Proposal at Bella Winery & Wine Caves| Dry Creek Valley, Healdsburg
So, funny story...
(Don't you love it when stories start like that?) I was driving to this proposal at Bella Winery & Wine Caves, and I used the GPS since it was a location I hadn't been to before. I would have normally taken one road that was more well known to me, but the GPS gave the option of a different route that saved me 3 minutes...so I thought, what the heck! I turned on my favorite jam (Justin Timberlake's Just Can't Stop The Feeling" from the Trolls soundtrack). I’m just singing along, getting pumped! As I turn on to the 'new to me' street, I see a line of cars up and down each side of the road. There is a big iron gate opening, and I’m wondering to myself which winery this is (maybe someday I will actually have been to all of them?). And then I see it- it’s a cemetery. A huge crowd of people, paying their respects during a funeral service. Guys, I was mortified! Here I am, driving by, dancing along all jolly-like. Sobered me up REAL fast. Now, I know that they couldn’t hear the music, but I turned it down, and drove by REAL slow. I made sure to have an “I’m sorry “ look on my face to anyone who might have noticed me. Awkward. When I was about 1/4 mile down the road, I realized how bummed out I was, which is NOT how I should be feeling going into shooting a proposal. So what did I do? Yep, I put JT back on to help me bounce back 😂Ok, on to the main event!
I had heard of Bella because they own Ru’s Farm (formally Healdsburg Country Gardens) which is a gorgeous outdoor wedding venue just down the street from my house. I was so excited to see the winery in person. Next awkward moment? There was nowhere to hide! You literally drive up to the property, park- and there you are! I knew Erik was renting a picnic table, and there it was- right there! Crud. Luckily, there were a few olive trees, so I literally stood under one and peered around it, waiting for the moment to happen. There was a group sitting in Adirondack chairs to the side of me, and they seemed to be oblivious to me, until I ran out and started snapping away during the proposal. Then they all clapped and yelled congrats!
We had a great time walking around Bella's property, and I stayed a little bit after as they attempted to FaceTime family. Yes, I said attempted! Another quick funny story- when my husband proposed to me, he said afterwards that his Mom told him she didn't want to find out we were engaged on Facebook, she wanted to know before. So, we called...and for the first time EVER, no one answered (or called back) for 2 HOURS!! Dude! So, when these two tried, something similar happened. We just couldn't stop laughing. I mean, the ONE TIME you really need someone to be available! (They did text me later to let me know they finally got to chat with family, so thank goodness!)If you are looking for a low key, relaxed, but beautiful spot to wine taste, play a few lawn games or maybe even find a chair and read a good book, check out Bella!Big thank you to Laura at Bella for the gorgeous flowers!And LeighAnn, it was great to run into you in the cave! I'll see you in June at Ru's!
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