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CAKE's annual Holiday vacation is over & done with.
Its time to clock-out from the fortress of
solitude and resume our raison d'être: squiring Brides & Grooms
through the Valley as they deal with due
diligence planning their Wine Country and Fallbrook area
Weddings!
This picture-perfect region is setting the gold standard for Southern California weddings, with Brides & Grooms reveling in the joy of discovering an unspoiled locale that completely spoils them. The region's well-turned phrase says it all: "Come for the Wine, Stay for the Wedding!" |
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Photograph Of The Month Beginning with the current issue, CAKE plans
to single out
Groom Straightening Ring Bearer's Tie (father & son) Nikon D2H. Nikkor 10.5 fisheye lens. Spot metering 1/60th @
2.8. Bounce flash off ceiling with flag. Photographers are encouraged to e-mail
out-of-the-ordinary SAVE THE DATES Looking at Wedding planning from the lady's side (a force to be reckoned with!), the 2008 fan-out is already underway, as legions of Brides spread out doing the shop-bop for wine country venues & vendors. Conventional wisdom has it their quest is for facilities and services as individual as they are. And what of the Lords of the Ring? (grooms). One thought gaining traction is that Grooms should pace themselves. The bungee-jump of Wedding planning is not for the faint of heart! Striking CAKE's fancy is Grooms' making their contribution by scouring the calendar for a never-forget-an-anniversary date. So keeping this balancing act in mind ("Meet the photographer on Sunday? What about the Game?!"), CAKE proposes the gotta-have Wedding dates for 2008:
[» THIS JUST IN «] "Fallbrook Wedding Industry Stays Strong Despite
Wildfires" "Wine Country Weddings are
Sweet—and Profitable" Venues & Vendors: if you have Wedding-related
news updates you would |
VENUES & VENDORS
of the Temecula Valley Wine Country
and Fallbrook area
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SOUTH COAST WINERY
In Dustin Hoffman's classic 1967 film "The Graduate," a family friend offers him career advice for the future: "Plastics!" Fast forwarding to the present - with Wine Country Weddings in mind - CAKE's au courant observation is: "Rooms!" |
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Countless times over the years, we've heard Brides, Grooms - and especially their American Express-wielding parents - tell of selecting their venue based on the availability of nearby lodging for their guests. In a perfect world, their guests would walk-not-drive back to their rooms following the reception. As the wine country's future unfolds, CAKE foresees the scale tipping in favor of Wedding-venue wineries offering lodging for their Wedding guests. Enter Jim Carter's enterprise, South Coast Winery. Fortune favors the bold and with 76 luxurious Villas on the property, South Coast is a step ahead of the pack accommodating the majority of any Wedding's guests. But getting back on message, SCW has two beautiful Ceremony venues: The Courtyard, a Tuscan-esque mise-en-scène right out of a movie set. The Bride's entrance up the grand staircase to join her awaiting Groom takes the breath away! Secondly, the more informal Rose Arbor venue, with its views of the South Coast vineyards in the ravines below, offers rarely seen panoramas of the wine country. Complementing the nuptials festivities, the GrapeSeed Spa (think: Bachelorette Party) and the Vineyard Rose Restaurant (think: Rehearsal Dinner) are at your service. So what are you waiting for? Contact South Coast Winery's affable coordinator, Leah Bennett, and disappear into the Resort's grounds for the romantic experience of a lifetime! SOUTH COAST WINERY RESORT & SPA 34843 Rancho
California Road |
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WIENS FAMILY CELLARS On Cinco De Mayo 2007, a new wine country Wedding venue came online as wedding bells rang at Wiens Family Cellars. (For any reader not fluent in Spanish, "cinco de mayo" translates as "the 5th of de mayo"). Evident to even the casual observer, Wiens is a breath of fresh air in the wine country Wedding scene, with the early-adopter crowd turning out in force for a new place to tie the knot! |
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The Ceremony site is a peerless pairing of rustic formality, hand-in-hand with understated elegance. The amphitheater setting allows every guest a clear line of sight as the Bride & Groom exchange their Vows, the overview being the couple framed by vineyards and distant mountains. Wiens is riding the tide of 2 trends currently gaining currency in the wine country: one being they throw open the doors of their Barrel Room for small receptions. Guests love the sense of being privy to behind-the-scenes at a winery! In addition, Wiens provides separate Bride's and Groom's rooms for dressing and privacy before the big event. How cool is that! This is a luxury CAKE foresees becoming more & more in demand. So while the bloom is still on this new location, swoop into wine country-worthy Wiens Family Cellars and talk to Wedding coordinator, Amy Fitzpatrick, about booking your Special Day. And while you're at it, checkout Amy's Wedding Blog - http://wine-events.blogspot.com/. (CAKE's always a pushover for good writing!). 35055 Via Del Ponte amy@wienscellars.com |
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Dan Pettus Photography When CAKE first became involved in wine country Weddings, we knew who to go to for the gotta-have info: Brides! So we would ask a Bride, "Who's your photographer?" "Dan Pettus!" And then ask another Bride, "Who's your photographer?" "Dan Pettus!" Asked & answered. We have to meet this guy. |
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| CAKE's enjoyed an occasional chuckle at Weddings, watching Myra put the crew through their paces. Dare they take a break to catch their collective breath, Myra can be counted on to spot another angle in need of being photographed. No rest for the righteous! Brides will find the family at Dan Pettus Photography a pleasure to work with, not to mention gaze in wonder at their body of work. On a final note: Dan maintains an additional website - MyTemeculaWedding - to aid Brides in planning their wine country Weddings. Enjoy its offerings at: http://www.mytemeculawedding.com/. Dan Pettus Photography 31808 Temecula Pkwy #667 |
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In Southern California, CAKE notes that videographers are the least-utilized of Wedding vendors. (As opposed to our years on Lana'i & Maui, where every Wedding included a videographer. Go figure). We totally get it that financing a Wedding can be an expensive proposition. On the other hand, after splurging $10,000 to $15,000 or so on the Special Day (Wine Country Weddings are a steal compared to the national average), turning all dials to the left by subtracting a videographer from the equation can be a classic example of penny wise, pound foolish.
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The Bride finds herself in an unique state of affairs: on the one hand, she is acknowledged as being the luminary of her Special Day. On the other hand, with her traditionally being sequestered before the Wedding, she misses seeing the beginning of her own Ceremony: the Processional. Having a professional videographer shoot her Wedding makes certain the Bride doesn't miss one iota of the happiest day of her life! Enter Black Tie Productions, a 20-year family affair following the direction to perfection. At the helm visually exploring the elegance of Weddings is producer, Michael Scalise, skillfully assisted by father, Angelo and son, Anthony. CAKE has watched Black Tie in action and these gentlemen are style central! Surrounded by guests in evening gowns and tuxedos, they blend in by dressing the part. Never losing sight of how fleeting the Wedding day can be, they capture moving pictures of special moments that, if not kept alive on camera, would be gone with the wind. Any story about this Wine Country video mainstay wouldn't be complete without mention of their community involvement in the Fallbrook Fantasy Wedding. Over the course of 5 years, this annual charitable event has awarded 5 lucky couples with a $25,000 dream Wedding. Alongside CAKE, Black Tie Productions has volunteered their services to the event since its inception. So don't leave videographers by their lonesome! Contact Black Tie Productions and be certain the precious memories of your Special Day will be preserved for all your days. BLACK TIE PRODUCTIONS 951 302 1179 |
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CAKE is the Wedding newsletter
of the Mission Statement: To Inform. To Entertain. |[caution: please read responsibly. CAKE is not your mother's wedding newsletter!]|
© 2007-2008 CAKE |
