Monday, January 24, 2011

A Napa Fairytale: A Courtyard of Details

While we were in the bridal nook, laughing, breathing, and affixing my veil, our guests began to take their seats in the courtyard. It was about this time that I wished I could be everywhere at once. Being the bride and having to be hidden away until your grand entrance, you miss the prelude! I could hear the strings begin to play and I just knew everything was beautiful.


The lanterns were a perfect touch and I didn't know about them until I reached the end of the aisle. I told my aunt/florist I wanted hanging flowers, and she came up with the rest! V. Sattui has so much natural beauty that it only needed a few accents to become wedding-worthy.


I was thrilled someone presented our programs in a wine box. This was not my detail, in fact, I quite forgot about how my guests were going to receive them. I didn't remember to delegate the task of usher to one of my cousins and guests would end up seating themselves and taking a program from this box. No biggie.


So happy when I saw this photo! I used the back of the program to give a shout out to marriage equality. The quote reads:

"Who would give a law to lovers? Love is unto itself a higher law." -Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, AD. 524   In honor and support of marriage equality.

Dad looks pleased. This makes me happy!

The mini-party being so well-behaved and patiently waiting their cue.

Mr. Barrettes' mom and stepdad getting the low down on their cues from Dr. Houtz.

(photos by Luke Snyder Studio)

With everyone seated, it was almost time for the groom and his best man to take their places. My bridesmaids would soon be giving me their last wishes as they were given the signal to prepare for their entrance. That left only me and my man of honor to have a last moment before I was left to my own thoughts and excitement as the ceremony began!

Were you pleasantly surprised by any decorative details? Did you get to see your ceremony site decked out before walking down the aisle?

A Napa Fairytale: The Wedding Party

Our party knows how to strike a pose! It wasn't hard for this cast of characters to take a good photo and I was happy that we knocked out these shots in about 5 minutes.


Somewhere on the blog, a bee mentioned that she missed having individual shots of her wedding party and I thought that was such a great idea, I immediately added it to my photo list. Take the opportunity to get beautiful shots of your favorite people!

This one is definitely a framer. I love the way little girls stand for photos =)

(photos by Luke Snyder Studio)

With our formal shots wrapped, we were all dismissed until the ceremony. I scurried back up to my bridal nook to freshen up and maybe have a glass of wine and the gentlemen headed down to the tasting room. We had about 20 minutes until places and I could hear the buzz of our guests waiting for it to begin!

A Napa Fairytale: Formal Photos


We rounded up all of our family members for formal photos and I couldn't be happier with the results. I provided Luke with a list of "must haves" and he happily organized the groups in a quick and easy manner. We had "smile" shots and "regal" shots. Not sure if my cousins could stop laughing long enough to do a toothless smile, but there are lots of good photos to choose from for family framers.

My mom's side of the family and my maternal grandparents. My dad's side and his parents were unable to travel to California.


John rocked out his MOH duties and was forever fixing my train to look its best for photos. Loving the purple socks.

With my parents, and Mr. Barrettes' mom and step-dad.

Mr. Barrettes' dad.

Both sides of Mr. Barrettes' family.

Mr. Barrettes' siblings.

Our mini-party and my brother and sister-in-law.

The whole gang!

(photos by Luke Snyder Studio)

Aubrey was getting tired of taking photos-- it's hard being so cute all the time! But her mom wiped her tears, gave her a pep talk and she was back in front of the camera for the bridal party photo shoot coming up next!

Photog tip: Luke suggested that we start with the largest group of family first, then all family (both sides), followed by the smaller group of family members. This way more people can be dismissed from photos faster.