Friday morning I woke up to 6″ of snow. A sinking feeling began to set in that I might not be able to get out of here to shoot Tracy and Rick’s destination wedding in the Napa Valley area on Saturday. Roads not plowed and impassable, more snow forecast. Only once every 5 or 10 years do we get snow in this amount at this elevation in the Sierra foothills. If I didn’t get a break in the weather I was out of luck. I made calls and found back up photographers, just in case. Around 9 a.m. the snow stopped, at 11 a.m. the sun came out, by 3 p.m. the roads were clear enough to leave and I went to Napa to stay the night with good friends, Kevin and Karen, before the next storm hit. Whew!!
And this was a wedding not to miss. Had a fantastic time! Tracy and Rick were married at a beautiful, family owned, private vineyard which shall remain anonymous as they normally do not allow weddings. The host family was wonderful and accomodating. Tracy and Rick embraced the wet weather and decided to have the ceremony outdoors, umbrellas at the ready. Their friend and limo driver, David Rasmussen, owner of Eclectic Tours http://www.eclectictour.com/ took great care of them. If you ever need a tour of the wine country, he’s your man!
Their beautiful wedding was very private and small. Tracy and Rick had decided not to tell family and friends until after the wedding. Only Pastor Tom Burgos and his wife, myself as photographer and witness, and David attended. Pastor Tom http://www.onenationundergodministries.org/ has connections. While we were standing in the pouring rain waiting for David and limo to bring Tracy, Pastor Tom prayed for a break in rain for the ceremony. Just before the limo pulled up the rain stopped! They had a beautiful, moving ceremony, we took a few more photos outside as the rain started again and then went underground amidst the barrels of wine where an intimate wine tasting table was set up for the bride and groom. Afterwards, they went to the wine tasting room to learn more about the history of the vineyards and taste more wine. I very much enjoyed sharing their special day! What a nice couple, so much in love.
