Tag Archives: napa

Norah & Chris // Annadel Estate Wedding // Santa Rosa & Napa Photographer

I’m finally taking on the extremely daunting task of catching up on the blog! I have over 50 posts just waiting for me to compose and publish them, so here I go…hope to be sharing more with you on a more consistent basis in the future.

I had to start with this lovely day at Annadel Estate in Santa Rosa, because these two are the absolute sweetest and their day was an extra beautiful one. We loved that Norah and Chris flew all the way out from Washington DC to get married in the sunshine-filled wine country, surrounded by all of their favorite people. You would’ve never known that it was pouring rain the night before. The entire event had such a warm, inviting and intimate atmosphere and every space was designed to perfection thanks to Alicia K Designs who not only did the event design and coordination, but also did all of the floral design and guest lounge areas too. Guests were well taken care of that day, and they got to enjoy so many different areas of the property from the old ruins for the ceremony, to a shady oak grove for cocktail hour to an open field with a view of the vineyards for dinner. I’m still obsessed with the custom structure thatZephyr Tents constructed for the reception. I loved how romantic and elegant the space was while still retaining a down-to-earth, rustic feel that was so fitting for a Napa wedding. It honestly could not have been a more perfect day for a more deserving couple! See more of their wedding published on Carats and Cake here, and find the full list of vendors below.

annadelestatenora-chris-wedding-2annadelestate2nora-chris-wedding-4nora-chris-wedding-5nora-chris-wedding-6nora-chris-wedding-10nora-chris-wedding-11nora-chris-wedding-12nora-chris-wedding-13nora-chris-wedding-8nora-chris-wedding-9nora-chris-wedding-14nora-chris-wedding-7nora-chris-wedding-15nora-chris-wedding-16

Full list of vendors:

Venue: Annadel Estate Winery

Planning & Design: Alicia K Designs

Floral design: Alicia K Designs

Hair and makeup: Misty Spinney

Rentals: Wine Country Rentals

Structure: Zephyr Tents

Catering: Park Avenue Catering

Lighting: Illusions Lighting

Music: Entire Productions

Group for the ceremony music: Mads Tolling String Trio.

Dress: by Ines Di Santo, purchased from Dimitras Bridal (Chicago)

Sash: by Erin Cole, purchased from Dimitras Bridal (Chicago)
Veil: by Lissette, purchased from Hitched Bridal Couture (Washington, D.C.)
Invitations: designed by Bianca Mascorro of Little Miss Press, calligraphy by Samantha Martin of Curlicue
Guest gifts (white peach jam): 3 French Hens
Suits for groom, groomsmen and fathers: The Black Tux
Bow ties for groom, groomsmen, fathers and ring bearers: The Knot Co.
Bridesmaids’ dresses: JCrew
Bridesmaids’ earrings: Whitley Designs
Officiant: groom’s mother: Deborah Davis.

carneros wedding | esla events & carlie statsky photography

Here’s some great advice on planning a wine country wedding from Laurel, the talented event designer and planner behind Esla Events. You can find the full article over at Engaged & Inspired right here, including some photos that I took at one of my favorite Napa venues, The Carneros Inn. If you’re a newly engaged couple looking to get married somewhere within Napa Valley, then definitely keep following Engaged & Inspired to read more in this informative series from Esla Events.

jenny & rishi | wedding preview | carneros inn napa

Jenny & Rishi’s wedding was honestly one of the most joyful, heartfelt, and beautiful events that I’ve ever documented, and I already know that I’m going to need to do a series of posts just so that I can share all of the amazing details and moments from their day at the Carneros Inn in Napa. I can’t wait to share some images from both their Indian and Western ceremonies, as well as all that fun that was had on the dance floor, but in the meantime here’s a little preview from when we snuck Jenny & Rishi away from the reception for a few moments so that they could take in their first sunset together as husband and wife.

* A huge thanks to Laurel and her team at Esla Events for making the day flow so smoothly look so lovely, and to Gabe and Ari for helping me capture it all.

Untitled-1

rea & erick | napa engagement session at paraduxx

I love the adventure and inspiration of shooting at a new location, and Rea and Erick could not have chosen a more beautiful and personal location than the Napa winery called Paraduxx where they’re both wine club members. This was my first chance to meet these two and the second that I saw them arrive with their great smiles, their adorable dog named Sammy, and in outfits that I wanted to steal for myself and my husband, I knew that it was going to be a great shoot. We were so lucky to have to the whole place to ourselves for most of the afternoon, surrounded only by a sense of serenity and all of those gorgeous view. Rea and Erick are so easy to be be around, and so sweet too (when we had finished the shoot they handed me a gift bag filled with a bottle of Paraduxx wine. That was so thoughtful and unnecessarily generous of them…I felt like I was the one who should be giving them a thank you gift!) Of course now I’m even more excited for their Clos La Chance winery wedding later in the fall. I only wish they could bring Sammy that day too!

1234567

891011

style me pretty magazine | best of 2011

I had no idea this was going to happen, so when I first saw this beautiful Style Me Pretty Magazine and discovered that Jessica and Tim’s wedding was included as one of Style Me Pretty’s top weddings of 2011 my first response was that I did’t feel worthy of being among this calibre of photographers. Then I realized that it wasn’t about my photographs, it was about the inspiring aesthetic of this bride and groom, and it was especially about the experience and talent of all of the vendors including Bliss Event Productions, Mimi & Taylor Salon, Brown Sugar Designs and Flowerwild (among so many others) without whom there would be no pretty pictures. Then I felt overwhelming gratitude for getting to work with such amazing people and for getting to document love and days like this that are so full of joy and beauty…my heart could not be any fuller.

smpmag1smpmag

jessica & tim | cornerstone wedding | napa photographer

Jessica and Tim dreamt up the most beautiful vision for their Cornerstone Gardens wedding and they brought together the perfect group of vendors to help execute that vision. The entire event felt so reflective of the couple’s kind and gentle personalities, so cohesive in it’s design and so smooth in it’s realization, all thanks to Brandy and her team at Bliss Event Productions. I loved watching each vendor weave in their contribution, (full vendor credits are listed at the end of the post) and then watching all of the family and friends enjoying the sum of all of those thoughtful details. It began with a package in my mailbox that contained a lovely letterpress invitation from Brown Sugar Design, then came the flawless makeup and hair my Mimi & Taylor and the imaginative floral designs by Flowerwild Floral Design. Their guests were greeted with refreshments, program fans and a guest book signing station, followed by a ceremony that was so heartfelt and sweet. There were some great speeches during dinner, and then a beautiful dessert crafted by Sweet On Cake. After dinner the party ramped up out in the barn as people danced and lounged under the glowing lanterns and joined in the photobooth antics. I love that late night vanilla bean milkshakes and pistachio ice cream cookies were served…almost as much as I love that the evening concluded with everyone dancing in one giant circle, singing and cheering the night away into complete success. I can’t think of a better way to begin a marriage, and I couldn’t be happier for these two!

blog1blog2blog3blog4

blog5

blog6blog7blog8

blog9blog10blog11blog12blog13blog15blog16

blog32

blog18

blog19blog20

blog28blog21blog22blog23blog24blog27blog29blog30blog25blog26

vendors in addition to the ones listed at the start of the post:

Catering: Elaine Bell Catering

Lighting: Got Light

Live Entertainment: TopCat Productions

DJ: Pacific Entertainment

Officiant: Wine Country Minister

Linens: la Travola

Rentals: Classic Part Rentals

Programs: Tiffany Chin

anne & ganesh | cornerstone wedding | part two

This is part two of Anne and Ganesh’s amazing wedding day that began with their vibrant Hindu ceremony (you can see part one here.) I was so impressed with how swiftly Anne changed out of her sari and into her gown, tamed her wind blown hair, and was was ready to begin their intimate and personalized western ceremony. After the second ceremony we went and had some fun exploring around Cornerstone’s beautiful gardens in the crazy wind while guests enjoyed cocktail hour by the barn. Everyone then moved into a perfectly heated tent for a family style dinner, and then headed to the equally cozy barn for dancing and cake. Anne and Ganesh, together with the help of the talented team at Dandelion Events, did such a wonderful job bringing two traditions together to create a day that felt so cohesive and full of joy, and they couldn’t have chosen a better venue for such a day than Cornerstone Gardens.

2.1

131414.515161718

25

192021222324

1.8

262728

anne & ganesh | cornerstone wedding | part one

This was a day so saturated with color, joy, ceremony and love. There were so many amazing details and moments to capture, and since my blog posts are already notoriously long, I thought I’d break this post up into two parts, beginning with the traditional Indian ceremony in front of the lotus pond at Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma. This is the first Hindu ceremony I’ve ever photographed and I was overwhelmed by the beauty of all of the family participation, the movement., the chanting and the symbolism throughout. The ceremony concluded with mango lassis and sweets while Anne and Ganesh went to change for their western ceremony…post number two coming up…

1

2

3.53.7

5.8

4

5.5

6

5.9

8

91011

12