Ginny + Andrew’s California wedding was an elaborate affair held at the gorgeous Viaggio Estate and Winery. Their venue offered many different backdrops for each aspect of their celebration. They chose to have their ceremony in the heart of a walnut orchard, their cocktail hour on the banks of the river and the reception in the three storied ballroom. Jillian, from Jillian Modern Photography, photographed them in each fabulous setting.
From Jillian – Ginny was SUCH a beautiful bride – glowing. She’s got that kind of beauty that radiates from the inside out. She made a speech at her reception that was one of the most genuine, heartfelt, moving speeches I’ve every heard at a wedding. After she thanked her guests profusely, she said something to the effect of this: Every girl wants to be with the bad boy….she said – Andrew IS the bad boy….he just turned good. I just LOVE THAT! There is absolutely no doubt these two were made to be together…
From Ginny – Andrew and I really wanted to stay true to each other and who we are as people. The most important part of our wedding was making each other happy and doing what the both of us liked and having what we both wanted. What we both wanted was a great venue, great food, great music and our closest family and friends!
We chose to have our wedding at Viaggio Estate and Winery in Acampo, Ca. Viaggio was the only venue we looked at – it was love at first sight. We loved the landscape and since we love nature we really wanted to have an outdoor ceremony. Viaggio offered many different backdrops for our ceremony, but we chose, “Valley of the Trees.” It is an intimate narrow pathway in the middle of the river and walnut orchard that is draped with trees. We had 190 friends and family members at our wedding, but because of our ceremony location it still felt very intimate.
After the ceremony our friends and family enjoyed drinks and appetizers during the cocktail hour along the river. Each cocktail table was draped with Topaz Iris linens, seasonal flowers and our “ W” coasters.
Although we wanted an outdoor ceremony, we wanted our reception indoors. The ballroom at Viaggio has 3 separate levels. We chose to use the middle level and bottom level for our tables and the top level was for dancing and our Zany Photo booth. Our guest tables were drapped with topaz iris linens and ivory napkins. Our centerpiece arrangements were a mix of purple, orange and green seasonal flowers with votives placed around the centerpiece. The gorgeous glass chargers gave the tables the elegant touch needed. Placed in the napkin were our menus. On top of the napkin was our Love Rock for each guest along with the note describing the meaning of their favor.
Our favors were very unique. During the first few months of dating Andrew bought me a rock that had LOVE inscribed on it. We called it our “Love Rock.” One night I found the rock hidden under my pillow by Andrew.So the next morning I put it in the shower for Andrew to find. We began to hide our Love Rock in places we knew the other would find it. When we would find the LoveRock we knew it was another way we say “I love you.” Andrew works nights so this wasa great reminder that we were always thinking about one another.
Each of our guests received a Love Rock with a note that said, “Take this Love Rock and do as we do. Hide your rock around the house and when your loved one finds it, he/she will be reminded that you love them.”
Since the wedding, we have had so many couples share their stories on where they hide their love rocks and how much they love them.
It felt great for us to give our family and friends another way to share their love, with their loved ones.
Having the top level as our dance floor really took the reception to the next level. The Zany Booth was just as popular as the dance floor. Our photographers Jill and Tony put up a white back drop for us to pose in front of. The best part: they found a variety of items around our reception and outside that we used to pose with. We used our orange and green “ W” coasters, cigars, walnut shells, branches, spoon, cake, etc. Tony gave us a lot of direction and ideas, but we were free to get as ‘ zany’ as we wished. People were very creative!
For more photos of Ginny + Andrew’s wedding, visit Jillian’s blog.
Vendors:
Venue – Viaggio Winery
Cake – Specialty Cakes
Florist – Cazales Flower Shop
Gown – Alfred Sung
Hair – Amanda Long
Makeup – Emily Shaw
DJ – Elite Entertainment
Officiant – Pastor Mark Mahaffie
Videograher – Graham King
Read More: Real Wedding
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