A culinary micro wedding at the CIA at Copia, Sarah & Mike at The CIA at Copia

Real Weddings · Napa, CA

A Ten-Guest Culinary Micro Wedding at the CIA at Copia

Sarah & MikeNovember 2022The CIA at Copia · Napa

A culinary micro wedding at the CIA at Copia gathered Sarah and Mike and ten guests to the Culinary Institute of America's Napa campus in November 2022, a food-forward day where the ceremony garden and the wine country's most famous teaching kitchen shared one address. The morning began across town at the Archer Hotel, the lace dress hung against the stone wall under the rooftop sign.

A sand ceremony among the garden beds ran in the afternoon, passed bites came out that belonged on a chef's tasting menu, and one long farmhouse table pulled together for dinner under twinkle lights. When you get married at a culinary school, the food is the whole point.

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Morning

Getting Ready at the Archer Hotel

Sarah got ready at the Archer Hotel in downtown Napa with her mom, her sister, and her aunt. The Powder Room did her hair and makeup — dark waves left soft, a bold red lip, long drop earrings — and her dress, a white gown with flutter lace sleeves, embroidered leaf work, and a row of covered buttons, waited on its hanger against the hotel's stone facade beneath the rooftop letters.

Vanda Floral Design brought the arrangements over: a cascading bridal bouquet of white roses, ranunculus, and trailing greenery, a boutonniere for Mike, and the roses that would go to the moms later. Sarah and Mike had decided to see each other for the first time at the top of the aisle, so they got ready apart and saved it for the garden.

A culinary micro wedding at the CIA at Copia, Getting Ready at the Archer Hotel

Afternoon

A Sand Ceremony in the Garden at the CIA at Copia

The ceremony was outdoors at the CIA at Copia, the working produce beds of a teaching campus standing in for a florist's arrangement, olive trees and stone walls close on every side. Rev. Richard Meyer officiated. Mike walked in first with his mom to "Arioso," in a navy suit and a wide grin, and paused to kiss her cheek before he took his place. Then Sarah came down the rose-petal aisle on her dad's arm — grey suit, patterned tie — to "Married Life" and "Up" on violin and piano.

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