*Wedding by Bailey*
Emily’s wedding planning journey began last fall when I was spending Thanksgiving with her family in Corvallis. This was the first time I met both Emily and her then fiancé, Tola. Because the family was together for the holiday from all parts of the west coast, Emily and her mother Diane had planned a day to go wedding dress shopping. I was excited to be invited along (much more excited than they even knew), because of course I love everything to do with weddings! After spending the majority of the day at one bridal shop, Emily was pretty sure she had found the right dress but we decided to stop at just one more place for fun. We found a store in downtown Salem called Simply Grand Bridal. We were looking around but many of the gowns were too fancy for Emily’s style. One of the ladies working in the shop gave us a small piece of advice that turned into a grand idea! She suggested that if we weren’t finding any of the bridal gowns to be the right pick, to check out the bridesmaids dresses for comparison. We browsed the dresses intended for bridesmaids, but found a dress that was almost exactly what Emily had imagined. Emily tried the dress on and we both knew that we had found the dress! It was perfect, the only thing that needed to be changed was the color, at the time Emily was wearing an ORANGE dress!
And so began the wedding planning journey. Emily and Tola were married June 30, 2012 at Pacheco Ranch Winery in Novato, California. Deb Rowland, who both lives at and runs Pacheco Ranch with her husband Herb, is the most wonderful, caring, and easy-going person to work with. She made hosting a wedding at Pacheco not only easy, but so much fun. Deb allowed us to starting preparing for the Saturday event a week in advance, letting us stop by to plan layouts, store beverages in the barn, and even cut extra grape vines to make decorations out of.
Emily and Tola chose to get married in Novato, California so that Emily’s grandparents, who live there, would be able to attend the celebration - making it a destination wedding for all the other guests. Actually, wherever Emily and Tola would have chosen would have been turned into a destination because they had guests invited from 9 different countries! Tola was born and raised in Sweden, and met Emily while they were both studying abroad in Korea. The couple now lives in San Diego, but had guests from Sweden, China, France, Canada, and England all attend their California destination wedding. Since their guests had traveled such long distances, Emily and Tola really tried to make their wedding a giant celebration for everyone to enjoy. 
Not only does Pacheco Ranch have a beautiful outdoor space where both the ceremony and reception were held, but Deb and Herb also open up their gorgeous Victorian home for the wedding party to spend the morning getting ready. The girls take over an upstairs bedroom and bathroom that is beautifully decorated with antique furniture, while the guys take the downstairs sunroom and patio where they can hang out on deck chairs and relax in the shade. While the bridal party was spending the morning getting ready, a group of Emily’s family helped transform the ranch into an elegant outdoor wedding. Emily’s Aunt Priscilla put together all of the flowers for the day including centerpieces, aisle decorations, boutonnieres, and bouquets. Forks and Fingers Catering were also tremendously helpful in setting up all the tables and chairs and making sure everything went smoothly (not to mention their food was amazing later in the night). We rented sound equipment from Corporate Media Systems for both the ceremony and reception and their staff made it so simple for me (not a techy) to use the equipment and they also were so accommodating letting us return the equipment the next day rather than pick it up at wee hours of the morning (a request of the groom).
Emily and Tola kept it traditional by waiting to see each other until Emily was walking down the aisle. We had to load Emily and her bridesmaids in a car and drive them behind a tree to be sure that Tola and the groomsmen would not see them. The ceremony included a special thanks to both families which made it heartfelt and unique. Following the ceremony, Forks and Fingers served delicious appetizers and poured glasses of Pacheco Ranch wine for the guests while Emily and Tola took pictures around the ranch with photographer David Woodfin, a local up-and-coming photography student. Tola’s best man and brother, Nil, made a speech to be remembered (or forgotten after some drinks) by having the guests cheers in all of the different forms of countries represented at the wedding. All of the guests were invited to make toasts so that everyone was included in the celebration. One of my very favorite parts of the entire wedding was a surprise flash dance for Emily. Her mom Diane planned the whole thing in advance by emailing all of the guests and sending them an instructional video to learn a line dance. We all surprised Emily with the dance, and she was truly surprised to see all of her guests break out in a synchronized dance! Tola joked with me before the wedding about how much Europeans love to drink wine and dance, but he wasn’t kidding! Bottles of Pacheco Ranch wine were served at every table but before the night was through Deb opened up the wine cellar to bring out more of her famous wine. The dancing began early in the evening and ran late into the night. Deb was so happy with the party that she let it continue until everyone’s dancing shoes were worn out for the night.
I know I could go on and on and on about this wonderful day...Emily and Tola make an amazing couple and I’m so happy I was a part of their big day. Thank you to Emily and Tola for sharing the day with me and thank you to Pacheco Ranch Winery for providing such an amazing venue!
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