I mentioned a few days ago that Nate and I just got married in Sonoma, CA.  It was a small destination wedding for us Minnesotans.  Quite funny, when people found out we were from Minnesota, they would ask how cold it was there or if we were enjoying the warm weather.  It’s Minnesota, people, not the Arctic Circle!  And actually, while we were gone, it was miserably hot and humid in Minnesota, and gorgeous, sunny and mid-80s everyday in California.

But you’re not reading this for the weather report, right?  You wanted to read about our trip. Okay, if you’re like me, I’d prefer pictures to reading, so I’ll share a few good ones with a short caption.  It was so hard to cut it down from all the great pictures and times we had, but I tried to keep it to a minimum.  Tried. Here we go…

 

 

 

This is my peanut, princess, snuggle buddy and all around fur bestie, Charlotte.  She was not happy the morning we left and really tried putting up a fight.

 

While this is a classic plane picture that almost everyone I know has taken, mine comes with a wonderful story.  The morning we were leaving, we weighed our one checked bag, and it was almost 70 lbs.  We have to take some stuff out and put in another carry-on, as we were trying to only check one bag.  Nate suggests just taking out a bag full of items we were putting in the welcome bags for our guests, which I agree and we’re good to go.  Fast-forward, as we’re checking in, I realize I’ve forgotten my credit card.  Now, that’s not a huge deal, but inconvenient as we put everything on that card for the points.  Fine, no biggie, Nate’s parent’s will bring it when they come on Sunday.  We get upstairs to the security line, and are just unpacking our items on the belt when I realize I’ve forgotten my water bottle at the ticketing counter.  Since we have time, Nate says to go get it, and he’ll wait for me on the other side of security.  He takes everything through with him, with the exception of one carry-on bag (the extra one with the welcome bag items in it) and my ID.  I walk back down to the ticketing counter, my water bottle is exactly where I left it.  On my way back upstairs, I realize, I can’t carry this bag on, it’s got a ton of liquids in it.  As I turn around to go back to the ticketing counter to check it, I also realize that I don’t have any way of paying for this bag as Nate is with my purse.  I then turn around again (I’m sure people thought I was insane just turning in circles as I continue to think of things), and have to see if I can get Nate’s attention through the glass, as he’s on the other side of the security line.  We have to sign (as best we can) what the heck is going on, and finally he gets a security agent to pass his wallet through to me.  I check the bag, and we’re golden.  But, being that I am an extremely organized person, I’m completely frazzled for all that had gone wrong already.  Hence, my well deserved screwdriver, which Nate had to buy me!

Leaving cool, cloudy San Fransisco for sunny warm Sonoma County.

 

Seeing our ceremony site for the first time in person, less than a week before.

Stocking up on one of our favorite wines at Viansa for our guests.

Domaine Chandon in Napa with Nate’s parents, having oysters and picking out sparkling wine for the wedding.

First guests arrive and we get the party started with a welcome BBQ.

Ladies Spa Day!

Groom’s Dinner at Hopmonk in Sebestapol.

End of most nights was either cards or pool after dinner.

Getting ready for the big day!

Saying our vows at the ceremony with our “official officiant”, AKA my bestie, Leah.

The entire group.

After the ceremony at Kunde Family Estate, we had a private tour of their wine caves and got to taste all the grapes.

The group in the party bus on the way to dinner.

Walking into St. Francis, where we had a private food and wine pairing from the kitchen of Executive Chef Bush.  One of the best meals I’ve ever had!

Dinner at St. Francis.  SO GOOD!  I absolutely loved that round table.

The day after the wedding, Nate and I went with my family to Bodega Bay for some great views and a little rock climbing.

After taking the long way (climbing up the rocks) we made it!

On Friday night, the “friends” went out for dinner together.  We started at El Dorado Kitchen in the Sonoma Square; I had to have the peach jalapeno martini.  YUM!

Friends dinner at The Girl and the Fig.  Ladies only champs cheers!  Another of the best meals I’ve ever eaten.  If you travel to Sonoma County, you HAVE to eat here.  Plus, we had fantastic service!

Saturday was a day of friends wine tasting.  This is the ladies at Cline Winery.

Nate and I had visited Naked Wines and became “Angels” (wine club members) on the first visit.  We had to bring our friends back.  We had such a fantastic time, we met the manager, who gave us two bottles for free as a wedding gift!  Not only that, but she gave us a private tour, let us taste juice that was just crushed and wine from a barrel that was ready to be bottled.  Definitely recommend a visit to this place if you ever are in town.

We said goodbye to our friends at Viansa.  All but one went back to San Francisco that evening to catch early Sunday flights. Overall, we had such a fantastic wedding trip, everything was perfect, and we couldn’t thank our family and friends enough for sharing in this special day and trip with us.