A Wine Country Fête
This intimate wedding captured by Cliff Brunk oozes casual elegance! Liberty and Mike hail from Arizona, and though their wedding took place in California’s wine country, they wove an homage to their home state throughout their day. Their color palette was straight out of an Arizona sunset with hues of peach, grey and purple. There is so much to love about this wedding, but my absolute favorite thing has to be the vintage wooden blocks used as a cake topper. The blocks spell out Liberty and Mike’s last name, and add such a unique and quirky touch!
More from the bride, Liberty:
We wanted to enjoy an elegant dinner party and our guests to enjoy a night of romance with fun mixed in.
We wanted to get married under a big oak tree at a place that was completely non-commercial, like a private estate. It turned out it was the first place we saw (we looked at 9 others that day) but we knew The Homestead in Windsor, California was it when we drove up.
Instead of table numbers we did table names and we selected places (mostly restaurants because we are foodies) that were sentimental for us throughout our 8.5 years together. We picked out cool frames from a handful of stores that matched the look and feel of our décor and printed a little story about each place (at the bottom of each story was a little hint sort of like a scavenger hunt for our guests to follow our story from table to table.
I had purchased some canvas bags and created artwork to have screenprinted on them for welcome and favors. Our guests’ welcome bags said “Filled with Gratitude” and our favor bags said “Filled with Joy.”
Selecting colors was really a struggle because on all the blogs and trends only 1 or 2 colors were selected for a wedding and that really didn’t fit well with us. I love the combination of peach and blue, but I started down the road with a bright purple blue dress when I found my Matron of Honor’s dress. Those were the colors mostly for the reception. At the ceremony everything was a deep ivory. I loved it!
We wanted to play along the lines of childhood things so we actually bought some wooden child blocks to top our wedding cake that spelled our our last name (luckily it is only 4 letters).
A little advice from Liberty:
Choose great vendors and trust them, but know what you want and when to say no if you really want something.
Don’t underestimate the importance of linens. Going beyond the standard linens can make a room look and feel how you imagined. If there was one thing that I would point out at our wedding that made it feel warm (besides the location) would be the linens we selected, they just completed it. It’s like putting a new color of paint on your walls – it just makes you smile and you’re not sure why.
Fuss about the details – if you’ve got those figured out the big decisions will already be made.
Don’t dismiss the power of a 99 cent store or Marshalls. There are some great finds that are good quality.
Wedding Vendors (Windsor, CA):
Photographer: Cliff Brunk/ Venue: The Homestead/ Florist: Pat Gibbons/ Musicians: Megan Slankard & Jeff Campbell/ Caterer: St. Peter’s Fare/ Dessert: Patisserie Angelica/ Hair Stylist: The Powder Room/ Bride’s Dress: Bari by Watters/ Bride’s Veil: Emma’s Bridal/ Groom’s Suit: Hugo Boss
Stunning! a beautiful setting and so many well thought out details. Congratulations!
So pretty. I love her birdcage veil and all the details. What a beautiful reception site. We’re thinking of starting a venue and going back and forth between a barn style, or more classic building. Hard to figure out what brides want when they all want something different!
HOly freakin’ cow–how PERFECT!
LOVE LOVE LOVE the use of linens in theming. And all the very personal touches!
The details are so charming…love her whole ensemble from the birdcage to the attire…really. beautiful.
I love the site and am looking for something just like this in sonoma county! I can’t seem to find it online – any hints on who to contact?
I love weddings where they have parents’ or grandparents’ wedding photos displayed in beautiful frames. That antique photo is stunning. I wish more people got married with a big bouquet of Calla Lilies like that.
Elegant and sophisticated and yet so comfortable. Very pretty!
What a beautiful and romantic wedding!
some many dainty vintage details make this wedding oh so lovely
The setting is so gorgeous!
Hi Amber, I’m Cliff the photographer of this wedding. The venue is owned by the caterer, so they’d be the people to contact. Beautiful spot and really great people.
Thanks to Ruffled for the feature!
Cliff
I simply love the bride’s wedding dress and her lovely hairpiece.I think it’s quite memorable and unique to celebrate one’s wedding under a huge tree.Quite romantic actually.
Did you rent all of your linens or buy them? If so, where from? Love the idea!
You guys had a gorgeous wedding! The seed bags are really sweet.
One of the most beautiful & memorable weddings that I have ever attended! Of course it wasn’t the traditional “Big Fat Greek” wedding as I have been accustomed to, it was one that made me make some very personal decisions in my life to achieve and obtain similar goals for a happier, healthier, wealthier life. I cheer to both of you, LIBERTY & MIKE, as I move forward in my life with greater, finer and elegant,(and not so refined) tastes to ENJOY the BEST that LIFE has to offer! (as I sip a cabernet savignon from “Alexander Valley” right now). Love, your cousin, Georgia K.
That picture of everybody underneath the tree is a truly beautiful shot of a defining moment in a person’s life, it really is sort of iconic in a way.
Very moving picture…..