When we meet with our clients for the first time we always ask them about their vision of the wedding, what have they planned so far, and how they envision everything. Because by that time the wedding is usually about a year ahead, more often than not we don’t get any particular answers. Not Laura though. When we asked them the same question Laura and Dave went on and on about the awesome rustic venue they found, about them collecting milk glass vases everywhere, and about Dave’s seersucker suit. These two had clearly already planned the whole wedding in their heads!

When we came to Radonich Ranch on the day of the wedding everything looked exactly like Laura described – a beautiful rustic outdoor venue and a super relaxed atmosphere. Radonich Range is a a fruit cannery that has been in the venue’s family for a hundred years and the scene is classical California with a Steinbeck feel.

Laura and her mom worked their butts off the whole year completing a whole bunch of DIY projects and there was an abundance of gorgeous and well thought out details that we just couldn’t stop photographing. Dear Laura and Dave, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful day with us!

Here are some of our favorites:

The table runners were super cute, made by Laura and her mom from oilcloth. Also, they used Laura’s grandmother’s recipe to make and hand jar strawberry jam as favors. The grandmother and grandfather, who jarred fruit back in the great depression, helped make all of them!

This cake was officially the cutest I’ve ever seen:

Loved Laura’s hairpiece:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Radonich Ranch
Hair & Makeup: Tera Hardwick of Faust Salon
DJ/Band: All Occasions
Florals: Suzie’s Flowers
Catering: Vignette Events
Wedding Dress: Priscilla of Boston

It didn’t come as a surprise that everyone loved this wedding and the magazine editors just couldn’t get enough of it! Laura and David’s wedding was published in Bridal Guide Magazine and then again in You and Your Wedding – a UK publication.

I don’t think there’s anybody in the Bay Area who has not heard about the B.R. Cohn Winery. Their wine bottles appear to be everywhere all the time and, coincidentally, it was another venue that we also considered for our wedding. We were super excited to have a chance to shoot here.

The B.R. Cohn Winery is located in the heart of Sonoma and is located on a huge property with stunning surroundings and amazing romantic locations for both ceremony and reception sites. There was plenty of room to move around for when we wanted to steal the bride and groom from their guests for sunset pictures :)

The best thing about having a B.R. Cohn Winery wedding is that you can have your ceremony on the beautiful Fox Hill – a setting covered in old Oak trees and surrounded by panoramic views of the vineyards.

I found it to be super special that Colleen’s beautiful gown was purchased at a “Brides Against Breast Cancer” event in Sacramento, so 100% of the proceeds from it went directly to breast cancer research! If that wasn’t enough, Colleen plans to donate her dress back to “Brides against Breast Cancer” for the next bride to enjoy!

When we asked Colleen what her vision is for the wedding day she said she wants it to be F-U-N! And fun it was :) The whole day was laid back and everyone was enjoying themselves. In the invitations the guests were even encouraged to wear flip-flops. Why? Because comfort is the key to a good time!

At the end of the night the guests were surprised by an old fashioned popcorn machine: Keith loves popcorn and Colleen customized popcorn boxes to say “Keith POPPED the question” :)

Ceremony & Reception Venue: B.R. Cohn Winery
Hair & Makeup: Blanc Bridal Beauty
Wedding Coordinator: Cirkl @ Cirkl Productions
DJ: Premier Productions
Florals: Oliver’s Market
Catering: Wine Valley Catering

You can learn more about having your wedding at BR Cohn & Winery by following this link.

I fell in love with the Dawn Ranch Lodge the first time I saw it. Its rustic wooden cabins, spacious meadows, beautiful river, and tall Redwoods give out a beautiful relaxed vibe. The highlight of the property for me, however, was an apple orchard with beautifully old apple trees just covered in fruit. I was in love and Dawn Ranch was actually one of our own top two venue choices. Making the decision was painful, we had to make a long list of all the pluses and minuses of both venues and talked, talked, talked… We ended up booking the second venue, mostly because of how tiny our wedding is going to be – we didn’t want guests getting lost on the huge property! :) Right when I was all sad about not having a Dawn Ranch wedding we got a call from Stephanie and Tom. They were super sweet, getting married a month before us, and Stephanie’s vision for her wedding was almost a complete match of ours. Aaaand… they were getting married at Dawn Ranch! This immediately made me feel so much better, almost like I’d be able to have two weddings :)

So we’ve been looking towards Stephanie and Tom’s Dawn Ranch wedding for a long time and these guys exceeded all of our expectations! Their day was so beautiful, full of love and warmth. You could tell that Stephanie worked super hard and thought of every single detail to make the wedding theirs – from a custom made ring plate to the most beautiful and touching ceremony I’ve ever heard – the day was planned flawlessly.

Steph and Tom, you guys were such an inspiration for us, thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Here are a few of our favorites:

Stephanie and Tom’s First Look was so sweet:

The gorgeous meadow at Dawn Ranch:

Tears and laughter during the toasts:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Dawn Ranch Lodge
Hair: Stella Stevens
DJ: Patrick Numair
Florals: Lila B
Catering: Dawn Ranch Lodge
Wedding Coordinator: Erica Becks
Ceremony Music: John Chapman
Cocktail Hour Band: Russian River Ramblers
Jewelry: Yael Designs
Lighting Company: The Lux Productions

To see one more gorgeous Dawn Ranch Lodge wedding photographed by Choco Studio visit Dawn Ranch Lodge Wedding Photos