Lady’s Guide to a Sonoma Winery Wedding

Today I want to bring you my guide to a Sonoma winery wedding. Wine country weddings in California are great fun, and there’s lots to do in the area before and after the nuptials.

Sonoma Winery Wedding

The Sonoma winery wedding I went to was that of a good friend from childhood. I flew out to San Francisco to attend the ceremony, and I couldn’t wait to see her and celebrate her big day.

The fact that my friend had impeccable taste in both venue and style made it even more exciting to share in the festivities.

In classic California fashion, hers was a Sonoma winery wedding complete with a stunning backdrop of verdant vineyards and high, dry hills.

Pre-Wedding Wine Tasting in Sonoma

I arrived in Sonoma with my mother a bit early to do some wine tasting before the wedding.

We stopped at nearby winery called B.R. Cohn to sample their selection (incidentally, I later found out another friend had a Sonoma winery wedding of her own there a couple years ago).

The 2009 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir was a winner, and we bought a bottle before driving down the road to the wedding at the St Francis Winery in Sonoma.

Sonoma Winery Wedding Venue

Anyone who’s been to a summer wine country wedding in California knows the weather can be hot. Sweltering, in fact. Which is why my friend was smart to start her ceremony at 6pm.

The weather was perfectly pleasant by that hour, and as she walked down the aisle with the vines in the background, I couldn’t help but think she’d planned the perfect Sonoma winery wedding.

After the ceremony we all sat down to dinner at tables on the grass outside the Mission-style tasting room. It was a great way to celebrate the newlyweds.

After dinner, I caught up with old friends, danced, and marveled at how beautiful a bride my friend was.

When the Sonoma winery wedding came to an end, I succumbed to jet lag as my mother drove us back to where we were staying in San Francisco.

San Francisco

Speaking of which, despite my short time in California, I managed to see a bit of the city while I was home. Jet lag didn’t just make me sleep at odd hours; it also made me wake up at 4am every day.

Rather than see that as a bad thing, I took advantage of my early rising and spent my mornings watching the Golden Gate Bridge and the Palace of Fine Arts in the first light of dawn.

When the rest of the world woke up, I walked along the beach at Crissy Field and went shopping in the Marina and Cow Hollow.

The fact that the weather was ridiculously warm didn’t hurt, either. For those who’ve never been to San Francisco in the summer, believe me when I say the climate can be more dismal than it is in the UK.

Seriously. There’s a reason someone once said the coldest winter they ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.

When I wasn’t running around basking in the rare summer sun, I was partaking in my favorite pastime: eating the best food in San Francisco.

I had my wasabi bowl from Pacific Catch on Chestnut Street and my Blue Bottle Coffee latte from Blue Fog Market on Green Street.

I enjoyed my huevos rancheros from Balboa Cafe on Fillmore Street and I indulged in a dark chocolate treat from Kara’s Cupcakes on Scott Street.

Sonoma Winery Wedding

When my weekend in California was over, my mother drove me to the airport and I waved good-bye to both her and the city.

It was tough to leave my home state after such a great time at my friend’s Sonoma winery wedding, but jet lag is worth it for friends, family, and—I’m not afraid to say it—saturated fat and good tannins.

It has to be. I’m doing it again next month for a Del Mar wedding in Southern California.

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