When Joe and I got engaged, we knew that finding the venue would be one of the most important steps in the wedding planning process. Not only do popular Northern Californian sites book up years in advance, but we also knew that the location would be the cornerstone upon which to build our entire event experience. The venue, we decided, had to be just right.
As we began to think about what kind of wedding we wanted, we knew immediately that we wanted something outdoors, in nature, and having to do with wine. Most people know that Joe and I love wine. I mean, really. We LOVE wine. Tasting it, pairing it with food, exploring its complexities, and discovering hints of flavor… ahhhhh… it is like pure bliss in a glass.
It isn’t hard to imagine then that we really wanted to get married in a winery and lucky for us Northern California is home to some of the most famous and respected wine regions in the world. Should be a snap to find the perfect place for us, right? WRONG.
(something along the lines of this, perhaps?)
Joe and I, along with our trusty wine-tasting and venue-exploring partners Rosemary and Matteo (J’s parents), set out on not one, not two, but FOUR different weekend trips to various wine regions around the area trying to find the perfect venue. Our experiences ranged from pleasant, to annoying, to frustrating, to downright bizarre. As an event planner for my day job, I began this process feeling very confident in my ability to spot a great venue, know what questions to ask, and cut through the sales pitches to get the information we needed. Well, in the end, all my experience helped me to know was just exactly how much we were going to get screwed if we got married at a winery in wine country.
Now I don’t want to scare anyone who is thinking about having their wedding at a winery in Napa, but I’ve pretty much decided that the only people who can successfully get the wedding of their dreams in wine country are the super rich, the super famous, or some combination of the super rich and famous. Nearly every winery we visited had an extremely high space rental fee (we’re talking anywhere from $10K - $20K just for the SPACE here, people), exclusive caterers and vendors we would be locked into using, extremely strict regulations around outside noise and amplified music (most requiring that weddings end by 8:00 pm), and of course, you had to consume only their wine on the premises. AND with literally thousands of couples clamoring to get married in one of the most desired destination wedding regions in the country, very few of the venues would negotiate with us because they knew there would be plenty of people willing to pay full price.
After four weeks, nearly 30 wineries, and STILL no wedding venue, we were beginning to get a little desperate. Not to mention bloated from all the wine we were tasting (ok, maybe that part wasn’t so bad). It was becoming very clear, event planning day job or not, that we needed some serious help.
Next up: The Search for Sand Rock Continues…
P.S. For those of you who have never been wine tasting, I will allow an expert to tell us how it is done.
“First thing, hold the glass up and examine the wine against the light. You're looking for color and clarity. Just, get a sense of it. OK? Uhh, thick? Thin? Watery? Syrupy? OK? All right. Now, tip it. What you're doing here is checking for color density as it thins out towards the rim. Uhh, that's gonna tell you how old it is, among other things. It's usually more important with reds. OK? Now, stick your nose in it. Don't be shy, really get your nose in there. Mmm... a little citrus... maybe some strawberry... ... and, oh, there's just like the faintest soupcon of like asparagus and just a flutter of a, like a, nutty Edam cheese…”
- Raymond Miles, Sideways
