Steeped in centuries of tradition and romance, with surrounding hills and vineyards providing the perfect scenic backdrop, Sonoma Valley makes a memorable, idyllic setting for weddings large and small.
The area’s impressive array of wineries, hotels, churches, and other potential wedding sites, as well as the local planners, caterers, party rentals, salons, spas, transportation, and other services available will help pull it all together with style.
Before you tie the knot, local wedding experts reveal some of the latest trends.
Destination Weddings and Multiple Day Weddings
A destination wedding is one that gathers people together in a wonderful location, and ideally lets everyone stay as a group for an extended time. For the bride and groom a destination wedding is an opportunity to not only invite friends and family to their celebration, but to turn it into a holiday for them as well.
“Folks are planning weddings that are more than just a day event and that last the whole weekend, complete with a welcoming party, wine tasting tours, spa treatments, and post-wedding brunches,” says Tracy Curnette, certified wedding planner and event manager at the Lodge in Sonoma, a popular wedding venue. She says some brides have even tied in their gift opening with a post-wedding brunch at the hotel, which tends to be a very popular event!
It’s part of a nationwide trend of couples who decide to plan their own wedding. They do research on the subject. They compile a list of activities for wedding guests to do while in the area, and may even set up a special Web site listing helpful information for those planning to attend.
“It used to be that people just got married in their home town, but now brides and grooms are looking for interesting venues to take their guests,” says Curnette.
Whimsical Wedding Cakes
When it comes to wedding cakes, many couples are opting for a more familiar and homey alternative to the formal traditional frosted white creations of weddings past.
“The cupcake wedding is the latest trend,” says Laura Samms-Gardner, owner of and cake-baker for Sonoma-based Beloved Cakes.
“The cupcakes are placed on a special tiered serving tray, and you might have real flowers or crystalized rose petals to decorate – it can be as whimsical or as serious as you like.”
She says the cupcakes can be a variety of different flavors, so that guests can have a choice. Beloved Cakes most popular cupcake flavors have been Samms-Gardner’s signature “Sonoma Strawberry” (a blend of strawberries, coconut and pecan nuts with a cream cheese frosting), and her “Chocolate Heaven,” which she describes as having “deep, robust cocoa flavor.”
Samms-Gardner says the cupcakes may be filled.
“Think of the Hostess Cupcakes or the Twinkies filled with cream or fruit, it’s the same idea,” she explains.
The one thing to remember with the cupcake wedding cake is to have someone on hand to keep refilling the stand.
“One cupcake per guest just isn’t going to be enough!” Samms-Gardner says with a laugh.
Elegant Floral Arrangements
Anne Appleman, owner of Anne Appleman Flowers & Plants on East Spain Street, says she’s seeing a shift in floral wedding decorations from a country look to cleaner styles and clearer colors.
“For me, over the past few years, things were much more geared to a ‘Sonoma look,’” she says. “It was all grapes, real organic-looking arrangements, and rustic outdoorsy combinations of fresh flowers. Now it seems the look is more clean and contemporary. It’s becoming more elegant and streamlined.”
She decribes newer style arrangements, such as glass cubes with wrapped leaves in the center pressed to the glass so that their stems are hidden from view, creating a monochromatic look with a lot of impact.
“People are using color and sophisticated color combinations, such as big bowls filled with hot pink flowers decorating a table set with brown linens,” says Appleman.
“For spring, we’re going to see lot’s robin’s egg blue combined with chartreuse, and other combinations of clear, true colors.”
According to Appleman, additional trends include using lots more orchids, once considered a luxury item, and using water as part of the decoration.
“We’re seeing a lot of floating flowers and floating candles that reflect light onto the water,” she says. “The look is elegant and bountiful.”
Custom Wedding Gowns
The new trend in bridal gowns leans toward a more elegant and stylish approach. Many brides are now choosing gowns with simple, but stunning, lines.
Self-described “sculptor of fabric” Cena Jane designs garments from the ground up or she can transform an existing dress into an exclusive bridal gown. Custom wedding gowns cost between $1,000 and $3,000.
The designer/dressmaker, who has a studio on Broadway in Sonoma, can also order her clients a simple, inexpensive plain dress and work from there.
“I call these dresses my palette, they are very simple but with different shapes and cuts,” explains Jane. “It’s like a white canvas – I think ‘how can I add to it?’”
The changes can be simple or dramatic, but each dress must bring out the bride’s personality, says Jane.
“I find the customer will inspire me, and we collaborate. When the bride has her gown on, she becomes part of it,” she said.
Jane says a new trend is use of color on wedding gowns.
“You can layer the trims and put a pale color underneath and get a depth that you don’t usually see,” she says, adding that paler shades of green are popular, as are pinks.
Jane concludes that her business is really about giving her clients the freedom of having options that don’t have to include the typical “bridal magazine” look.
“My customer is really very often the second-time bride who doesn’t want a traditional dress. The trend is towards sexier, simpler gowns that have interesting details,” says Jane. “Things are changing. Now it’s about who you are and what you want.”
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Beloved Cakes:
One of the most popular wedding cakes,
stacked with calla lillies and grapes
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