Welcome to Real Wedding Spotlight, where we feature our favorite nuptials that have happened in real life.

 

A Romantic Winery Wedding in Sonoma

 

How did you meet?

 

Kelly: In April 2010 we both were living in Arizona and happened to be at this little Mexican cantina place. We each went up to the bar to order drinks and just started chatting. The next thing you know we were ordering a pitcher of margaritas to share.

 

Nathan: We hit it off right away and starting dating.

 

Kelly: I always said I’d never move for a guy but, a year after we met, Nathan got a job in San Francisco and I knew I’d be going with him.

 

How did you get engaged?

 

Nathan: Every year I have go to New York for a work conference around Valentine’s Day. That year it ended on the 13th, right before Valentine’s Day, so I flew Kelly out to New York on a red eye flight so we could spend Valentine’s Day together in New York. She had never been to New York City before, so I turned her into a tourist for a day. We explored the whole city, and even took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty despite that fact that it was freezing outside.

 

Kelly: We had said we weren’t going to get each other Valentine’s Day gifts because we were going to New York, so that was our present to each other. But I did make him a card, and so when we got back to our hotel room I gave that to him. That’s when he said he didn’t have a Valentine’s Day present for me, but he did have something else.

 

Nathan: So I got down on one knee and proposed in our hotel room overlooking Times Square.

 

Kelly: I loved it because it was just the two of us. It was very intimate. I also learned that he was waiting for exactly the right moment to propose, so had the ring with him the whole day in the pocket of his coat. When we were on the ferry and it was freezing, I kept trying to bury myself in his coat, but he kept grabbing my hands and pushing me away!

 

Nathan: That was stressful. She could have just said, “What’s in your pocket?” and blown it.

 

Kelly: It was cute.

 

 

What were your favorite parts of wedding planning?

 

 Kelly: I loved it all! I’m a graphic designer so I had been designing a lot of my friends’ invitations and I couldn’t wait to do our own. I letter-pressed them myself and did my own calligraphy. Sure there were some times when I thought we should elope, but it was totally worth it in the end.

 

Nathan: My favorite part was being done! Just kidding. . . .Kind of. I mean, I had seen every part of the planning process but could not envision the way it would come together like Kelly could, so the wedding was just amazing to me. From the hand-lettered table settings to the cups of flowers Kelly made to toss after the wedding, everything was so special.

 

Kelly: I designed a wedding monogram for us, a K and and N with olive leaves around it. I hand drew it and scanned it and we used it everywhere, including on our “guest book,” which was a giant bottle of wine from Arista Winery, where we got married. I sent them our monogram and they were able to etch it in gold on a five liter bottle of Pinot Noir and every at the wedding signed it in gold marker. We’re aging it and we’re going to open it on our ten year anniversary.

 

 

What were your most memorable wedding moments?

 

Nathan: I liked sitting together at our little sweetheart table during the reception. We had said our vows and done our first dance, so all the stress was gone and we both just looked at each other and said, ‘Can you believe this is all here for us?’ It was such a cool, surreal feeling to realize the amount of love that was in that place at that moment.

 

Kelly: Everyone tells you that the day will just fly by and you need to take some time to just breathe and take it all in. One of my favorite moments was dancing with my new husband in the vineyards as the sun set. It was magical! I’ll always remember seeing my dad for the first time, then walking down the aisle and seeing all my guests for the first time.

 

 

 

How did you approach your wedding registry?

 

Kelly: We sat down on the couch with a bottle of wine and thought about what we wanted to have on our registry. Getting on the same page made it easy.

 

Nathan: We loved it. We had so much fun. It was like Christmas!

 

Kelly: When we moved in together, it was some of my stuff, some of his stuff. The best part of registering was getting things that are truly ours.

 

Nathan. Oh yeah, she hated my plates.

 

Kelly: It’s true, I hated his dinnerware. I was so excited to register for pretty dinnerware that we both liked.

 

Any registry advice for other couples?

 

Nathan: Don’t forget about things you can upgrade. I didn’t realize what it was like to have really good knives until someone gave us a cutlery set we registered for. I had bought a set maybe ten years ago and I thought they were fine. But now we have these super-sharp Shun knives and it’s amazing what a difference it makes! I feel silly getting that excited about knives, but it’s been pretty glorious.

 

Kelly: I’d say to give everything a lot of thought and really look for quality pieces. It’s just nice to have good products that you know you’re going to use for a really long time. You’re not getting something cheap that you’re going to have to replace soon, you’re looking for something that will last forever.

 

Right now, we’re also running our Win Your Registry Sweepstakes. Simply create your own registry in one of our stores or online, and you’ll be automatically entered for a chance to win your entire registry! See more details here.