I had become quite anxious about our ability to find a place to get married. Although we were planning the wedding over a year in advance most places I called in Sonoma County told me they were already booked for all of 2006. It was very disheartening because I really wanted to get married there and I didn't want to wait another year. Somehow we stumbled on the Jack London Lodge in Glen Ellen and thought the outdoor patio would be a perfect setting for both the ceremony and reception. However, the reality of their "lawn" area for the actual ceremony was less than desirable. Jeremy took one look at it and said, "I can't marry you here, it's just not special." I was getting pretty flustered, but we both felt that if we could find a place close by for the ceremony then we could go ahead and have the reception at the Lodge because it was the perfect spot for a celebration. We knew there were a few parks around so surely one of them would have something.
Jack London State Historic Park is one mile from the Lodge. I'd been there several times before, but didn't remember anything specific about it. On the 16th of September we were heading up to Willits for the weekend so we decided to take a detour through the park and check out the winery ruins. We'd seen pictures online and it looked pretty ideal. We were hopeful.
I can remember the feeling when we parked our car and walked up the path. The late afternoon golden light made the hills glow. When we got to the winery ruins it was quiet with a slight breeze. We were surrounded by big stone walls that formed a natural aisle with an opening at the end that overlooked a hillside vineyard. A big Oak tree towered above us. We just stood there, took it all in and knew this was absolutely the perfect place for us.
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