Outdoor weddings are especially popular, especially in California! More and more couples are tying the knot with a scenic background or at an outdoor venue. Below are our tips to remember if you find yourself wanting to host an outdoor wedding! Tenting. If a venue does not have an indoor option large enough for the ceremony, cocktail, and reception, a tent is recommended year-round for outdoor weddings. Deposit is usually non-refundable and should become part of the overall wedding budget. Tenting will also require lighting inside. Wind. Wind is common and affects signage, paperie, linens, florals, and decor. Consider place cards that are included on a menu with a napkin holding down the menu or another option to a typical place card. Signs must be secured to sturdy, heavy easels. Florals should be low and in heavy containers, especially smaller arrangements on cocktail tables. Linens on cocktail tables might need to be secured and should be extra long to accommodate being tied or tucked under the base. Consider no favors or having them set on a table at the end of the night. Table numbers should be made of a sturdy, heavy material and/or attached to a heavy, low base. Heat. Tenting can prevent florals from wilting and guests from being overheated. Misters work with varying success and many guests do not want to get wet. Having fans and matching parasols available for a sunny ceremony is helpful – always check with the photographer regarding using parasols. Communicate weather predictions with your guests the week of the wedding. Bugs. Mosquitoes = have repellent spray and wipes available. Flies = do not have a grazing board for cocktail hour or family style dinner where food is left out. Consider keeping cake inside. Wasps = do not have any appetizers sitting out with meat in them. Ask the venue to set up wasp traps the week prior to the event. Bees = they love lavender and seasonal blooming plants. Keep ceremony away from bee-loving plants. Cold. Pre-order heat lamps from the venue or rental company and work with your planner on where to have them placed to provide the most heat and work with the overall design. Purchase blankets and/or wraps for your guests and expect them to take them home. Have a plan for what to do with any leftovers. Remind your guests the week before about the weather so that they come dressed appropriately Ready to jump into the planning process with our advice in your arsenal? Book your FREE discovery call today to find out how we can help! Vendor List
Photography: Nicole Sepulveda Photography Planning, Design & Production: Tan Weddings & Events Venue: B.R. Cohn After Party Venue: Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa Catering & Accommodations: Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa Florals: Flourish DJ: Function 45 Entertainment Live Music: Justin Diaz Music Video: Phillip Alan Films Cake: Flour & Bloom Dessert: Cafe Apae Rentals: Theoni Collection, Bright Event Rentals Linens: BBJ La Tavola Linen Signage & Paperie: Shimmer & Stain HMUA: Jenn V Beauty Transportation: Napa Valley Wine Country Tours Classic Trolley: Sonoma Valley Wine Trolley Suit: The Black Tux Dress: Calla Blanche from Schaffer's Bridal TWE Luxe Package The TWE Luxe Package is for the couple who wants to check every box, include every detail, and have their entire weekend be as luxurious as it is memorable! Our Luxe Package includes what we consider full-service planning, design, and production. We'll walk with you through all of the planning steps, assist you in detailing your vision and aesthetic, and of course, make sure your day goes as planned and runs smoothly so all you have to worry about is enjoying it! Not just for the wedding day, our Luxe Package includes full service planning, design, and production for your welcome reception or rehearsal dinner & your farewell brunch too! A weekend full of smooth running events, nothing can beat it :) In addition to all of this, our Luxe Package also includes our shuttle organization service, wedding dress or attire fittings, hotel room block gift coordination, wedding website creation, and a dedicated wedding day concierge! Transportation is one of the most underestimated vendors to organize. From timing to size, to pick up and drop off points, to communicating all of the necessary details to your wedding guests - we'll take care of it all! These days there are a ton of ways to bustle a gown, we're happy to attend your final dress fitting to ensure you have someone to remember and be able to assist with this day of. For those who have room blocks and want to spoil their guests with welcome gifts, we're here to help organize and facilitate this! Most couples these days have a wedding website to communicate the early details to their guests, with our Luxe Package we'll create this custom site for you! Lastly, for the wedding day concierge, think of this as your own personal assistant day of the wedding, they can grab you food, help find your jewelry, take impromptu candids with your iPhone for you, or just keep you company to calm the nerves! Whatever you need, we got you :) TWE Premium Package Our TWE Premium Package includes our full service planning, design, production package for the main event, your wedding day! This is the truly the bread and butter of everything you need to make sure your day goes off without a hitch! We're here to help guide you, manage your rental orders, create a design layout and flow, assist with your RSVP management, and more! We'll help you source the best vendors for your vision and keep track of everything in our planning documents which you'll have access to 24/7! Day of, we'll be the first there and the last to leave - we'll make sure your day goes as planned and you spend your time making the memories of a lifetime! ***Optional add-ons from the Luxe Package are available to add on a la carte to the Premium Package, but the Luxe Package is inclusive of everything for a better deal!*** TWE Essentials Package Our TWE Essentials Package is for the couple that is comfortable with taking on a lot of the planning. This package is only applicable to specific venues with in-house full-service catering and also includes the necessary rentals, like tables chairs, basic flatware, china, and glassware. This package is ideal for couples who want a laid back, simplified wedding with minimal pieces to make up the project. By hiring these types of venues that offer these amenities, you're cutting down on some of the most time consuming vendors to coordinate! If you plan on getting married at one of these types of venues, possibly have a smaller guest count, or already have many of your vendors already secured and solidified, this might be the package for you! Contact us to discuss and find out if your plan is eligible for this selection! TWE Elopement Package Elopements grew in popularity over 2020 and they've stuck around for great reason! People realized they loved the intimate gatherings and the meaningful moment with their closest friends and family. Our TWE Elopement Package includes everything you need for this special moment. We'll officiate, have a live musician, provide personal florals for the happy couple, a cutting cake, champagne, and assist with creating the timeline and vision for your day. We'll also connect you with photographers or videographers to capture the moment and hair & makeup artists to make sure you're feeling your most confident! Perhaps you want to get married amongst the redwoods or the vineyards, whatever your vision - we've got you covered! Ready to take the dive into wedding planning? Book your FREE discovery call with us today to learn more about our packages and how we can best help you create the day or weekend of your dreams! Vendor List
Photography: Nicole Sepulveda Photography Planning & Design, Signage & Paperie: Tan Weddings & Events Venue: Arista Winery Cake: Flour & Bloom Cakes Rentals: Bright Event Rentals Florals: Bloom & Vine Video: Phillip Alan Films HMUA: Veronica Marshall Jewelry: Renewable Jewels Suit: Suit Supply Dress: Grace Loves Lace Models: Lisa Hale & Ian James Justin Diaz has been a musician for over a decade. He is the dedicated guitarist at all of the elopements we do at Carneros Resort & Spa! He's a true professional with a warm personality and always provides the perfect ambiance for couples' ceremonies/receptions. Justin's favorite part about his job is, "Lots of factors; the capability to be part of client’s special life moments, to always be in new/beautiful venues and especially getting to provide quality music that means a lot to people." Even with all of these amazing things, we asked Justin to give us something he wants couples to know about his line of work! He replied, "There is so much more that goes into providing high-quality music than just being a “good” musician. It’s knowing how to read the vibe of the whole group, how to mix all the sound equipment properly, and that it’s a great investment because there’s a huge visceral difference between being simply sung AT by speakers than being sung TO by a human (me) 😄" We asked Justin from his perspective what the main differences were between live musicians and DJs to which he responded, "A live musician can: - Read the group and immediately change the dynamics of the music based on the ebb and flow of the couple’s guests. - Arrange/play songs in a customized way for the processional, bridal walk down, first dance, etc. - Provide a more relaxed/memorable atmosphere in contrast to a DJs capacity to get everybody dancing and make that bass slap." Justin is loved by many, clients and vendors alike - enjoy one of his raving reviews below! Real Vendor Review “As a wedding and event planner, having the best vendors on your team is key. Justin is at the top of my preferred vendor list. He is an absolute joy to work with and he's unbelievably talented! He's kind, cool, easygoing, so skilled in his craft, and he's organized from contract to execution of the event. Every time a client books Justin, I get a huge smile on my face because I know the music element of their special event will be a glowing success!” Want to learn more from some of our favorite vendors? Search vendor spotlight on our website at the bottom footer to see who else we've featured! ![]() Vendor List
Photography: Suzanne Karp Photography Venue & Accommodations: Carneros Resort & Spa Officiant: Tan Weddings & Events Florals: Julie Stevens Design Live Music: Justin Diaz Music One of the biggest lasting impressions your wedding will have on your guests will be the food! Dinner is not just a time to nourish your guests for a night full of dancing, but it also impacts your guests' experience. One of the most common questions we get as wedding planners is which is better - a buffet-styled dinner or a plated dinner? Here's our take on the pros & cons of each! Buffet You've probably eaten a buffet dinner before, whether that's at a work event, a holiday party, or another friend's wedding! The pros for this type of setup are guests get to pick and choose what they want to eat as they make their way down the line. It saves you time on the front end of planning by not having to collect guests' individual entree selections. It's also great if your crowd has a wide array of dietary restrictions because your guests are able to easily work around what they're able to eat or not. The buffet setup encourages guests to get out of their seats and creates a laid-back atmosphere. The cons involved are buffet dinners will often take longer than plated dinners when accounting for the amount of time it takes everyone to make their way through the line and finish their meal. Buffet dinners also can result in more waste as guests sometimes over serve themselves or your caterer may over prepare portions to account for this. Lastly, ever since the pandemic, buffet dinners had a decline in popularity due to sanitary reasons of everyone approaching the same food with the same serving utensils, so if this is a concern for you, maybe plated is the better option. Plated Plated dinners are classic and provide an elevated atmosphere. This doesn't necessarily mean they're "better" than buffets, but your guests will experience dinner differently. Plated dinners promote your guests staying in their seats and encourage mingling at the table. It also has an elegant feel with table service from wine pouring to your dinner being brought to you. The pros of a plated dinner also include a cleanly presented dish for each of your guests with their desired choice of entree gathered ahead of time. Plated dinners are more sanitary and are also able to be customized for those with dietary restrictions. Plated dinners are easier to predict timing wise for the overall flow of your event as it's based on the service time and less on how quickly guests can get through a buffet line. They often take less time than a buffet and are sometimes even cheaper as they don't require a buffet set up or staff to make sure it stays stocked. The cons of plated are some couples feel it's too "stuffy" and don't want their guests to feel like they can't leave their tables. Plated dinners are a little trickier for last minute RSVPs if you have someone to add on weeks leading up to the wedding. They also require a detailed seating chart to make sure the caterer know what meals are going to what seats, which can be time consuming on the planning end of things. There are always two sides to everything and it's important to think about what you want and what you think your guests will enjoy most! Want more advice like this? Contact us today to see how we can help make your event spectacular! Vendor List Photography: Better With You Photography Planning & Design: Tan Weddings & Events Venue: La Playa Carmel Florals: Fleurs du Soleil Rentals: Chic Event Rentals DJ: Sound in Motion Video: Phillip Alan Films HMUA: Beauty by Chau Nguyen Signage & Paperie: Nikisha King Design House Cakes: Lady M Cakes Vendor List
Photography: Radostina Boseva Photography Planning & Coordination: Tan Wedding & Events Venue, Catering & Accommodations: Park Winters Florals: Fig & Vine Rentals: Blossom Farm Vintage Rentals & Theoni Collection Lighting: Larcom's Lighting Linens: BBJ Linen Cake: Let Them Eat Cake Dessert: Sweet Tooth Ice Cream Cart DJ: Heart of Gold DJs HMUA: Hera Makeup Studio Video: Rippetoe Studios Live Music: Innocenti Strings Photo Booth: Pixel Photo Booth Photo Booth Backdrop: SacBooth Signage & Paperie: Shimmer & Stain Officiant: Michelle Lee Vendor List
Photography: Gagan Dhiman Photography Planning, Coordination & Officiant: Tan Weddings & Events Venue: Hamel Family Wines Catering & Dessert: Elaine Bell Catering Florals: Bloom & Vine Rentals: Standard Event Rentals, Theoni Collection DJ: Extreme Productions DJs Hair: Hair by Breanna Makeup: Taryn Passifione Transportation: Pure Luxury Signage: Minted Children can make the cutest additions to your wedding ceremony, especially if you have a specific child in mind you would want as part of your big day. Whether that's your own child, maybe a niece or nephew, or a close friend's kid, there are myriad factors to consider before committing to the idea of a flower girl/boy or ring bearer!
Interested in having your dog as your flower girl or ring bearer? Head over to this blog to read about those tips too! Contact us today to see how we can make sure your wedding day is smooth running! Vendor List
Venue: @parkwinters⠀ Coordination & Styling: @stephanieteagueevents⠀ Photography: @ashbaumgartner⠀ Videography: @taylorpetrinovich⠀ Florals: @lebloomerie⠀ Hair & Makeup: @alldolledup_norcal⠀ Table Top Rentals & Linens: @hensleyeventresources⠀ Furniture Rentals: @lux_eventrentals⠀ Wedding Cake: @bakerandablackcat⠀ Wedding Dress Boutique: @graceandwhitebridal⠀ Wedding Dress Designer: @goddessbynature⠀ Bridal Shoes: @bellabelleshoes⠀ Bridesmaids Gowns: @bellabridesmaids⠀ Invitation & Paperie: @ashbaumgartner⠀ Styling Mats & Backdrop: @suzypierceart⠀ Ribbon: @partycrushstudio⠀ Officiant: @tanweddingsandevents⠀ There will be so many moments you want to remember forever from your wedding day, but here are our recommendations on a top five you should definitely prioritize!
Ready to hire help to make sure you capture these moments? Contact us today for a custom quote! Vendor List
Photography: Radostina Boseva Photography Planning & Coordination: Tan Wedding & Events Venue, Catering & Accommodations: Park Winters Florals: Fig & Vine Rentals: Blossom Farm Vintage Rentals & Theoni Collection Lighting: Larcom's Lighting Linens: BBJ Linen Cake: Let Them Eat Cake Dessert: Sweet Tooth Ice Cream Cart DJ: Heart of Gold DJs HMUA: Hera Makeup Studio Video: Rippetoe Studios Live Music: Innocenti Strings Photo Booth: Pixel Photo Booth Photo Booth Backdrop: SacBooth Signage & Paperie: Shimmer & Stain Officiant: Michelle Lee Now that you're married, how do you decide who to celebrate the holidays with? How do you navigate these new dynamics? Are you planning on hosting yourselves? Here are our tips to make it a smooth holiday season as newlyweds! Put people in charge of specific tasks and/or food to bring. This is a wonderful way to segue from having a holiday meal at the parent’s house (for example) by recognizing the importance of what people have provided in the past. Try not to take on everything yourself so that the event is enjoyable and not too stressful. Plan well in advance! Send a digital evite at least 2 months in advance. Be sure to have discussed with the past hosts if they are comfortable moving the event to your home. Put a start and end time on the evite. Consider hiring your wedding planner to assist with the event. Although it feels like something that you can do on your own, having an outside person (and one who already knows you and your family!) can be helpful with timing, sourcing vendors, and being behind the scenes to problem-solve. Think about a fun new tradition to start, or continue with a past family tradition. It could be a game, wearing matching shirts, making a food item together, or an activity. Consider having someone clean your home the day before. This will alleviate stress when last-minute items pop up, give you more time to focus on details, and also help you feel completely ready. We hope these tips help start you in the right direction :) Need more help than this and want to hire a planner for your next family gathering? Contact us for a custom quote! Vendor List
Photography: @nickgrahamphoto Venue: @windmillvineyards ⠀ Planning, Coordination, Florals: @tanweddingsandevents ⠀ Paperie, Design & Signage: @maedellstudios ⠀ Interior Design, S'mores & Signage: @emilymurpheydesigns ⠀ Catering: @rusticovenpizza & @geschesgourmet ⠀ Rentals: @cprandtents @blossomfarmvintagerentals Music: @manzanita_music⠀ Flower Source: @farmerhands ⠀ Desserts: @zestfreshpastrywest ⠀ S’mores: @maedellstudios ⠀ Wines: @matchbookwines @mathiasson_wine @berryessagapvineyards⠀ You've planned and envisioned what florals you want at your ceremony, who you want standing up at the altar with you, what your altar decor will entail, and how many guests will be in the audience, but before you get to any of this - have you considered the timing of your wedding ceremony? Timing is key when it comes to the best lighting for photos and a myriad of other factors that are based on this. Tips to Consider Look at the sunset time and plan for 1.5 hours before sunset. No one wants wedding ceremony photos blown out by direct sunlight, be sure to plan accordingly to be able to remember your day in the best light possible. Be sure to also take into account if your ceremony venue is surrounded by any large trees, scenery, or architecture that could potentially affect lighting timing. Be sure you have plenty of time to access the venue before your ceremony time so your vendors can set up. Now that you've nailed down your ceremony time, check to make sure your vendors who will be creating and perfecting your vision have enough time to set up before your ceremony! Some venues have stricter limitations than others, so it's important to have an understanding ahead of time. Be sure to avoid high traffic times if on a weekday. Especially if you have a lot of guests driving in, rush hour particularly on Fridays can be incredibly brutal depending on where you are tying the knot. If possible to take this into account with your ceremony time, we recommend doing so to ensure you can start your celebration on time! TWE Officiant Kit You've solidified the above details, but have you chosen an officiant? If you are hoping to have a personal connection perform your ceremony, consider sending them our officiant kit! This toolkit will prep them for everything they need to know on how to professionally officiate your wedding. It also includes a mentorship zoom call with our lead officiant, Rev. Rick Tan! Ready to start the planning process? Contact us today to see how we can be a part of your special day :) Vendor List
Photography: Jessica Roman Photography Venue: Forest House Lodge Officiant: Tan Weddings & Events Kaitlin and Axel came to us with a very specific vision, "think whimsical Alice in Wonderland." As we learned more and more about their vision, we were more and more excited by it! With wedding planning, we see couples from all ranges, some who have no idea what they want to do, and some with every detail pre-imagined. Both are fun for different reasons! The Love Story & Details Kaitlin and Axel's love story started 4 years ago, "All because two people swiped right" on Bumble and they've been inseparable ever since! Axel decided to pop the question while snowboarding on Valentine's day! Hopefully, they made it down the slopes first ;) Their priorities for their wedding day was to make "their vision [come to life] and the overall feel of the wedding day." Good vibes only! And together, we created exactly that! The couple loved "how multifaceted" their day was and we have to agree there were so many fun elements built into Kaitlin + Axel's wedding (which you'll see below!) Real Couple Wedding Advice Kaitlin + Axel will leave you with this tip as you embark on your wedding planning journey - "Try not to get too stressed (easier said than done) - especially if you have TAN on your team, the day will come no matter what and it really will all be ok and wonderful in the end!" We've got your back! Ready to take the leap and start planning with us? Contact us today for your very own custom quote :) Vendor List
Photography: Jeff Hall Photos Planning & Coordination: Tan Weddings & Events Venue: The Maples Caterer: Gesche’s Gourmet Dessert: Hannibals Catering Coffee Bar: Bar 9ine Rentals: Frances Lane, Blossom Farm Vintage Rentals, Celebrations Event Rentals Linens: Celebrations Event Rentals Florals: Picture Perfect Petals DJ & Photo Booth: SJs Disc Jockey Signage & Paperie: Shimmer & Stain Video: Tilted Media Live Musicians: Harpist Aysha Gomez-Kureishi HMUA: MM Beauty Dress: Lillian West by Justin Alexander from Miosa Bridal Suit: Generation Tux |
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![]() ![]() If you are looking for hi-end custom gifting for your wedding welcome gifts for all your out of towners, Bestowe Gifting is your answer for getting hi-quality, localized, and personalized gifts designed and delivered for your wedding or event. We specialize in Northern California weddings, but can localized to any area and any couple for one-of-a-kind experiences. Miniumum of 25 gifts per person.
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