1. Real Weddings

A Classy Garden Wedding at the Cornerstone Sonoma in Sonoma, California

John Pamintuan (36 and in E-Branch/Operations Support at San Francisco Federal Credit Union) and Marc Brewer (39 and a pediatrician at Palo Alto Medic

John Pamintuan (36 and in E-Branch/Operations Support at San Francisco Federal Credit Union) and Marc Brewer (39 and a pediatrician at Palo Alto Medical Foundation) met in an online dating chat room and dated for the next five years. The couple took their first cruise trip together, where Marc romantically proposed as they were sailing through Mexico. When John and Marc went to look at venues in wine country, the landscape and quirky personality of Cornerstone Sonoma won them over. Since they shared a mutual love for traveling, they decided to make the theme of the wedding day just that. Leather luggage tags were used as escort cards that doubled as the wedding favors, and tables were named after the couple’s favorite destinations they traveled to. The color palette of orange and gray was the inspiration behind the flowers that decorated the custom birch arch at the vineyard lawn wedding ceremony. At the tented dinner reception, dining tables were dressed in gray tablecloths with yellow napkins. There was even a dancing reception space inside the venue’s barn, where guests were able to dance the night away! The dessert table was inside the barn as well, which was filled with fallen chocolate souffle, butterscotch pot de creme and the three-tiered ivory wedding cake. One of the couple’s favorite details was the mini replica of John and Marc on top of their cake, which was filled with strawberry basil, black tie and lemon blackberry flavors.

Silver Wedding Rings, Heart-Shaped Dish
Gray, orange and white wedding invitations had the couple's initials printed all over. The invitations were done by Minted.com
Grooms Getting Ready, Gray Suits
Orange Calla Lily Boutonnieres, Green Ribbon
“We all wore socks of different colors to form a rainbow for the photo shoot,” says John. “You may call it cliché but the sock photo was one of our favorites.”
“The ceremony was held in the early evening on the vineyard lawn of Cornerstone, with a pool backdrop of floating water lilies,” says John. “The florist made a custom birch arch accented with callas and succulents. The aisle flowers were made of similar kind in hanging vases.”
Gray and Orange Aisle Decoration
Grooms Walking Down Ceremonial Aisle
Made of long thin twigs of white oak, the wedding arch was delicately decorated in various succulents and calla lilies.
“We had four female honor attendants who wore smokey charcoal short chiffon dresses by J.Crew in different styles. Their dresses were paired with Marc Fisher peep toe pumps in glitter,” says John. “Our four male honor attendants wore three-piece charcoal suits from Indochino with orange ties from Tie Bar
Grooms in Light Gray and Orange
Happy Couple, John and Marc
Couple Shot in Outdoor Fields
“As we were venue searching, our planner took us to Cornerstone Sonoma and we just knew instantly this was it – the gardens, the quirkiness and beauty of the place, the art installations,” says John.
Tented Garden Reception, Cornerstone Sonoma
The grooms both love to travel and put together a themed place card table, which had a chalkboard sign and leather luggage tag place cards that doubled as the wedding favor.
Gray Dining Tables, Black Chiavari Chairs
Orange and Ivory Dinnerware and Menu
Orange, Green and Yellow Centerpiece
Gray Sweetheart Table, Red Heart Decoration
“The barn reception was for dancing, and where the dessert buffet and cake were served,” says John. “It was decorated with white paper lanterns lit up with varying colors with amber up lighting around the barn walls.”
The orange, gray and white three-tiered wedding cake had a cake topper that resembled the John and Marc. rn
"We have to say that our favorite moment of the evening was at the dinner tent when we were introduced for the first time as husbands. As we entered, everyone was on their feet cheering, some shedding joyful tears as we swayed to our first dance." says John.