Rooftop Party in Downtown Sacramento {Sneak Peek}

So cute!

Sarah and Chad are one of those couples you just can’t help but love.  They are so happy and sweet together, and they’re constantly grinning and making each other laugh.  The best part about these two?  They don’t hesitate to let you in on their little jokes and make you feel like an instant friend.  Well, the girls here at Catrina Maria Designs absolutely L-O-V-E Sarah and Chad and we had a blast planning their wedding and seeing it come off beautifully.  Their ceremony was held at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, and the reception at Sacramento’s swanky Sutter Club.  If we could sum up their wedding day in one word, it would have to be unique.  From strutting their stuff down the street to the music of a New Orleans jazz band, to taking over the garage rooftop at the Sutter Club, Sarah and Chad had a day that was truly their own.  More details on this fabulous couple and their utterly unique wedding day to come soon!  {A huge thank you to Jessamyn Harris Photography for letting us use these gorgeous photos!}

Congratulations Sarah and Chad!

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Another Look at Shady Oaks

A few months ago we blogged about a tour of Napa Valley that we went on hosted by La Tavola Fine Linen.  On our tour we visited several beautiful venues, one of which was Shady Oaks Ranch and Vineyards.  We loved Shady Oaks and took lots of pictures to share with you, but because our visit took place during the winter our pictures didn’t really do the site justice.  So today we’re revisiting that old blog post, this time with updated pictures that reflects the appearance of the site during the summer.  So much better!  Thank you Lu Ann for the great pics!

A Tour of Napa Valley – Shady Oaks

We all know that Napa Valley is a hot spot for weddings, but with so many different vineyards, inns, and ranches to choose from, it can be hard to narrow things down and find a venue that is perfect for you.  The girls here at Arcularius Events want to help all you venue-hunting brides out there by saving you the legwork and sharing some of the most interesting venues we’ve seen.  Over the next few posts, we’re going to show you the unique, beautiful, and somewhat lesser-known places that we got to visit on a fantastic Napa Valley site tour hosted by La Tavola Fine Linen.

The morning of our tour started at La Tavola’s gorgeous Napa showroom, where we were picked up by Pure Luxury Wine Tours, a Napa-based green transportation agency.  Pure luxury drove us in an uber-comfortable shuttle bus to our first site, Shady Oaks Ranch and Vineyards.

Shady Oaks is a lovely  site in the heart of Napa Valley with expansive green lawns and lush gardens.  The main estate home sleeps 16 and is accompanied by 3 more cozy cabins that come with rental of the site.  The 12.5 acre grounds are home to a reflecting pond and gazebo, several intimate gardens, and 400 year old Oak trees (the oldest in the valley). Shady Oaks is secluded and romantic and, with little lights scattered among the gardens and a string quartet playing, would make the perfect setting for a fanciful, elegant, Secret Garden-type wedding.

For more information on this site, contact Wayne at wayne@gwines.net.  Next time, we’ll leave the fairy tale charm of Shady Oaks for a site that can only be described as “California Country Chic”…

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Cave B at SageCliffe {Check it out}

On a recent trip up to Washington state we discovered the most amazing, awe-inspiring venue imaginable.  Located in eastern Washington, Cave B at SageCliffe is perched atop a cliff overlooking the Columbia River Gorge.  The grounds are well-kept and lush, with lots of options for ceremony and reception locations.  The views of the gorge are, needless to say, jaw-dropping, and Cave B boasts a great tasting room and a chic, modern restaurant that caters weddings.  The inn at Cave B offers gorgeous rooms, including private guesthouses that hug the cliffside, and is in the process of building yurts.   We could go on and on about this location, but it’s probably best to just let the pictures do the talking…

Vineyard overlooking the gorgeous gorge

Private guesthouses at the Cave B Inn

Ceremony site? Oh yes.

More beauty

The "Piazza," a great place for a reception

Another view of the fabulous "Piazza"

Yurts in progress

Cave B tasting room

The Cave B restaurant

Restaurant foyer

Fireplace in the restaurant foyer

No words

After a peak at these pictures we’re sure you can see why we thought Cave B would make an incredible wedding venue.  For more information on this site, check out Cave B’s website or contact Lacy McCormick at (509)387-7106 or at lacy.mccormick@cavebinn.com.

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The Bewildered Bride-to-Be…

OK, things are about to get a little more personal around here.  If you’ve been following our blog you might know that I (Marianna, the youngest of the sisters) recently got engaged to my high school sweetheart, Darwin.  Having worked with my sisters on weddings for a few years now I thought I had a pretty good idea of what it meant to be a “bride-to-be.”  I thought that, knowing everything that I know about weddings, planning my own wedding would be a snap.  Let me tell you, that has not been the case.  Sure, I know how a wedding should flow, what does and does not work when getting 150+ people to your reception, and what exactly a MOH is responsible for.  What I didn’t know was how all that knowledge changes when you’re thinking about your own wedding.  You could be the most organized, knowledgeable, on-top-of-things bride imaginable and all this planning would still be COMPLICATED.

Now that I know what it’s like to be on the flip side of this crazy adventure we call wedding planning, I want to share the things that puzzle, frustrate, and sometimes completely exhaust me.  It’s amazing how much has already come up in these first few months of being engaged!  I want to share my the things I’ve been “bewildered” about and the solutions I’ve come up with in hopes that you other brides-to-be find answers to some of your own questions.  At the very least, I want to let all the ladies out there know that even a wedding planner finds all this to be a bit of a challenge!

So, the next time you feel like you’re about to tear your hair out over the font on your invitations or the color of your napkins, grab a margarita, put your feet up, and see if you’re bewildered about the same things I am!

‘Til next time,

Your Bride-to-Be, Marianna

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