Ponte Winery Wedding
When I first met Brandon and Katie it was at an Irish bar in Laguna where we were pre-gaming for their engagement photos at Victoria beach. I always encourage pre-photo session drinks because a) recreational drinking is awesome b) booze can help make people feel more comfortable in front of a camera and c) after all that stressful wedding planning a cold beer seems like a necessity. We had a rad time during the engagement session in Laguna Beach, talking about everything from their honeymoon plans in Paris to the actual wedding at Ponte Winery in Temecula, California. We laughed, we cried (actually no one cried) and Brandon “accidentally” grabbed my ass. Needless to say, after the engagement photo session I was pretty excited about the actual wedding day!
Fast forward to the wedding day at Ponte Winery and everything was as smooth as a single malt Scotch aged 18 years in a cherry casket. I am talking about temperatures in the low 70s, good cloud coverage mixed with occasional sunshine, and people everywhere having an awesome time. What I mean is everything ran on schedule according to the wedding timeline, the bride was calm all day, the mother of the bride was not a total pain in the ass, everyone drank, people celebrated, and we all had a very good time. I know this might sound like normal wedding stuff but trust me as a Temecula wedding photographer I can assure you that this sort of thing is atypical. Brides get stressed out, grooms wake up hungover then show up late, and moms of the bride can forget their Xanax. But I am just going to stop typing now and let you enjoy the Ponte Winery wedding photos featuring Brandon and Katie! Giddy up!
Wedding at Ponte Winery
My Favorite Moment From The Temecula Wedding
Brandon and Katie’s wedding at Ponte Winery had many rad moments but my personal favorite had to be during the wedding ceremony. I have heard a lot of great stories and anecdotes during past wedding ceremonies so I always look forward to that part of the day. At this Ponte Winery wedding, the officiant talked about how Brandon and Katie would wake up early on Sunday mornings and do crossword puzzles together. There was something about hearing that simple, yet intimate personal story that made me feel that Brandon and Katie were really just perfect for each other. Personally, I hate crossword puzzles and I would say 99% of the world’s population (excluding seniors 65+) agrees with me. Therefore, the fact these two people in their 20s both enjoy the edge-of-your-seat hobby of crossword puzzles even found each other defies the odds. I have a feeling Brandon and Katie will be doing crossword puzzles together for a very long time.
Ponte Winery Wedding Photos
Ponte is a wedding venue in Temecula wine country that is one of the more popular wedding spots in the Temecula Valley. This was my first time photographing a wedding at Ponte Winery in a couple years, and the only thing I recall from the previous time shooting there was that the vegetarian lasagna was amazing. Totally weird I know. Seriously, that was all I could remember about Ponte though. Sadly, I did not get to partake in the veggie lasagna for this wedding at Ponte because the dinner was buffet style, but the wedding venue was better than I remembered (total plus). Ponte renovated the bridal suite so it is bigger and has way better light for us wedding photographers, the wedding coordinator was really good communicating with me, and the wedding ceremony was really easy to navigate. I really don’t have anything negative to say about Ponte and would totally encourage anyone considering having their wedding in the Temecula vineyards to check out Ponte Winery. Oh and seriously order the veggie lasagna if you get the opportunity!
Thank you to Emi Fuji for second shooting Brandon and Katie’s wedding at Ponte Winery with me!
Those wanting to check out more recent weddings in Temecula wine country can out Sara and Stephan’s wedding photos at Wien’s winery or Alex and Sean’s wedding photos at Blue Moon Ranch!
