Wedding Video: Wine and Candlelight on a Grand Scale

This August seems to be our month for winery weddings. On Friday, Aug. 11, I covered the wedding of Karena Stotz and Rositur Martin at the spacious Palm Event Center in Pleasanton. The Center, built with timbers from the area's historic Ruby Hill Winery, shares vineyard property with the Mitchell Katz Winery.

A long driveway, flanked on either side by stately palm trees, leads from Vineyard Avenue up to the winery. Vineyards extend away to the right; the Palm Event Center stands to the left. As you drive in, the winery -- housed in a massive old brick building -- seems to rise up in front of you and fill the windshield, eclipsing the rolling hills in the background. The Event Center looks modest by comparison; but the impression is only relative, and it vanishes once you step through its thick double wooden doors. The Center's main ballroom can hold up to 450 people.

Karena's and Rossi's ceremony was held in the Event Center's Barrel Room -- a long, high-ceilinged room lined with huge wine barrels. Late afternoon light streamed through a single arched window high in the west wall. The rest of the lighting came from elaborate wrought-iron chandeliers high overhead -- and from hundreds of votive candles set everywhere along the dark framework supporting the tiers of wine barrels. The candle flames glimmered in subdued reflections from the sides of the big casks. It was a spectacular setting. The Rev. Robert Dittler, resplendent in bishop's mitre and robes, performed the ceremony.

Many wineries capitalize on their outdoor scenery when staging weddings, and do that beautifully. But the Palm Event Center's Barrel Room celebrates the magic of the winemaker's art that takes place after the harvest. I suspect that it's not only elegant, it's also strategic: the Barrel Room will be just as inviting in December, when wineries with outdoor wedding sites will have put away their chairs and flower stands for the winter.

Capturing the visuals for Karena and Rossi in still images was Lucie Kubinova Silveira of LucieXYZ Photography in Santa Clara. She made the most of the dramatic interior and exterior settings in posing her subjects.

Karin Gruber of Wild Nights in San Mateo was the highly capable DJ for the ceremony and the reception, assisted by Wayne Munoz. We've been fortunate to work with a lot of skilled and helpful DJs over the years, but Karin was one of the best. She went out of her way to make sure we had good audio to go with our tapes, and she impressed us even more by attending the wedding rehearsal the day before, so she could coach Karena, Rossi, and their bridal party on their musical cues. (Karin even set aside a final piece of prelude music as the audio signal for the bridal party to assemble, once everything was ready for the ceremony. That's proactive.)

Attending our clients' wedding rehearsals is standard policy for us. On occasion, we'll see the photographer at the rehearsal, too; but it's a real rarity to see the DJ there. Karin's performance through the entire wedding set her apart as a real professional.

- JH

Wedding Video: An Overflowing Cup

One of the aesthetic perks of doing wedding videography in northern California is being asked to cover events set at the crown jewels of our regional agriculture: wineries. The combination of lush vineyard scenery, striking architecture, and -- more often than not -- spectacular views practically pours great shots into the camera lens. The hardest part of the day can be shutting down the camcorder and calling it a wrap.

Last weekend I was in Santa Rosa for the wedding of Katie Watson and Dan Lindell. Katie and Dan were married at the bright, airy Star of the Valley Catholic Church, off the Sonoma Highway -- the only church I've ever visited that has a polo field just across the road. The reception was north of town, up in the hills, at the Paradise Ridge Winery.

The road to Paradise Ridge ascends through meadows studded with huge modern sculptures.

The winery building itself faces west, overlooking the Russian River Valley. A wide, covered wooden deck runs the length of the second story. The hillside falls away below, sloping down to a broad apron of vineyards. Beyond the vines are oak trees, fields, and in the distance, Highway 101 and the northern districts of Santa Rosa.

At the south end of the building a wide staircase leads down to a long stone-walled patio that curves along the hillside. The patio's high back wall, rising from flower beds and fountains, is criscrossed with vines. Paradise Ridge set the patio with several dozen tables for the wedding guests, who enjoyed their dinner as the sun sank toward the western hills and the shadows lengthened in the vineyards below.  When the meal was done, everyone moved indoors to the dance floor -- except those guests who lingered outside on the deck to watch a brilliant sunset. By the time the dancing began, the sky was dark and the lights of Santa Rosa were starting to twinkle in the distance.

The view reminded me of one of my favorite weddings from the 2005 season, held at the Thomas Fogarty Winery up on Skyline Boulevard in Woodside. The Thomas Fogarty hilltop property faces east, so it doesn't have as good a vantage point for sunsets; but it makes up for that with a phenomenal, glittering nighttime view of Silicon Valley and the East Bay.

Back at Paradise Ridge, Jeremy Hinton -- a.k.a. D J Big Boy of Bay Area Sound Service -- kept the dance floor packed all night. He adroitly segued from one song to the next, maintaining a tempo that probably would have cleared the floor at most parties. But the Watsons, Lindells, and their friends and relatives were up to the challenge. My bet is that Katie and Dan will pass a lot of stamina on to their children.

Driving back down the hill later, as the lights of the city winked through the oak trees, I found myself mentally replaying the sights and shots of the afternoon. The sun had been full on the green vineyards and the gold hills. The bridesmaids -- in vivid pink dresses -- were posing for pictures against that backdrop. It almost seemed as if you could get great footage by closing your eyes and pointing the camera in any direction. Experiences like that make us appreciate the opportunities we have to do videography in the wine country -- and, in our own way, to bottle those moments for clients to savor years afterward.

Corporate Media Projects : WeddingVideo.Com

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