The Couple at This Colorful Napa Wedding Wore 18 Different Outfits and Walked a 500-Foot Pink Aisle
When someone says “vineyard wedding,” what comes to mind? Before now it probably wasn’t anything like Vita Newstetter (26, the founder of an online fashion platform) and Jesse Beller’s (26, a fintech cofounder) epic neon celebration. But their prismatic wedding set a brilliant new standard for vineyard vows. Vita and Jesse started dating in high school. At the time, Vita’s moms joked it was a shame, because Jesse was the kind of guy you marry, not have a high school fling with. But as time would reveal, their love wasn’t a passing phase: Jesse really was the guy Vita would marry. Knowing this, Vita planned a proposal that ended up informing the decor for the wedding.
Chartreuse is Vita’s favorite color and Jesse’s favorite liqueur. Vita sneakily got Jesse’s measurements and had a chartreuse-colored suit made as a proposal gift. She orchestrated a plan to get Jesse into the suit, along with a whole ensemble inspired by a chartreuse-focused cocktail called “the last word.” A burgundy pocket square represented a maraschino cherry, a crisp white shirt stood for gin, and lime-patterned socks nodded to the last ingredient of the drink. Once Jesse donned this ’fit, Vita proposed at his family’s vineyard (where they later held the wedding) with matching plastic yellow rings as a stand-in until they could design the official jewelry together. “We then had a ring made, and nine months later I proposed back, with the ring Vita designed, in Griffith Park in LA, where we live,” says Jesse.
There was only one path forward after the inventive and colorful proposal—an equally out-of-the-box and vibrant wedding weekend. “We had a clear vision for what we wanted and a lot of ideas. Our planning team brought them to life with sensational execution, reality checks (hot air balloons need a lot of space) and pure, scrappy creativity,” recalls the couple. “They knew when to DIY and when to hire a professional. We miss talking to them every week.”
While hot air balloons got cut from the grand vision, the result was nothing short of spectacular. Most guests came from out of town, and Vita and Jesse invited them to glamp on the property for their multi-event wedding weekend. Each evening had its own distinct theme that cohesively fit into the overall palette of yellow, lime, bright orange and hot pink.
Over the course of four days, Vita wore 11 outfits and Jesse sported eight. But bold fashion wasn’t the only thing anchoring their looks: The color palette even influenced Vita’s hair. At the onset, she rocked a blue-green pixie cut and then dyed her hair back to brown before the main event.“We made the first night chartreuse-themed, so we could both wear our proposal outfits and serve everyone ‘the last word’ cocktails,” explains the couple, who asked guests to wear yellow or green. The next night’s directive (after a relaxing pool party) was suits, but with a caveat: no black, gray or navy allowed. “At one point our planner mused that by having our guests dress so colorfully, they would become part of the decor. She was so right,” says Vita.
While the color-clad guests were a sight to behold, the rest of the decor held its own. “I just wanted everything to be colorful and to blow people away. We wanted it to be unforgettable,” says Jesse. The couple got right to work on that mission with alpacas greeting guests on Thursday and then a jaw-dropping neon acrylic chandelier at the rehearsal dinner on Friday.
On the day of the wedding, the couple had a Jewish ceremony. “So we couldn’t get married until after sundown on Satur- day, but we wanted to make sure people could eat before the ceremony,” says Jes- se. “We set up five different stations (one for each of the theme colors, plus indigo) where people could mingle, eat, and drink before the ceremony. Each station had a drink that matched the color, and when it was time to process, we had the Napa High School marching band lead the crowd to the ketubah signing ceremony, about a mile down the road.” For both Vita and Jesse, the ketubah ceremony was the highlight of the weekend. “I don’t think anything in my life will ever compare with that,” says Vita. “The energy was incredible, and everyone I love was there—most of them crying.”
To get from the ketubah ceremony to the chuppah for the exchange of vows, a 500-foot pink aisle led everyone through the vineyard. Both Vita and Jesse pro- cessed down it, escorted by their parents, to a chuppah eclectically decorated with lollipops and zucchini. “We timed the ceremony precisely for when the sun set and the full moon rose, and that was the main decor,” says Vita. Witnesses were in tears as Vita shared, “Jesse, when I think about what I want for our life together, I want to be an absolute refuge for you, I want you to feel so irrevocably and unconditionally loved by me and to build a foundation so strong that nothing else ever feels too scary.” And to Vita, Jesse proclaimed, “Vita, when I can’t sleep, I turn over and gaze at you—seemingly glowing in the moonlight or the morning sun. Through the stress and sleep deprivation, I cannot help but feel a smile creep across my face. That you are there, lying at my side, makes me feel like I might just be enough.”
Vita and Jesse weren’t the only ones to share a few words during the ceremony. Vita’s moms also read from journal entries Vita penned upon meeting Jesse on the first day of high school. “He’s so hot, rude and obviously sensitive,” her parents read. “I stand by that first impression,” says Vita.
A reception with a five-hour dance party followed the ceremony. The biggest surprise of the night was a flash mob to “Gloria,” by Laura Branigan, choreographed by Vita’s nine-year-old niece, Mia. And to keep everyone fed and energized, there were 11 (yes, 11) vegan wedding cakes in five different flavors. Guests also enjoyed a toast with champagne left over from Jesse’s bar mitzvah.
“I just wanted everything to be colorful and to blow people away. We wanted it to be unforgettable,” says Jesse. Vita and Jesse “wanted to throw a fabulous party for all the friends we’ve made over the years” and they did just that, and then some, with their fluorescent fete.