Choosing the location was about a two month process. We went through many iterations before ultimately deciding on Bodega Harbor.
We initially wanted to go with a destination wedding. Chris wasn’t a big fan of the southern wedding idea, so we had to put the Charleston/Savannah/Hilton Head ideas to rest. We went through a couple of other items before deciding on Hawaii.
The Hawaii wedding was going to be on Oahu and set at one of the major Lost filming locations. Kualoa Ranch was my personal favorite option and would have been scenic. Unfortunately, this plan fell through logistically, so we decided to stick to California.
Which brings on wedding theme #3: the brewery wedding. We tried a few.
First, there was Barrel House Brewery in Paso Robles.
I actually really like this brewery. It’s kind of a little oasis in the middle of Paso Robles and the location would have been a good halfway point for the SoCal and NorCal people. The beer was great, too, which was important. There were two big show stoppers here. First, they don’t do food. This wouldn’t have been too bad, as we could have done a couple of food trucks and called it a day. The biggest hurdle we couldn’t get over was the restriction on outside beverages. Would have sucked for anyone who doesn’t drink beer. We considered looking into Firestone Walker, but there didn’t seem to be enough to that brewery to have the event there.
We shifted our focus to some of our favorite Sonoma-area breweries and had a lot of beer along the way.
Lagunitas would have been a cute space, but they couldn’t fit our party size. Russian River is my absolute favorite, but the venue isn’t situated well for a reception, so we didn’t bother asking. Also, the guy who filled out growler was rude.
There was also Stumptown Brewery in Guerneville.
It would have been a beautiful location, but the brewery itself was probably not going to cut it. It was another location where we didn’t even ask about whether they host receptions. I’m pretty sure my grandparents don’t want to see me get married in a place where the bathrooms read “Chicks” and “Dicks.”
Also, this sign probably would not be a great way to greet guests:
The brewery we were very close to selecting was Bear Republic in Healdsburg. The location would have been great for the reception. The price would have been great and I love my Racer 5. It was perfect in most ways except for the ceremony. There’s a grassy area right outside the brewery where most people who do the Bear Republic receptions do the ceremony. It was fine, but not really what I was looking for and would have required a lot of rental equipment. I tried to see if we could hold the ceremony at the gazebo in the town square, but that’s apparently only for non-profits.
Still thinking we could make it work, I looked into a number of locations that could do the ceremony. This proved to be a lot more difficult than I expected since a lot of the ceremony sites would have been insanely expensive. That’s when I ran into the Bodega Harbor Yacht Club, because who doesn’t want to celebrate getting married at the site of a Hitchcock film?
The initial idea was to do the ceremony there and have people drive between locations. With an hour drive, it wouldn’t have been idea, but it would have made for a pretty view. Unfortunately, the ceremony-only set up was only for weekdays. The reception pricing was comparable to Bear Republic, so we decided to perhaps do everything there. It didn’t hurt that they cover a lot of logistics for the wedding (ceremony, reception, linens, chairs, etc.) and allowed dogs at the ceremony site. One visit later and we were sold.
In the end, the process probably took a lot longer and about a lot more miles of driving more than it needed to, but it was a fun adventure that involved a lot of beer and a lot of road tripping. The location combines the rustic old charm that I was looking for in the southern wedding with the beach backdrop (albeit, significantly colder) and the local beers. I think, in the end, that was exactly what we were looking for.
Chris and Alea 