guests can really enjoy the beautiful views.
HTH!
t+sBio
t+sBio
Do you mind sharing who you're using? I still have to book my DJ and Cake people.
If you girls are looking for the bestest makeup artist let me know!
FI wants a band - not sure how we'll swing that....TBD. so i dont have any DJ info.
Cake - my good friend is Korean and had this AMAZING cake at her wedding. she calls it "Asian" cake....no clue what that means except that the people that make it are Asian. i am going to use who she used - i think it was her friend and they are located in SF...i'm pretty sure its called AA Bakery or AAA or something. this cake was light and fluffy and SO delicious. (unlike American cake - which IMO is very dense and heavy)
t+sBio
i think i know what your friend is talking about in regards to "asian" cake. it's more of a sponge cake right? i'm chinese & i think we have similar cakes
Good luck picking your venue! I was pretty discouraged on finding the perfect place too with of course the "perfect price". I'm sure you'll find the one!!!
we'll hopefully go look at at least 1 or 2 more places this weekend - i still have to narrow it down. i was thinking of checking out Paradise Ridge too!!
but we REALLY love Calegari and we are pretty certain we want to have it there. we are really just looking at others to solidify our decision...you know? it is really difficult b/c there are SO many...and they each have different restrictions. but i'm sure we'll figure it out...i dont want to think too much into it. i'm just going to go w/ my gut.
its crazy b/c i am realizing that i picked a somewhat popular date (september 10, 2011) - apparently things are booking up already b/c it is 3 consecutive numbers: 9.10.11.......ahhhhh! i think i need to start moving a bit quicker. =/
oh! and to your other post...i dont need a make up person b/c my BFF is a make up artist - but do you have a hair person in Napa/Sonoma??
i'll keep you posted tho! thanks for the encouragement!!
t+sBio
AND, big step for me, I just hired a wedding planner! Alicia K Designs out of SF/Oakland, she does a lot of weddings
We have appointments to go to:
BR Cohn
Kunde
V Sattui
and hopefully more! I'll report back afterwards
t+sBio
I'm a little late to start posting, but I am planning a November 2010 wedding for Napa and can share some insight into vendors. Here is what I decided to go with:
Venue: Charles Krug Winery in St Helena. They can do the ceremony and reception, and it's absolutely gorgeous. It's where they filmed A Walk in the Clouds, if that tells you anything. Patty and Aine there are great to work with too. They only do 12 weddings per year, so you need to be on it.
Caterer: Preferred Sonoma Catering. Edie and Amber were great, the food was delicious, and the price was reasonable. They do rentals too, which is nice to not have to deal with it.
Flowers: Lavender Floral. The prices are awesome compared to the majority that I found in wine country, and her quality if unbelievable! I would highly recommend Josette. She only does one wedding per day, and works out of her house.
Cake: Sweet on Cake. Amber is on the Food Network and does incredible work. They taste amazing too!
Photographer: Fresh Focuses Ronnie is great! She really worked with our timeline and how we wanted the day to go.
Amore Limo: Most reasonable I found in Napa.
All of these vendors are very responsive and easy to work with, which was the most important thing I was looking for when planning from a distance. I hope this helps!!
What a crazy trip ... our flight was canceled the night before we left (at 11 pm!) so we missed ALL of our venue appointments on Wednesday. Anyway ...
After looking at Brix Restaurant, V. Sattui Winery, BR Cohn, Cornerstone Gardens and Kunde ... I think we are going with Kunde! They all have something very different to offer, however at the end of the day, we decided to have it at a working winery, and it's important to us that Kunde is family owned and sustainable.
Something our planner really emphasized, which is totally accurate, is that Sonoma has *many* more lodging options. We have people traveling in from across the world really, and we'll need options all the way from budget to uber-fancy
Hope you all are having a great time with your venue searches!
We absolutely loved Kunde as well but haven't decided...BR Cohn is also high on our list. When is your wedding? I hope you don't steal a Saturday at Kunde from us
BR Cohn was our 2nd choice, for sure. I'd be totally happy to have it at either one! I loved the people at both places, too. Very accomodating and sweet. The BR Cohn staff also invited us back to check out the setup for a Saturday wedding (but we ran out of time!)
I didn't get to check out BR Cohn, but definitely wanted to! to be honest, i would have totally looked into more if it wasn't so expensive. i told the event coordinator there that i had approximately a $20,000 budget and she said it wasn't possible :T sad...but i am totally thrilled and happy we picked Viansa though!
thanks for all the suggestions everyone! we're going with lavander florist also! Josette is extremely organized, knows what she's talking about, and really willing to work with your budget.
i'm still having a hard time choosing a DJ..for some reason i'm dreading it. any suggestions out there?
GOod luck everyone!! keep sharing..i love hearing what everyone chooses! If anyone is interested my makeup artist (sonia roselli) and photographer (jeremy lawson) are amazing! they're both in chicago, but travel to Napa. both known as the best in chicago.
Bernice