A Livestreamed Vineyard Wedding at Gloria Ferrer, Sonoma

The Livestreamed Vineyard Wedding at Gloria Ferrer

Before the ceremony, Melissa and Sam met for a first look at a split-rail fence while the vineyard rows fell away behind them and the Carneros hills sat hazy in the distance. Sam wore a black vest over a white shirt, a lavender paisley tie, and a white rose at the lapel. When he turned and saw her, they both started laughing, and then they pulled into a long hug on the hillside with their eyes shut and the green rows spread out below.

They married on the terrace overlooking the vineyard. A wine barrel dressed with white florals stood in as the altar, their seven closest people took the chairs, and a camera streamed the whole thing live. Lili Freitas of Weddings of Heart officiated in a lavender blazer, and she laughed along with them as she read from her white book. The stream gave the day two audiences at once. Seven people sat on the estate, and everyone else watched from living rooms and kitchen tables, all of them seeing the vineyard, the hills, and this couple finally getting married. Whoever was home could see Melissa's face as Sam slid the ring on, and hear the vows in real time.

“Everything ran so smoothly and we were able to just relax.”

Portraits Across the Winery, a Postponed-Three-Times Wedding

After the vows, the small group raised a toast out on the winery's gravel patio, glasses up in front of the Spanish-tile buildings and the Adirondack chairs, the vineyard dropping away beyond the low fence. Then came the family photos and the portraits across the property. Gloria Ferrer gave the couple vineyard rows, the terrace, and long hillside views to work with as the light moved through the afternoon, with yellow Jerusalem sage blooming along the slope and olive rows below.

With only seven guests, nobody was in a hurry. Melissa and Sam took their portraits first, and then the small circle who had made it there in person gathered with them, everyone framed against the rows.

Dinner at the Sonoma Winery

Dinner followed for the seven of them, with the winery's own sparkling on the table. Melissa and Sam had their first dance, the people closest to them stood up and gave their toasts, and they cut a cake from Patisserie Angelica. The toasts had nowhere to hide at a table this size. Every word reached the person it was meant for, and the whole evening moved at the pace of a family dinner rather than a reception.

It wasn't the wedding they first drew up. After the three postponed dates, the changed plans, and the year that kept moving the goalposts, they said it turned out better than the big one would have. A small day, streamed to everyone else, that finally made them married.