We love a good vineyard wedding – and Dani and David had one of the very best! The bride, who works in tech, and the groom, in real estate investing, love going wine tasting, so a romantic vineyard was a natural spot for their Jewish wedding.
Even better, their venue Terra Mia Vineyards is located in California’s Paso Robles, halfway between Dani’s hometown of Santa Monica and David’s hometown of San Francisco. The property is an absolute stunner – the perfect spot for the couple’s gorgeous chuppah, simply adorned with greenery and topped by tallits spanning three generations – how special is that?! We also love that Dani and David sourced their ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor ketubah.com!
And how wonderful are the pair’s photos, by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Derek Preciado?! He captured all the love and emotion of the day so exquisitely – and Dani and David loved the experience of working with him on the day.
Now over to Dani…
How We Met
Dani, the bride: We like to say we were set up by a yente! A previous coworker of mine is David’s third cousin, and they were at their family’s Passover seder when she decided to introduce us.
Splitting the Difference
We got married in Paso Robles, which is pretty much exactly halfway between my hometown of Santa Monica and David’s hometown of San Francisco. The venue was Terra Mia Vineyards which is an absolutely spectacular property. We loved the idea of (mostly) everyone being able to drive there but still having a bit of a destination.
A Vineyard Wedding
We knew we wanted a warm, romantic outdoor wedding. Nothing makes us happier than going wine tasting so we loved the idea of getting married in a vineyard. Our wedding planner was Jade Preciado and she was fantastic!
Dress
Going wedding dress shopping was one of the most fun parts of wedding planning! At the time, we were living in London so when my mom came out and visited we found a dress at a local boutique in our neighborhood of Islington. I had always pictured going wedding dress shopping with my mom and we had such a blast, we went to many different boutiques across London and in Los Angeles before landing on “the one”.
I knew I wanted something classic and romantic but what I ended up with was very different than what I thought I would, which is part of the fun of the whole experience!
Accessories
I borrowed a veil from a friend – that was my “something borrowed” and I wore adorable baby blue heels as my “something blue”.
Ceremony & Chuppah
Our favorite part of the whole wedding was the ceremony. Our chuppah was covered by tallits from three generations – David’s grandfather, David’s father, and my own from my Bat Mitzvah. We used a family member’s kiddush cup as well. We adorned the chuppah with some basic greenery as well to help it blend in with the gorgeous venue. We had a traditional Jewish ceremony with a few modern touches. We loved the feeling of being connected to all the generations that came before us – it felt so special.
We had family members and friends join us for the seven blessings, and we asked each of them to share their own interpretation of the blessing along with the rabbi singing the Hebrew text. Given that we didn’t have a bridal party, it was a wonderful way to include more people in our ceremony and hear from them as we became husband and wife. Our rabbi did an incredible job at explaining the elements of the ceremony so that everyone who was attending could be included in the traditions.
Ketubah
I think everyone (ourselves included) is using ketubah.com these days!
Our music choice
We had a band as live music was super important to me to add to the whole ambiance. We did our first dance to ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ and we even took a few dance lessons before our wedding. I think my husband was most nervous about that part – even more nervous than the smashing of the glass – and we honestly had a lot of fun practicing leading up to the wedding.
We of course did the hora, and somehow all of our parents got put up in the chairs too! My dad came flying off at one point but landed on his feet….and kept dancing which was a miracle. A special moment was when they played the song ‘Wild Horses’ which was my parent’s first dance at their wedding. Everyone joined in and slow danced with their partner/date/whomever. It allowed everyone to join in on the love and romance of the day.
My brother can sing, and I always wanted him to sing at my wedding. This was one of the most memorable parts when he joined the band to sing ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You’ for the father/daughter dance and my dad and I did a (poorly) coordinated dance routine.
Flowers
We kept it simple with lots of whites and greens, given our venue was so lush and gorgeous.
Photographer
Our photographer was Derek Preciado (our wedding planner’s husband)! He made us feel comfortable and we had fun, and we loved that they were able to work together. He even came to our Friday night event. I love looking through our photos and all of our family members have them hung up in their houses.
Honeymoon
We left on the Sunday night after our wedding for three weeks in Colombia. We loved doing our honeymoon straight away after the wedding and got to go on quite the adventure as husband and wife!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
You will spend so much time thinking about the reception and planning the reception, but the ceremony truly feels like the most special part of the day and is worth putting the same attention to. There are also so many decisions to make, and I definitely felt pressure to get things all done and figured out way in advance, so I wish I had been able to savor the planning a bit more as it’s so much fun to think about all the little details and get excited in anticipation for the day.
DANI & DAVID’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Derek Preciado
Ketubah – ketubah.com {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Terra Mia Vineyards
Wedding planner – Jade Preciado
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.
