A Seat At Our Table: Two Days at Appellation Healdsburg

Studio J Photography | Sonoma County Wedding Photographer

There is something really special about sitting around a table with people in the wedding industry and having the time to actually get to know one another.

This week, I had the opportunity to spend two nights at Appellation Healdsburg for A Seat At Our Table, an intimate gathering of wedding professionals invited to experience the property from a guest's perspective.

And when I say experience it, I really mean experience it.

From incredible meals and beautiful wines to time at the spa, conversations around the fire pit, and evenings that stretched much later than planned, it was such a thoughtful way to experience a property.

I have photographed weddings throughout Sonoma and Napa for more than a decade and have been lucky enough to tour a lot of beautiful venues. But this felt very different from a traditional venue tour.

We were able to slow down, stay awhile, and really understand what it might feel like for a couple and their guests to spend a wedding weekend here.

What is A Seat At Our Table?

A Seat At Our Table is an invitation-only gathering hosted by the Appellation Healdsburg sales team, led by Yamona Boulaire.

Rather than simply walking us through the property, their goal was to welcome us in, let us stay, feed us incredibly well, and give us the opportunity to experience Appellation in the same way their guests do.

Their welcome letter said they wanted to “do more than show you our place” and instead begin relationships that could lead to extraordinary celebrations.

I think that is exactly what happened.

Over the course of two days, we had time to connect not only with the Appellation team but with planners and fellow wedding professionals from throughout Northern California and beyond.

Our itinerary began Sunday afternoon and continued through Tuesday morning, with everything from an optional bike ride through Healdsburg with Bike Tours Sonoma and a tasting at Marine Layer Wines to dinners, spa time, beautiful wine, and lots of time around the table.

The food at Appellation Healdsburg

One of the things that makes Appellation so unique is how much food is at the heart of the experience.

Appellation was co-founded by Chef Charlie Palmer, and the entire property has been created around a culinary-first approach to hospitality.

At Appellation Healdsburg, that comes to life through Folia Bar & Kitchen and Chef de Cuisine Reed Palmer, who creates menus inspired by Sonoma County farms, ingredients, and seasons.

There is a real sense of place in the food here. It feels elevated without feeling overly complicated, and so much of what we ate simply celebrated what is wonderful about Sonoma County.

Sunday dinner at Jerry's Grove

Our first evening began with cocktails on The Grange Porch before we gathered around a beautiful long table in Jerry's Grove for dinner. I enjoyed a French 78 crafted by bartender Bryan with a Y. 

I will admit, I didn't take nearly enough notes during this dinner because I was enjoying the conversations and the food far too much, also maybe because of the French 78. 

There was a beautiful gem salad with strawberries,  chicken liver pâté, seafood pasta, and sorbet to finish.

It was one of those dinners where everything felt relaxed and easy. No one was rushing anywhere. We were simply sitting outside on a summer evening, sharing beautiful food and getting to know one another.

( iPhone photos of night 1 because I was having to much fun)

We also had an optional sound bath scheduled with Appellation's wellness curator, Jill Cerutti. It ended up being moved to Monday morning.

I missed it.

The night before, several of us had stayed up much later than expected talking around the fire pit, where dare I say some of the best conversations and stories were had! 

Everyone who went to the sound bath talked about how wonderful it was for the rest of the day, so this may have been my one mistake of the trip!

Monday breakfast in The Maker Room

Monday morning began with breakfast in The Maker Room, and this was another moment when I found myself thinking about what this property would be like during a wedding weekend.

We had Brokaw avocado toast tartines with watermelon radish, roasted cherry tomatoes and chili crunch, smoked salmon tartines with capers, red onion and dill, farm-fresh scrambled eggs, Hobbs' bacon, roasted potatoes, Strauss yogurt parfaits, fruit and juices.

It was beautiful, thoughtful, and delicious.

As a wedding photographer, I spend a lot of mornings with couples and their wedding parties while everyone is getting ready. Sometimes breakfast is almost an afterthought.

Here, I could immediately picture a wedding party starting their day together, having breakfast, getting ready, and actually having time to enjoy the morning before everything begins.

Those are the little things that make a wedding weekend feel special.

Monday was intentionally relaxed.

After breakfast, we had time for lunch on our own and an afternoon at Terroir Spa before meeting again for cocktails in Jerry's Grove and dinner on The Lawn.

I booked a massage during our spa time, and it was honestly one of the best massages I have ever had.

It was such a good reminder of what a difference it can make to have experiences like this available right on property.

For a couple planning an entire wedding weekend, having a beautiful spa available for themselves, their family, or their wedding party the day before the wedding could be such a wonderful addition.

By dinner, everyone felt completely relaxed.

We sat outside on The Lawn for a four-course dinner paired with wines from Skipstone Winery, with Elizabeth Harris joining and pouring for us throughout the weekend.

Our dinner included:

• Chilled melon gazpacho with compressed and pickled melon, cucumber, chive, chili oil and crispy farro, paired with the 2024 Skipstone Viognier.
• Heirloom tomato and burrata salad, paired with the 2022 Skipstone Preface Bordeaux blend.
• Poached California halibut in a Thai-style coconut curry over basmati rice, paired with the 2023 Skipstone Oliver's Blend Cabernet Sauvignon.
• Lemon meringue tart with lemon curd and lime mousse.

It was such a beautiful summer dinner.

Fresh tomatoes, beautiful wine, everyone gathered outside as the evening light changed — it felt very Sonoma County.

We ended the night with drinks on the Andy's Beeline Rooftop, and once again the evening turned into long conversations with people I had only known casually before the trip.

That may have been my favorite part of the entire experience.

The people behind the wedding industry

Appellation was brilliant in bringing this curated group together, I think the people around the table are really the heart of the wedding industry for wine country. 

The gathering included

Alexis Alexander of Alexis Raine Events,

Alyssa Alvarez of All The Deets,

Raquel Bickford of ROQUE Events,

Carly Lalim of Theoni Collection,

Haley Harper of LOO Power,

Michelle Lücker of Olivia Grace Events,

Lilly Ly of Savoir Special Events,

Sara Ross of Grace + White,

Sophia Otasowie of SophScript Co.,

Erin Vigil of Your Event by Erin.

Bridget of Encore Events Rentals,

Kaity and Colin from Papillon Floral,

Elizabeth of Skipstone Winery,

and

Bike Tours Sonoma.

One of the things I love most about the wedding industry is that so much of what we do is built on relationships.

On a wedding day, your photographer, planner, florist, venue team, caterer, DJ, rental team, and so many others are constantly communicating and working together behind the scenes.

When those vendors already know, trust, and respect one another, couples feel the difference.

It may look effortless from the outside, but behind a smooth wedding day are often dozens of little conversations and decisions happening without the couple ever needing to know about them.

That is why opportunities like this matter so much.

You can't really get to know someone through an Instagram account or a quick introduction at an industry event.

You get to know them by sharing meals, talking about weddings we've loved, laughing about the things that have gone sideways over the years, asking questions about their businesses, and spending a little uninterrupted time together.

Over these two days, I was able to have those kinds of conversations.

I learned more about how different planners work, what they value, how they take care of their couples, and what they are creating in this industry.

And they got to know me a little better too.

I came home feeling so grateful for the new connections and for the chance to strengthen some existing ones.

For me, that was probably the most valuable part of A Seat At Our Table.

Would I photograph a wedding at Appellation Healdsburg?

Absolutely.

And after staying here for two nights, I feel like I understand the property in a completely different way than I would have after an hour-long site tour.

From a photography perspective, there is so much variety without needing to leave the property.

The Lawn, the beautiful olive trees, Jerry's Grove, the architecture, the rooftop, and the surrounding Wine Country landscape all give you very different looks within a short walk.

That is something I pay a lot of attention to when I visit wedding venues.

Couples shouldn't have to disappear from their own wedding for an hour just to get beautiful photographs. When a property gives us several beautiful locations close together, we can create variety while still keeping portraits relaxed and allowing the couple to get back to their guests.

I also loved the natural light throughout the property. The architecture incorporates so much glass and beautiful indoor-outdoor space, which gives us wonderful options throughout the day.

And then there is the food.

For couples who really want their wedding to feel like an experience for their guests, I think this is where Appellation is especially special.

A beautiful wedding is wonderful.

But when your guests can arrive, settle into the property, have an incredible meal, enjoy Sonoma County wine, spend time by the pool or at the spa, and gather together again the next morning, it becomes something more than a wedding day.

It becomes a wedding weekend.

And after spending two days here, I can absolutely see why couples would want to bring the people they love to Appellation Healdsburg.

Most of all, I am incredibly thankful to Yamona and the entire Appellation team for inviting me to have a seat at their table.

They created something that felt thoughtful, generous, and genuinely centered around connection.

I came home inspired, very well fed, and so grateful for the people I had the chance to spend these two days with.

Sheila is the photographer behind Studio J Photography, a Sonoma County wedding and portrait studio based in Sebastopol, California, serving Sonoma and Napa counties. If you're planning a wedding at Appellation Healdsburg or anywhere in Wine Country, say hello. I'd love to hear what you're planning.