Dry Creek Ranch of Rio Linda Classic Country Wedding (Sara & Brian)

Brian and Sara are Kansas City transplants who managed to create the most beautiful classic country wedding held in Northern California. They tied the knot at Dry Creek Ranch which is a historic house, which I was surprised to find was only a few minutes away from my house and a total gem. Sara & Brian did an excellent job selecting their vendors- their caterers, florist, everyone and everything was great!

Brian & Sara also opted to do a "First Look" prior to the ceremony. Instead of waiting to see each other for the first time when they walked down the aisle in front of the crowds of people (which is typically very nerve wracking), we all met before hand at Gibson Ranch in Elverta to let Brian and Sara have a more private moment together. Brian and I took a short walk out into field and down a side path under an archway of trees. Brian was pretty calm and I set him up facing away, looking down the path while we waiting for Sara's bridesmaid to drop her off.




Sara was a little bit more nervous, but the more nervous and hesitant she was, the more glad I was that these two decided to see each other before the ceremony. What is more comforting, what else could put you more at ease than your partner? And Brian was exactly the cure that Sara needed. As soon as they turned towards each other it was all smiles and hugs and kisses and all of (or at least most!) of the butterflies went away. This way we were also able to really take our time and get some really special couples portraits.








Doing a first look really takes the pressure off the couple. It allows you to just sit back and enjoy the moment. After the ceremony there is a lot of rushing, and when we get down to couple's portraits we usually only have 10 or 15 minutes at most to get those pictures done and for you guys to have some alone time together. Usually this is the only alone time a couple gets on their wedding day, and that is so important to have! Inevitably the wedding planner, somebody's dad, mom, bridesmaid or other person will interrupt at least twice to ask if we are done yet, and although I hope everybody feels that they still get that "special moment" if we go the traditional route, I just think it is so much more peaceful and really takes that edge off before the ceremony to go this way instead.

Of course, you all know the most important thing to me is being my couple's advocate; I want all of my couples to get exactly what they want and if you want to be traditional, I will do everything I can to make that happen. That said, I still have to say that I have found first looks to be so much more sweeter, so much more emotional, and so much more memorable than the (usually) freaked out coming down the aisle moment. I have found that when most couples really consider the value of a first look, they find the sentiment, emotion, privacy (an extra pictures) are totally worth breaking "tradition" for.

Plus most men have that whole "I must look strong and manly in front of other people" thing that they usually don't have when it's just their bride, so the emotional reaction, whether that be happy or tearful is usually much more powerful in private with the men, which I just love.

Alright, off to the ceremony we go!






Dry Creek Ranch! Page out of their guest book here on the left.



You can see the childhood photos of the bride and groom strung on the clothes line on the porch here.






Just married!


Time to play!







Alright, reception! Sara & Brian didn't have all of the usual hoopla at their reception, which I really prefer personally. They had dinner and chattered with their guests and their family and friends made toasts. Sara and Brian were married on Sara's parents wedding anniversary so there was some honoring that needed to be done to celebrate that too!

There were so many details at the reception, I seriously had trouble getting a good chunk into this post. There is even more than I am documenting here! Brian and Sara gave jars of locally made honey as favors for their guests, which they had stayed up late the night before the wedding wrapping up! Talk about DIY! The tables were covered with masons jars, blue tinted glass and loose wildflower styled arrangements, fresh branches with peaches still attached were laid across the buffet area, and the guests were served old fashioned style glass bottles of soda. Awesome DIY wedding under the stars and twinkle lights.







VENDORS
Venue - Dry Creek Ranch, Rio Linda, CA
Florist - Garden of Weedon Designs
Caterer - Beth Sogaard Catering
Draping and lighting - Avenue Illumination
Musicians - Gypsy Standard Time
Makeup - Christi Reynolds
Hair - Ashley at Salon Paisley