A Fall-Foliage Micro Wedding at Sand Rock Farm

A Harvest-Season Redwood Ceremony

The ceremony was outdoors on the estate, the redwoods standing tall behind the couple and the autumn light coming down through the canopy. Beatriz Orozco officiated as Viridiana and Jose said their vows in front of their twenty-two guests, close family and friends in the chairs, near enough to catch every word.

They exchanged rings and were married there among the trees, then turned to a small crowd that was right there for it.

“Twenty-two guests among the redwoods, and the autumn light coming down through the canopy.”

Family Photos at the Autumn Barn Estate in Aptos

Portraits happened around the property afterward. Sand Rock Farm is a restored 1880s winery estate on ten acres of redwoods and oaks, the Swedish family who homesteaded the land planted Santa Cruz County's first winery here, and their original 1887 cottage was milled from redwood trees felled right on the property, so there was no shortage of settings: the old farmhouse, the barn, the wooded paths, the light between the trees.

Viridiana and Jose worked through the family groupings and their own portraits, then pulled everyone in together before the evening set in.

Toasts, Cake & Dancing Under the Café Lights

As the light went, the café lights took over. Dinner was set out under the strung bulbs, the fire pit lounge close by against the fall air, and the toasts went around, the couple's closest people talking about the two of them while the room went warm and quiet.

Viridiana and Jose cut the cake, then had their first dance, and the celebration ran on into the evening with everyone they'd brought to the redwoods with them.