Tag Archives: napa-weddings
guest of honour: sam godfrey, oprah’s favorite baker
(Each month swansonvineyards.com profiles a local GUEST OF HONOUR, whom we deeply admire + always inspires.)
Sam Godfrey is the proprietor of Perfect Endings in Napa Valley and is also known around the world as Oprah’s favorite baker! Sam is revered for his magnificent creations + confections!
Looking straight out of an old fashioned bake sale, Sam created for my wedding, a sublime cake buffet, featuring 10 different types of vintage cakes, all using his grandmother’s coveted recipes. They looked like cakes made by YOUR grandmother, with LOVE. For the bride + groom, he made a heart shaped, red velvet cake, and decorated with our initials in RED HOTS! It was perfection…..
Sam answers the questions we wanna know!
the perfect wedding wine
Just Married
Swanson Vineyards Just Married wedding wine was inspired by a sweet and sentimental ritual in the Swanson family…
To commemorate the wedding of each of Clarke Swanson’s girls, he made magical elixirs in their honor, to be served at their wedding reception and dinner. First, there was the Alexis wine, then the Veronica, and lastly Mrs. Frank. Each wine was a special + potent brew that mirrored the girl: the Alexis wine was a Cabernet-Syrah blend and was a little bit country and a little bit rock n roll; the Veronica was an intoxicatingly beautiful and sweet Late Harvest Semillon; and Mrs. Frank was a tiny and most original batch of an unexpected Late Harvest Chardonnay. These beguiling wines created a most festive and indelible moment sprinkled about the tables.
With an eye on convenience, quality, innovation and value, Swanson Vineyards is delighted to offer Just Married! This elegantly crafted, proprietary Bordeaux-style estate wine is the perfect antidote to the vexing issues of both wedding wine selection, and gifting.
For the reception, you’ll find a refined and approachable wine carefully blended to connect and appeal to a wide swath of palates, from the beer-and-whiskey-loving wine novice, to the most discriminating oenophiles on your guest list. As a standalone gift, we can think of no better way to say ‘Thrilled For You!’.
Posted in entertaining
Tagged bay-area-weddings, just-married-wine, napa-weddings, wedding wine
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wedding planner laurie arons’ black book
Laurie Arons, the Bay Area’s most sought after wedding planner, opens up her black book (in this case, white book) and answers the juicy questions we’re dying to know.. But first, let me tell you about her. Laurie has been the go-to wedding planner for 16 years– if I weren’t so persnickety, I would have used her too! She knows and works with the most talented vendors– she has seen it, done it– and knows what works.
Describe your most favorite wedding?
It’s hard to pick my favorite since every wedding is so unique and special in its own way. Of course, my own wedding is at the top of my list. It was held at a southern style mansion in Napa, complete with a southern style menu and tons of southern details. Guests sipped mint juleps and feasted on comfort food served family style under a beautiful sailcloth tent. We invited the children of our friends and family to the wedding and really wanted to make them feel special. (After all, I fell in love with weddings as a small child and always loved when I could attend a wedding with my parents.) We created a special round tent filled with miniature tables and big colorful pillows for the kids to hang out. After a magic show, they joined us for dancing with the Durell Coleman band. It was so much fun!
What is the most outrageous request you have ever had?
I planned one wedding for a family many years ago, then when they hired me to plan another wedding for a sibling they told me they wanted to create a “more spectacular” wedding than the first for less money – 6 years later!
Favorite top 3 Napa Valley wedding venues?
I love Villa Mille Rose, Black Swan Lake and Durham Ranch
Favorite wedding venue?
It changes but right now it is the Santa Lucia Preserve in the Carmel Valley.
Favorite caterers?
Paula le Duc Fine Catering or Elaine Bell for larger weddings and Daniel Ripley Catering for smaller affairs.
Favorite bakers?
Only one, Perfect Endings
Favorite bands?
I love Durell Coleman Band for dancing and Tim Hockenberry for cocktail/dinner music. Tim’s voice is sensational.
Posted in entertaining
Tagged bay-area-weddings, just-married-wine, napa-weddings, sam-godfrey
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the instant wedding!
(excerpt from swansonvineyards.com, celebrating our newly released wine, “Just Married“)
Having married off all three daughters, Clarke Swanson is no slouch when it comes to weddings. To wit, the arrival of Swanson’s first Occasion Wine, “Just Married” Red Table Wine, respectably priced at $25 a bottle / $270 a case. Delicious, beautiful, and at this price point guaranteed to make the father-of-the-bride a happy man.
The Swanson girls, who all inherited their mother Elizabeth’s great propensity to entertain with style and largesse at a moment’s notice, resorted to their signature high-low elegance. Their idea of a perfect wedding: a Sam Godfrey cake, transportation in a Cinderella carriage (just in case it got a tad too stuffy), and of course 60 bottles of Just Married. In short, a wedding for 100 and instant marital bliss.
Assemble the guests, slip on the frock, say the vows, open the wine = instant wedding!
Posted in wedding
Tagged bay-area-weddings, just married, just-married-wine, napa-weddings, sam-godfrey, wine
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