ISES WINE COUNTRY TOUR 2009
This year, for the Annual ISES Northern California Chapter’s Wine Country Tour, we went to Pine Ridge Winery located in the heart of Napa Valley and the infamous Villagio Inn & Spa in Yountville.
Early that Tuesday morning of the tour, guests boarded two complimentary shuttles in San Francisco to promote car pooling. Once the shuttles were full, they began their scenic journey into the Wine Country.
Upon their arrival at Pine Ridge Winery, guests were welcomed into the cocktail hour on the lush green front lawn by soothing sounds of live guitar music. Towards the end of the cocktail hour, guests were invited to tour the grounds for a behind-the-scenes peak of the inner workings of Pine Ridge Winery As the tour worked its way into the barrel rooms and through the caves, guests were excited to see that they would be dining in the caves themselves. The tables were covered in a deep warm fabric and napkins were golden yellow to compliment the romantically uplit wine barrels and Chihuly glass sculptures.
Executive Chef Kevin Miller of Villagio’s off-site catering service began lunch with a butter lettuce salad with strawberries, skyhill chevre, candied hazlenuts, champagne vinagrette and a glass of the 2006 Pine Ridge Dijon Clones Chardonnay. The star of the show was the mouth-watering 5-star Coq Au Vin with wild mushrooms, roasted heirloom potatoes and red wine chicken jus as the main course which was beautifully paired with the 2005 Pine Ridge Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon. Between the Coq Au Vin and Artisan Cheese Plate featuring Pierre Robert, Montbriac, Fig, Almond Cake, Blackberry honey, complimented by the 2005 Pine Ridge Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon, guest speaker and foodie, GraceAnn Walden, entertained guests with stories of the adventures upon which she embarked throughout her career. I’m sure the laughter is still echoing in the caves.
Once lunch wrapped up, guests were transported to the Villagio Resort for desert. Here, guests sipped on wine from Chimney Rock, Chalk Hill, Castello di Amorosa and One Hope upon classic Napa Valley lounge furniture draped in fresh spring citrus colors.
To see more images from the trip, please visit “The Scene” at Allure West Studios.
The Team
the designer | morgan doan of events by morgan
the speaker | graceann walden
the rentals and linens | classic party rentals
the transportation | pure luxury transportation
the wineries | pine ridge winery & villagio inn & spa
the guitar | star sound productions
the audio and lighting | lux productions
the florals at pine ridge | michael daigian design
the florals at villagio | julie stevens design
the photographer | natalie wi of allure west studios
NESTING NEWBIES™, A BEHIND THE SCENES PEAK AT A VERY TWEET SHOW & ITS “HOW TO” COMPANION
As told by Jodi Murphy
It’s time to tweet about two exciting project in the works – Nesting Newbies and The Lea Show. A team of very talented people have been working to produce two internet shows. Nesting Newbies is a cooking, entertaining and decorating show featuring Lea McIntosh who is using her culinary training to teach newlyweds and those newly out on their own how to cook great food and entertain in style…and on a budget.
We always say “Leave it to Lea” when we need to find great resources for, well, anything and we’re showcasing her discoveries in The Lea Show. Experts and interesting talents show Lea how to do what they do on each episode. Lea asks the questions and the audience learns great insights, tips and “how tos” right along with her.
On Sunday April 19th the team – James Burkart of Burkart Video, Lea McIntosh, Natalie Wi of Allure West Studios, David Braddy of Vine-agra, Vanessa Rockey, Pat Campbell and Betsy Rose (best crew ever!) and I – took over the Rutt of Los Altos showroom to re-film the first episode of Nesting Newbies and the second episode of The Lea Show.
Lea and Vanessa arrived bright and early to begin hair and make-up while Pat and Betsy started food prepping and setting up. Natalie Wi was there to photograph the day’s events, including all the behind the scenes pandemonium. I arrived with the items on loan from Bloomingdale’s Stanford so that we could create our featured “Bella Notte Bistro Chic” tabletop. I had challenged David Braddy, a florist extraordinaire, to come up with something magical. I was doing the “happy dance” when he arrived because he had woven curly willow together anchored by two urns to create an arch over the table with a lantern attached in the center. It was beautiful, easy to make, and inexpensive! Perfect, since the goal is to show “newbies” how to stylishly entertain without breaking their budgets.
Diane Phillips of DK Designs dropped by to deliver two of her floral creations for the set of The Lea Show. Diane was the first guest artisan featured on The Lea Show (soon to be aired) and it was great to have her beautiful work decorate this episode’s set.
We learned so much from the first taping of Nesting Newbies that we decided to redo it and asked our first newbies, Lacee and Tejas Naik to come back again. The energy was high and when it was time for “Quiet on the Set” we were all in awe of what we were seeing. The chemistry between Chef Lea and the newbies was fantastic and the interaction, inspirational. Lea invited the Newbies into the cooking process and I think we all learned something new. Personally, I discovered how to properly cut an onion and hold a knife properly…and I’m not a newbie!
Jonathan Murphy dropped by to meet everyone in person as he will be doing the voiceover opening for the shows.
Soon Jung Wi, Natalie’s husband arrived with their three adorable kids who were quickly called into “crew” duties while Jung prepared for his segment on The Lea Show. Jung and Natalie own Allure West Studios and Jung, a master photographer, also teaches people how to get the most out of their digital cameras. He busted so many “megapixel myths” and taught Lea (and us) what to look for when buying a digital camera. With so much valuable information, Lea invited him back for a future episode to teach her (and the audience) how to take better digital shots.
By the time we wrapped it was a long day but one that was fulfilling and fun! James is editing the shows, the opening illustrations are being created and soon we will launch the first episodes of Nesting Newbies and The Lea Show. Sweet! – JM
WHICH PEN?
So now that you have your beautiful new guest registry, you’re wondering which pen to use.
I suggest using an Extra Fine Point Sharpie, pictured in the foreground here and not to be confused with the Ultra Fine Point Sharpie, pictured in the background. The Extra Fine Point Sharpie will leave smooth lines and will not bleed through to the other side of the page.
Scatter a few extra on the table. I can guarantee that you’ll have a crowd over the book.
AN URBAN GUEST REGISTRY
I am addicted to Asuka Books right now. Here’s the latest. A guest registry I designed for Marilyn & Danny using images from our San Francisco Engagement Session. Our contributing author, Melissa Napoleon, penned a beautiful poem to compliment the pictures.
Marilyn and Danny will use their book as a guest registry at their wedding. They will be married on May 17th at the luxurious Hotel Valencia located in European-inspired Santana Row.
A STATELY COFFEE TABLE BOOK
Ever since Carolyn and Michael’s Asuka Coffee Table Book arrived the other day, I long to open it and turn the thick silky pages.
This is one of our custom designed coffee table books in which we use our images to illustrate a story told by the bride and groom.
Carolyn and Michael were married at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. and held their reception at Belle Haven Country Club in Alexandria, Virginia.
CUSTOM DESIGNED COFFEE TABLE BOOK
Custom Designed Hard-Cover Coffee Table Book
Here are a few of my favorite pages from a hard-cover coffee table book that I designed for Carolyn Kearney and Mike Stone’s wedding.
I asked Carolyn and Mike to to send me some of their thoughts and feelings from their wedding day and I incorporated those quotes into an elegant coffee table book that supplements their feature wedding album.
On the day of the wedding, I met Carolyn in her hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City, Arlington, Virginia and was absolutely floored at how beautiful she looked. She had her hair and nails done at Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door on Pentagon Row and was preparing to slip on an exquisitely feminine strapless Melissa Sweet at Kleinfeld A-Line, French Lace wedding dress.
Bella Figura’s Classic Calligraphy Eco-Friendly Wind-Powered Letterpress Invitations and delicate florals from Brookhill Florist fit perfectly with Carolyn’s historical D.C. style wedding.
Carolyn and Mike were married at St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Capitol Hill and after the ceremony, we closed off C Street at 3rd and took some surreal shots of Carolyn and Mike and their wedding party with the Capitol as their backdrop.
We headed over to Belle Haven Country Club in Alexandria, Virginia for the reception. Here, Carolyn and Mike were led into the cocktail hour by a bagpiper and were introduced for the first time as husband and wife on the terrace overlooking the green.
After their indulging in their delectable Alexandria Pasty Shop wedding cake, Carolyn and Mike left through a gate of sparklers and paused for a romantic embrace before whisking away in their getaway car.
We photographed Carolyn’s brother’s wedding 5 years ago at the Ritz-Carlton at Tyson’s Corner, Virginia and since their wedding, are proud to say that the Kearneys have been part of our extended family. We love watching their family grow and are honored to be a part of it as it happens.
OUR NEW WEDDING RINGS
I’ve been holding up lines everywhere these past few days since I just can’t seem to stop admiring my new wedding ring!
I asked my lovely friend and Union Street Wedding Ring colleague, Dilek Sezen of Dilek Sezen Objet D’Art, to design these beautiful rings for us using my original engagement diamond.
I just love how the rings feels and looks on my finger and Jung has been raving about his ever since he slipped it on.
These exquisite rings sit atop an elegant arrangement created by my other lovely friend and Union Street Wedding Ring colleague, Mandy Scott of Mandy Scott Flowers.
By Recommendation Only Picture of the Month
We are proud to announce that we have been invited to join several other top professionals in the bay area on By Recommendation Only and one of our favorite images from Jenn and Greg Clapp’s wedding at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ is featured as June’s Picture of the Month.
By Recommendation Only was developed by Johanna Kaestner, who conceived, authored, and published the first series of By Recommendation Only books, covering the party and wedding industry in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. Her expertise in this endeavor stems from more than 16 years researching the party and wedding industry.
Johanna interviewed me in our Union Street studio and the morning flew by as we looked at pictures and shared stories about our professional and family lives. I especially enjoyed connecting with Johanna because not only is she a wise business woman, but she is also a wise mother. There is a delicate balance between maintaining a successful business while raising a family and I hope that when my children are grown, I can look back and say that I cultivated each with grace and finesse, just as Johanna did.
Our New Studio!
We moved into our new studio space on Union Street last weekend and are celebrating our one week anniversary today! What an exciting week it’s been. I love being on Union Street and feel so inspired and motivated here.
Our new address is 2088 Union Street, Suite 3, and we’re located on the corner of Union and Webster, above Armani Exchange. We’re just down the street from some other amazing industry professionals: Mandy Scott Flowers, photographer Gene Higa and photographer Ann Hamilton.
The view from our window, overlooking Union Street:
Our 7-year-old, Lawrence, painting:
Looking up at our studio from Union Street:
Our 5-year-old, Aiden, painting:
Here’s where the kids and I broke for lunch:
Aiden waiting patiently for lunch:
Lawrence playing with his sister, our 3-year-old, Isabella:
The kids love Union Street:
Isabella painting:
Jung and our babies in our new studio:
A sneak peak inside:
New Blog!
We’ve moved our blog from Blogger to WordPress, simply because of the advanced ability to customize the look and feel of the blog. We do, however, have to learn how to make all of these changes, so in the meantime, our archives and about us pages don’t work yet, but will be coming soon.
Promises and Pearls 2008
A few days ago, we had the privilege of photographing Promises and Pearls, a bridal soiree, co-created by Michelle Barrionuevo-Mazzini of MB Wedding Design and Events and Beverly Yip of Especially Yours Chair Covers at the San Francisco Design Center.
This is part of one of the showcase tables Michelle designed:
Michelle’s beach-themed table:
I was especially drawn to this showcase table. It was a black and white theme loaded with fresh, spring greenery. The florals for this table were done by Leah Gagne and Rafael Campos at Spiral Hand Floral and Event Design.
Exquisite jewelry design by Carrie D. Mader:
This is my lovely husband, Jung, presenting our family portrait session to the lucky raffle winner along with Michelle and Beverly.
The showcase tables were a collaboration between Michelle of MB Wedding Design & Events, Leah Gagne and Rafael Campos of Spiral Hand Floral and Event Design, Hartmann Studios (who provided the rentals, draping and accessories), Impact Lighting through Hartmann Studios, Marizette Paperie and Beau Coup Favors.
Hartmann’s new chandelier:
Cake by Gabrielle Feuersinger of Cake Coquette:
Kevin Chin and Patrisha Lee admiring the B&W themed table:
Super cute potpourri sachets by Beau Coup Wedding Favors.
This is me with Carl Mindling, The Only D.J., one of the first friends I made when we moved to California:
Cake designed by Michelle and implemented by Kelly at Glass Slipper Gourmet:
Guests enjoying themselves:
His parents are very efficient and are looking into his options early:
Beverly and her family:
SFDC at night:
What a great evening! We made so many new friends and really enjoyed being a part of such a spectacular show.