Nicole + Christopher
A Gorgeous Vow Renewal at St. Josef’s Winery
“I love it! I highly recommend having your wedding more than once!” said Nicole, as she stood, beaming in her wedding dress.
I’d just arrived at St. Josef’s Winery and entered into the bridal suite where Nicole and her husband, Chris were just helping each other on with the finishing touches of their Vow-Renewal Looks.
Like many couples who had planned a wedding last year, they had to make adjustments to their original plans, and after a sweet and intimate wedding last summer with less than 20 attendees, the day of their big celebration had finally arrived. For just over a year, Nicole and Christopher had been looking forward to having all of their friends and family travel to the stunning St. Josef’s Winery to celebrate their Vow Renewal with all the trimmings of a proper large wedding party!
A few adjustments to the traditional wedding day were made including Chris and Nicole getting ready together! They helped each other to get into their new, more “evening romantic” attire they’d chosen for this celebration in preparation for a First Look with their families. Last year, Nicole wore a voluminous dress with a sweat-heart top and delicate lace sleeves. This year, she choose a more form-fitting gown with an open back which complimented her slender frame.
For this year’s celebration, Chris opted for a darker grey suit which, given the storm clouds that had been pelting down rain all morning, I thought was a very wise choice!
Once Chris and Nicole were all done up, I gathered their families together just outside St. Josef’s gorgeous and ornate Oak Doors. Nicole and Chris made their way down and shared an emotional First Look with their families that had everyone tearing up!
We snapped a few family portraits on the deck of the tasting room and seeing that the weather was providing us with a rare respite from the rain, we walked over to the pathway overlooking St. Josef’s gorgeous pond to finish up with the family portraits and take a few “Bridal” shots of Nicole and Chris as well, highlighting Nicole’s gorgeous bouquet from Songbird Floristry.
Just as we reached the pond’s edge the rain came back with a vengeance, but Nicole and Chris were game for a few epic rain shots so we had a ton of fun getting those before escaping back to the shelter of the tasting room.
Back inside, Annie and Sara from MH Events were hard at work putting together the reception and ceremony spaces. After a quick check-in, Tara the owner of St. Josef’s opened the cellar door for us where we set up a few creative shots in the cellar’s Barrel Room while guests began arriving.
Annie and Sarah got everyone seated, and Chris and their officiant Michael, the same lovely man who married them last year, walked to the head of the tasting room. Nicole was escorted by her father and the Vow Renewal Ceremony began.
It was such a lovely ceremony, filled with continuing promises to create on the beautiful marriage and life they’d began in the last year and as I looked over to the front row, I could see tear-streaked cheeks from parents, grandparents, sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts.
Sealing their vow renewals with an epic Hollywood kiss and then beaming as they exited the isles, staff of Premiere Catering began circulating the crowd with delicious appetizers like mini-grilled cheese and tomato bisque dipping cups.
The emotion in the room was pure joy as Nicole and Chris weaved in and out of family and friends, sharing laughter and hugs after so long apart.
Just as cocktail hour was winding down, my assistant Katie tugged on my elbow excitedly saying, “There’s a rainbow outside!” I grabbed Nicole and Chris to sneak outside for a few amazing moments where we had sun, rain, a double-rainbow and the pure ecstatic joy of this amazing couple!
Premiere Catering put on a delicious dinner and after which followed emotional toasts by the fathers of Nicole and Chris, cake was cut, a shoe game was played and dancing erupted on the dance floor, DJ’d by the amazing Aussie DJ, Gavin Bruhn.
Everywhere I went during this amazing day all I could hear were excited conversations of love and joy and it made my heart warm to see families who’d been apart for so long come together in celebration.
Take a look at the joyful images below and be sure to leave Nicole and Christopher a comment of congrats and continued well wished in the years of their marriage to come!
