What an amazing couple. Erin and Jim had originally scheduled their wedding at a winery midway between Sonoma and Napa about a year before their wedding date. The winery changed hands, however, and the new owner called them and canceled their contract just six months before the wedding! Fortunately they were able to stop the invitations that were just getting ready to go to print, and I found them an alternative site the same day (which they ended up loving even more). BR Cohn IS a gorgeous site, and Vallerie Cohn was so kind. She made Erin and Jim feel at ease that everything was going to be just fine in moving from one site to another.
Erin called me one day asking if I could think of any way to use Jim’s grandmother’s wedding dress fabric in her wedding. I thought of covering frames with it and displaying family wedding pictures (including Jim’s grandmother), the ring-bearer pillow, etc. Then, when Erin told me she also had some silk handkerchiefs belonging to her late father and some brooches from her grandmother, it all came together. We commissioned her bouquet through a fabulous designer on the East Coast. It perfectly accented her movie-star wedding dress.
Erin and Jim were married under flawlessly blue skies under the heritage oaks at BR Cohn’s Oak Hill, privately located in the heart of the winery. Musical Heart Strings performed the ceremony music and Jim’s sister, Stephanie, acted as officiant.
They had their hors d’oeuvre reception at the ampitheatre with wonderful southern fried okra slices served in little bamboo cones, country ham biskets and pea soup shooters with pistachio and crème fraiche. The family-style dinner in the Olive Grove with the 125-year old olive trees followed. Park Avenue Catering’s fun menu included classic southern fried chicken, jambalaya, macaroni and cheese, garlic-asiago mashed potatoes, and my favourite, a fried green tomato salad.
After a round of dancing, Erin and Jim cut into a flaky apple pie rather than the traditional wedding cake. Their guests and they then danced the rest of the night away. I’m sure Erin and Jim will have a very happily ever after!
All images from Laver Photography, Hair from Nina Dolcini, AMS Wine Country DJ
