Be a Tahoe “Green” Wedding Guest
Being green isn’t a trend, it’s a lifestyle, especially in the Sierra Nevada. Environmentalism is the characteristic spirit of our Lake Tahoe culture, and as a wedding guest to our community, you can partake in our beliefs and aspirations too. With just a few ‘in-the-know” tips, it’s not difficult for your wedding guests to be eco-friendly, and help keep Tahoe “green” (and blue)!
As a wedding couple, you can help promote sustainable modes of transportation to your guests. Anyone who is concerned about the impact of driving from the Bay Area to Tahoe for a Lake Tahoe destination wedding should consider riding Tahoe Convoy. A luxury weekend shuttle, Tahoe Convoy brings Bay Area residents to the Lake, traveling Eastbound on Friday evenings and returning westbound on Sunday evenings. Another green alternative is the Amtrak California Zephyr passenger train, which has a stop in Truckee’s Historic Downtown.
Once your guests arrive in North Tahoe, they can be car-free! There is a local bus system – the Tahoe Truckee Area Regional Transit (TART), an extensive bike path network, bike share systems, and multiple taxi operators as well as Lyft and Uber. For the day of your wedding, Reno Tahoe Limousine offers a wide variety of group transportation options to take your guests from their hotel to the wedding location.
Recommend that your guests stay at the Cedar House Sport Hotel, a “lifestyle hotel with a strong environmental consciousness.” The hotel was sustainably built using recycled materials and adheres to LEED environmental standards. (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.) Give your guests a gentle reminder that when they leave their hotel rooms, to please turn off all the lights and power down the thermostat.
Once your guests have arrived in the Lake Tahoe region, it’s important for them to stay hydrated. The humidity is lower, and some of the Tahoe wedding venues are perched on high-elevation mountain tops. So, suggest that your guests bring a reusable water bottle with them during their stay – they can fill up at any of the fountains throughout North Lake Tahoe.
We hope you will make a vow to a green lifestyle and live environmentally ever after. Happy Earth Day each and every day!
Credits:
Image #1 – Photography: Simply Rose | Floral Design: Garden Party Flowers
Image #2 – Photo credit: Kaleb Norman James Design
Image #3 – Photography: Mark Andrew Studios | Planning, Floral Design, Styling & Production: Rebecca Rose Events | Calligraphy: Carole Murray
Image #4 – Photo: Cayton Photography
Image #5 – Photography: La Dolce Vita
Image #6 – Photo credit: Jamali Garden
Image #7 – Photography: Alea Moore Photography | Calligraphy: Callie Brennen Design
Image #8 – Photography: Greg Finck
Image #9 – Photography: Simply Rose | Cake Design: Sweet Naturally Bakery
A Season of Change – Tahoe Spring Weddings
Old Man Winter is a little late in leaving this year, but soon we will be welcoming warmer weather in the North Lake Tahoe region. There’s something spectacular about Spring in the Sierra Nevada. We dust off the biking trails, don our wetsuits to paddle the lake and start working our golf swing again.
And it’s a wonderful time for a wedding! How lucky you are if you have chosen to get married in the season of abundant flowers, pastel palettes and edible garden delights. Here are some inspirations for you to consider.
Seasonal Savings
When it comes to choosing what time of year to get married in the Lake Tahoe area, it pays to check out the value pricing offered during the spring season. While the snow covers the ski slopes from December through Easter, the hotels, restaurants and other services in Tahoe are at their peak season, and pricing is generally higher.
But during the shoulder season in Lake Tahoe – which is after Spring Break but before the schoolkids return to hit the beach in June – prices are typically less expensive. Wedding venues and service providers usually have more availability, making it easier for you to get your first choice. The winter and summer crowds are no longer here, making spring a pleasant time to get around the Lake with ease.
Floral Abundance
The grounds are awakening with spring and everything is coming up roses… along with your other in-season loves of peonies, daffodils, gerbera daisies, hyacinth, ranunculus and tulips. Selecting in-season flowers is a smart way of saving. Plant your ceremony aisles with potted blooms, garnish your glass of bubbly with edible petals, or adorn your beverage station in a plethora of florals. Always consult with your florist to get the most bang for your buck.
Farm to Table Culinary Expressions
If you have selected a Tahoe spring wedding you’ll be able to offer your guests a fresh seasonal banquet from the garden. Avoid the heavy comfort foods from winter and start with a bright, hearty mix spring salad. Add a colorful pop of rainbow carrots, heirloom tomatoes and top it off with a citrus vinaigrette. Wedding Brunches are perfect for spring, featuring action food stations that offer everything from vegetable omelets to Spring Lamb. Sourcing locally is huge in Lake Tahoe, whether it’s fresh produce or local beers, ask your catering pro to help you create a menu to remember.
So spring forward for a gloriously verdant Tahoe wedding! The members of Tahoe Engaged are here to help you create a delightful celebration.
Credits:
Image #1 – Photography: Studio Ohlala
Image #2 – Photography: Natalie Watson | Stationery: Ceci New York | Calligraphy: The Left Handed Calligrapher
Image #3 – Photography: Austin Gros | Floral Design: Amy Merrick
Image #4 – Photography: Sawyer Baird | Event Design: Samantha Anderson Events | Planning: Chancey Charm | Floral Design: Stephanie Gibbs Events | Rentals: Snyder Event Rentals
Image #5 – Photography: Julie Paisley
Image #6 – Photography: Christine Chang | Planning: So Happi Together
Image #7 – Photography: Theo Milo | Event Planning & Design: WED | Floral Design: SYG Designs
Image #8 – Photography: Greer Gattuso
Image #9 – Photography: Whitney Heard | Cake Design: Nadia and Co.
Intro Image – Photography: A Bryan Photo | Event Design: Calder Clark
The First Step to an Amazing Celebration
You have never planned a wedding before, so you’re not expected to know what you don’t know… until someone with nuptial knowledge and experience shows you what’s really possible, practical and suitable for your budget. That’s why as a wedding couple about to embark upon planning your special day, it’s important to surround yourself with the best wedding industry professionals.
Photo: Ciprian Photography
Location: Resort at Squaw Creek
Typically, you would start with a Wedding Planner and Designer, whose role is similar to that of a Project Manager. With their extensive knowledge of the Lake Tahoe region, the Wedding Planners from Tahoe Engaged offer expert advice to help you select the right site and service providers for your Tahoe celebration.
(By the way, we refer to your team of wedding professionals as service providers, not vendors. We’re not exactly sure who coined the term “vendor” for a wedding, but this term usually conjures up images of a guy on the street corner selling hot dogs, or a machine spitting out a candy bar after you insert a few bucks.)
A Wedding Planner also develops project management tools such as a timeline, schematic floor plans and a vendor list, in order to efficiently orchestrate your celebration. Finally, the Wedding Planner is on site for your rehearsal and wedding day, overseeing every intimate detail of the wedding, and managing the “dream team” of wedding professionals that you have secured. You simply relax and savor the experience!
Photo: Charleton Churchill Photography
A Wedding Planner with design experience can complement your wedding visions and offer ways to make your wedding more amazing than you could ever imagine. A Wedding Designer should have formal training in a relevant field such as Floral Design, Interior Design, Graphic Design or Fashion Design.
Photo: Larissa Cleveland
You should carefully examine the Wedding Designer’s portfolios and other materials that demonstrate how he/she has designed prior weddings. Since the Wedding Designer needs to understand your personal preferences in order to design a wedding that reflects your personal tastes, they should also be asking you lots of questions, so they can begin to understand what’s important to you.
Photo: Chaz Cruz Photographers
So, for the same reasons that professional accountants are used to help with your income taxes, professional Wedding Planners and Designers are hired to help couples with their weddings. The only difference is that a wedding celebration is a lot more fun than Form 1040!
A Picture Perfect Experience
Your Engagement Photos at Lake Tahoe
Hold it. Now say “cheeeese.”
Unfortunately, for many people, this approach to picture-taking can result in photos that are… cheesy. And if you’re an engaged couple with a wedding celebration approaching, this can be a cause for concern, because you want your photographer to capture your big day in a good light.
But some people are naturally camera shy, or they don’t always put their best face forward for photos. If you remotely fit this description, we highly recommend that you spend a couple of hours in an engagement photo session with your photographer.
Photo: Fifth and Chestnut Photo Company
Of all the service providers (vendors) that you hire for your wedding, the one that you will spend the most time with on your wedding day is your photographer. So, not only does your photographer need to be a skilled master of his/her craft, but your photographer also needs to be someone that you are comfortable with.
By scheduling an engagement photo session in advance of the wedding, you will get to know your photographer better and become more familiar with how he/she works. Meanwhile, your photographer will learn from the engagement photo shoot which poses and camera angles work best, and he/she will develop a better understanding of what kinds of photos you like and dislike. In short, you and your photographer both benefit from an engagement session, and that’s why many photographers offer wedding packages with an engagement session included.
So where is the best place in the world to go for your engagement photo session?? Why Lake Tahoe of course!!!
Photo: Ciprian Photography
OK, we may be a bit biased, so we recently chatted with a most darling couple, Jesse and Darren from San Francisco, who got engaged in May 2017. When it came time for them to choose a location for their engagement photos, they quickly concluded that Tahoe was the place to be. Like many Bay Area residents, Jesse and Darren had spent considerable time enjoying all the fun activities that the Tahoe region has to offer. Darren told us he had been skiing and snowboarding at Tahoe resorts “for my entire life.”
So on December 10, 2017, Jesse and Darren drove from San Francisco to Tahoe for the day, and met up with their photographers, Capture Create Studios. They planned to take photos in more than one location, so Jesse brought three outfits with her. (She ended up wearing only two.)
Their first photo-shoot took place at Sugar Pine Point State Park. The lakefront setting, majestic evergreens and some fresh snow provided a beautiful backdrop.
Next, the couple and their photographers drove down to Emerald Bay. There, the late-afternoon natural lighting added a warm glow to the world-famous vistas.
So if you’re an engaged couple considering an engagement photo session, how should you proceed? Jesse and Darren’s photographers, Capture Create Studios, have these helpful suggestions:
- Secure your wedding day photographer first! This photographer should be the same photographer for your photo engagement session.
- Decide on a geographic location and settings that are significant to you. If you are an adventurous couple and love to hike, ski, or kayak on the lake, then Tahoe is the perfect place for your engagement photos.
- Wear clothes that you love and are comfortable. Select at least two outfits and avoid crazy patterns or prints.
- Consider having your make-up and hair done professionally. Makeup evens out the skin tone and gives a nice foundation base. Schedule your hair and make-up trial to coincide earlier in the day with your engagement photo session. During the photo session, have light matte-finish powder or blotter paper available.
- Time it right! Your professional photographer knows the most perfect time of day when the lighting is magical for photos, so let the photographer do the scheduling. Typically, the worst time to photograph is when the sun is at its peak height. Allow for 1.5 hours to 2 hours for an engagement photo session.
- Come mentally prepared to let your love shine…have fun with it!
The Owners of Capture Create Studios, Chelsea and Jon Evans, also offered these final thoughts: “Couples who opt in for engagement sessions actually have better photos on their wedding day – there is more comfort on the wedding day.”
Reflecting on their experience, Jesse and Darren declared, “It was great to get used to the camera and a lot more fun than we thought. If you are on the fence about doing an engagement session, definitely do it! For sure we know our photographers are great, and we love our engagement photos.”
Jesse and Darren’s Photographer:
Chelsea and Jon Evans
Capture Create Studios
capturecreatephoto@gmail.com
707-888-1388
The Music Man… and So Much More
Just call him “Sawyer.” That’s the first thing you learn when you meet Chad Sawyer, a music maven and Owner of Moonlight Mobile DJ. But our inquiring minds wanted to know more, so we recently had the pleasure of speaking with Sawyer about his background and his business. And what we learned is that Sawyer is truly a man of many interests and talents.
Born and raised in San Diego, Sawyer took full advantage of its coastal location and year-round warm climate. But one thing kept Sawyer hanging around the house as much as the beach – his parents were music enthusiasts, and there was always a wide variety of tunes being played in his home. Sawyer began to develop a love for dancing, and by the time he was in high school, he became hooked on DJ’ing.
But being a DJ was just for fun (or so he thought at the time), so Sawyer began to embark on more scholarly pursuits. After high school, he spent a year in Japan, teaching English as a second language. While there, he studied martial arts and earned a 4th degree Black Belt in Aikido.
Returning to the US, Sawyer attended the University of Nevada Reno, where he majored in Secondary Education and History, and if that wasn’t enough, he also had a double minor in Japanese and English. After receiving his Bachelor’s Degree, he got a job as a teacher of Advanced Placement American History and Government. While teaching, he went back to UNR and earned a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration.
But all through this time of academic enlightenment, Sawyer’s love for music remained strong. He got some gigs DJ’ing in local clubs, then he transitioned into mobile and private events, including weddings. In 2003, Sawyer took the plunge and started Moonlight Mobile DJ. Now he says, “I couldn’t be happier DJ’ing for a living.”
Fortunately, we were able to get Sawyer to sit still long enough to answer a few questions about his profession:
There’s always the dilemma between having a live band or a DJ for your wedding. How should the couple decide whether to have a band or a DJ?
Cost is certainly one factor in this decision as bands are typically more expensive. Bands do bring something to a reception that a DJ cannot, the power of live animated music. A great DJ on the other hand brings versatility and a much wider library of music. Not to mention, if you love the sound of the original singer and musicians, a DJ is your only option. For weddings, I do love live music during the ceremony and cocktail hour – it adds a touch of elegance, and you can save the DJ ‘til when you’re ready to PAR-TEE!
Once you decide on a DJ, how do you select the right one for you?
Of all of the service providers that a couple will hire for their wedding day, the DJ has the ability to ruin their wedding the quickest! If the photographer is terrible, you won’t know until 3 weeks after the wedding, but if your DJ is bad, everyone is going to notice immediately! A wedding couple places a lot of trust in their DJ.
My recommendation is to interview 2 to 3 DJ’s. Start with a phone interview initially. Even though you are not physically there, tone and voice inflection is important. You can learn a lot with a phone call, Skype or Facetime. Asking the DJ about their style and how they plan to interact with your guests will help you get a sense of what type of person you are hiring.
[Publisher’s Note: At Tahoe Engaged, we take it a step further to ensure that our DJ’s, as well as all of our vendors, have a business license, business insurance and 5-star references from trusted wedding industry professionals and prior wedding clients.]
Can a wedding couple see a DJ in action before hiring him or her?
This is a tough issue because most of the events that I DJ are private, so you can’t see me perform. I do have a video on my website that highlights my style and past events. I also have multiple videos up on YouTube, Instagram and other social media platforms for wedding couples to see.
What are common misconceptions about DJ Services?
Some misconceptions about DJ’s are that we just play music. In a club setting this might be true. However at a wedding, a skilled DJ is a liaison between vendors, an MC, as well as mixing and playing music.
How has technology affected the DJ at weddings?
For the reception, technology for the most part has made accessing songs on the fly incredibly easy.
But cell phones during ceremonies have become a technological drawback. The data streaming on everyone’s phones can interrupt the wireless mics that the couple are using for their ceremony. I always ask guests to place their phones on Airplane Mode, and this helps a lot. Guests can still take photos, but stopping the data streaming allows the microphones to work properly.
Are there reception venues in Lake Tahoe that have restrictions on music?
Yes, there are noise restrictions in Tahoe. All amplified music outdoors must end by 10pm unless other arrangements have been made, or the venue is indoors.
[Publisher’s Note: These same restrictions exist at wedding venues throughout California.]
What have weddings taught you?
Weddings have taught me to be humble, listen to requests, and always go above and beyond for my clients. Customer service is everything.
What is the best advice you give a couple when planning their wedding?
Hire the best professionals, trust them, relax and enjoy your day. Don’t spend time worrying about details on the day of your wedding.
When you’re not DJ’ing, what activities do you enjoy in your spare time?
I love spending time with my kids – skiing, snowboarding, surfing, sailing and hiking… In Tahoe, there are sports for every season!
I Do’s with Spectacular Views
On a picture-perfect Lake Tahoe afternoon, Pamela and Dan blissfully exchanged wedding vows in an awe-inspiring North Shore setting. Featuring a vibrant yellow and “Tahoe Blue” color palette, the beauty and joy of their lakefront celebration was expertly captured by Nick Higman Photography. Nick and his associate chronicled the spirit of the day in photographs to last a lifetime.
As an added bonus, here are a couple of images from the photo booth provider, Cornerstone Entertainment:
While Pamela, a Bay Area native, often spent weekends in Tahoe with her family, Dan grew up in Nebraska where the magic of Tahoe wasn’t known to him until he moved to California after college. However, they both shared a draw to its natural beauty and endless outdoor activities.
During a short vacation from medical school, Dan and Pamela were visiting the sandy shores of Tahoe, beautifully backlit by the sunset and the Sierra Mountains, when Dan dropped down on one knee to pop the question.
This perfect Tahoe proposal deserved the perfect Tahoe wedding – so one year later, they tied the knot beside those same crystal blue waters. The couple selected Gar Woods Grill & Pier as the ideal venue to share their special day with friends and family and enjoy the idyllic Tahoe views.
Their wedding vision started with the sunflower, which laid the foundation for the decor. Pamela had always loved sunflowers. They are bright and cheery, and as warm and inviting as the sweet summer sun – perfect for their Tahoe wedding.
Although they are often do-it-yourselfers, Pamela and Dan also knew when to pull in help from local vendors, who worked together to make their wedding sparkle. Their Wedding Planner, Events of Distinction, orchestrated the logistics of their day to ensure a seamless execution. To ensure an on-time performance, Reno Tahoe Limousine transported wedding party members to the celebration in style.
The waterfront ceremony location at Gar Woods provided an amazing panorama of the Lake’s awesome beauty. Arrangements of sunflowers and wildflowers, creatively designed by Wanda’s Floral and Gift, lined the aisle as Pamela and Dan joyfully exchanged vows.
After witnessing wedded bliss, guests were escorted to the outdoor balcony at Gar Woods, which offered a picturesque location to watch the sunset over the Tahoe Mountains. As a full-service restaurant, Gar Woods allowed guests to select their entrée from their lakeside seats, which added a personalized feel to the delicious dinner.
After dinner, Moonlight Mobile DJ got guests revved up on the dance floor with a festive assortment of everyone’s favorite tunes. To complement the décor and the Tahoe locale, Sugar Pine Cakery provided a cake adorned with flowers, accompanied by cupcakes and assorted desserts displayed upon tree rounds.
When the last song ended, Pamela and Dan were sad to see the festivities come to a close. But they were thrilled knowing they had experienced a magical day, filled with the joy of family and friends coming together, celebrating by the shores of Lake Tahoe.
Vendor Credits
Photographer: Nick Higman Photography | Ceremony & Reception Venue: Gar Woods Grill & Pier | Cake & Desserts: Sugar Pine Cakery | Floral Designer: Wanda’s Floral and Gift | Bride’s Gown: Watters Wtoo | Hair: Kristie Pellegrino | Makeup: Kiss and Makeup Reno | Music: Moonlight Mobile DJ | Officiant: India Wood | Photo Booth: Cornerstone Entertainment | Transportation: Reno Tahoe Limousine | Wedding Planner: Events of Distinction