wedding, wine and wintry weather

As you know, this past weekend Stefan and I headed down to (supposedly) sunny Florida to celebrate my and my sister's birthdays with my parents.  Gretters' bday was the fourth and mine is the nineteenth, so we all got together for the weekend sandwiched in between. 

It was Stefan's second visit to the island, a favorite vacation spot of my family's since I was a wee little baby.  The first time he joined us - two Christmases ago - we had the misfortune of the coldest weather Boca had ever seen (well, almost - but you get my drift).  We played our annual tennis tourney in parkas and mittens, drank hot cocoa in place of margaritas, and spent the days bundled up next to the fire, not soaking up the sun.

Needless to say, the island didn't strike Stefan's fancy.

My mom, however, has had her heart set on a Gasparilla Island wedding for ages.

who doesn't love that boca grande beach?

boca's beautiful banyan street is a really winner too

and we can't forget the charm of the Gasparilla Inn golf porch

and then there's the Boca Bay Club - oh, how we love you

How can you blame her?  When the island is nice, it's really nice.

While Stefan and I had decided long ago (47 days to be exact) that we wanted to wed in California's wine country, I think my mom had secretly been holding out hope that when we came down to Florida for a visit this past weekend, the island and its magic would captivate Stefan and we'd be tickled pink at the thought of some Floridian festivities for our nuptials.

But somehow the weather worked its witchcraft again, and what is normally a sunny, 70-degree climate, was instead a wintry wonderland of frigid tundra.

As you likely already know, Stefan and I did not change our wedding destination. 
 
Instead, we spent Sunday's frozen afternoon taking a visit to the locale of our Sonoma wedding spot via the acclaimed 2008 film Bottle Shock.

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The film chronicles the story of the early days of California wine making featuring the now infamous, blind Paris wine tasting of 1976 that has come to be known as the "Judgment of Paris".

The film also happens to be shot at the location of our (and Seth Rogen's) wedding: Kunde Vineyards.

As we watched the gorgeous scenery flicker by (and I pointed out all the various sites of interest), my wise grandpa Poppy declared that the movie could only be watched properly with a glass of the region's fine nectar. 

One of the two bottles my Nana and Pops

generously donated to the afternoon's festivities

So there we sat, in Boca Grande, Florida, at 2pm in the afternoon, sipping a California Cab dreaming of a wedding in Sonoma.

Sorry Mom - there's always Gretters' wedding.

xoxo
KK