A Napa Fairytale: Finishing Touches and a Quick Photo Shoot

After we were dressed, it was time to wrap it up and get going! I gave the ol' pearly whites one last scrub, my fellas finished tying their ties, the girls touched-up their faces and we headed to the lobby for a quick debut and an impromptu photo sesh.

Dad liked his Father of the Bride hat! It was a cute touch.

After spending the morning getting me dolled up, it was time for John to step into his Man of Honor attire.

The lobby of Avia is beautiful and Luke took the opportunity to snap some fun shots as we re-grouped.

With everyone looking at me, I had the urge to do a quick little port de bras.

Luke directed me to the cute green settee, where naturally I hammed it up.

Seeing my wedding party inspiration come to life was exciting! The flowers, the dresses-- it was just purple enough to be fun, but not so purple that it was overkill.

(photos by Luke Snyder Studio)

And we were off! I'm pretty sure I was on the phone with the best man. I think he was just checking to see if we were on our way. I assured him we were and told him to send the groom to the back where Luke had planned our first look-- not cool if we saw eachother as we pulled up! 

The ride up the wine trail was gorgeous. It was a perfect day for a wedding! Raja sat on my lap the whole way there (not directly on the dress), as if to let me know he knew what was going on and to make sure I remained calm. 

We decided on the way up that he would not be in the wedding. The logistics of how to get him down the aisle, then back to his crate and put away for the evening were getting complicated even though it originally seemed like a simple process. His tux that I prepared him to wear was lost in a sea of bags and there wasn't time to search for it. So I let it go. He was our "son", but he was also a dog. He wouldn't be mad at me if he wasn't in the wedding. He'd want me not to be stressed out about it. He would end up making a cameo at the reception and that was good enough for us. 

When we pulled up to V. Sattui my bridal party did some recon to make sure the groom was out of sight and I sat in the car and had a moment with my baby. I kissed his furry little face one last time, opened the door and stepped out into my very own Napa fairytale....