If your invitation includes the address for the ceremony in Oakland as well as the reception in Castro Valley, you are invited to both ceremony and the celebration to follow.
If your invitation has only the address for the celebration, then you are invited to the exciting reception only.
*Only those to which the invitation was addressed are permitted to attend - This is an intimate event, so no unauthorized plus-ones. Phones and Photos: While there is little or no cellphone service in the park, please turn your phone off before taking your seat for the ceremony. Please do not take your own photos, as the bride and groom wish to share the professionally taken later and desire control over what images of their big day are dispersed. Phone pictures and usage during drinks and hors d'oeuvres are perfectly fine.
Parking: Turn left when you see the Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park sign. Drive all the way to the end of the road, past all the parking lots on the left, as the road will dead end into our parking lot where free parking is available. Decorations will point you in the right direction from the parking lot to the ceremony site.
Accommodations: A (fashionable) wheelchair will be available for use in lieu of walking the 1/4 mile to the ceremony site. The trail to the site is smooth, flat, pavement. Cane-using members may enlist the aid of site directors for assistance.
Location:
The ceremony will take place down the main, paved trail.
You will move past a meadow on the left with a sign that says Fern Dell.
Keep following the paved trail, and on the right-hand side of the trail you will come to the Old Church sign.
Take the right onto the dirt trail beside the sign.
Within the trees, you will come to find the mingling area which is directly beside the ceremony location.
Schedule: 2:30 PM - Please plan to arrive at the site - Champagne, beer, and wine will be served alongside hors d'oeuvres while you mingle and identify your seat.
*Hard alcohol is not permitted in the park
3:00 PM - Ceremony begins
3:45PM - Ceremony expected to end - While members of the wedding party venture into the forest for photos, please vacate the park, feel free to freshen up, and head over to the reception location in Walnut Creek
5:30 PM - Reception beginsupon the arrival of the bride and groom, appetizers and drinks will be available while you wait
9:30 PM - Celebration expected to end, but may go longer if Cora and Ryan feel like it.
*The reception house is also going to be Cora and Ryan's honeymoon suite, so when it is time to leave, please be respectful of their special night by cleaning up after yourself and going. "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here".
Pew Placement: (Seating arrangements for the ceremony) A map of the pew placement will be posted in the mingling/ hors d'oeuvres area. Through the mingling area of tables and libations you will find the ceremony site. Please take a moment to locate your own pew placement on the map or on site so you may make your way to it easily once the ceremony is to begin. Upon the pews are name cards.
Your placement was chosen with intention so please do not switch seats.
Celebration Details
If your invitation includes the address for the ceremony in Oakland as well as the reception in Castro Valley, you are invited to both ceremony and the celebration to follow.
If your invitation has only the address for the celebration, then you are invited to the exciting reception only.
Celebration - LOCATION HAS CHANGED This will NOT change the reception time of 5:30PM, or the ceremony time and location. Please let us know if you have any questions. Thanks so much! NEW Reception Location: 9635 Dublin Canyon Road Castro Valley, CA 94552
Parking: Please pull up the driveway of the ranch and into the gravel parking lot. The parking lot is limited, so if attending locally, please carpool whenever possible. The reception will be at the end of the lot between the farm house and grand old barn - Look for hanging lights outside the old barn to guide you.
Disposable Cameras: Please feel free to pick up a disposable camera provided courtesy of the parents of the bride. They can be found littered throughout the house and backyard like Easter eggs. Take some shots of yourself, your friends, and any good photo ops you spot throughout the celebration. Ditch your camera in a visible spot for someone else to find and use. When a camera runs out of film, put it in the nearest ''Dead Cameras'' bin. Once collected and developed, all scanned photos will be posted to this website, Facebook, and Instagram.
Schedule: 5:30 PM - The introducing of the bride and groom will kick off the party at about 5:30, then Speeches from the father of the bride and the father of the groom. - Eat, drink, and dance
6:00 PM - Daddy-daughter dance - Speeches from the Maid and Man of Honor, Best Men, and siblings followed by an Open Mic for anyone who wishes to say a word or two about the newlyweds - Garter retrieving tradition followed by the bouquet toss
6:55 PM - 9:30 PM (ish) Eat, drink and dance the night away
Food: - Catered by Liberation Foods PLEASE NOTE - There is one main course dish per guest, the dish of which you RSVPed for. } Fish - The Best Lemon Garlic Salmon in the World } Poultry - Herb-encrusted Stuffed Chicken Breast } Vegetarian - Eggplant Parmesan
} Side Dishes - Risotto (vegan), fresh green salad, the charcuterie board offerings, and an assortment of hors d'oeuvres
Spirits: - An assortment of beer, wine, Champaign - Whiskey, gin, vodka, & spiced rum - BYOB encouraged Mocktails & Non-Alcoholic: - DIY Mocktails from assorted juices, mixers, and fresh fruit. - Martinelli's - Non-alcoholic white wine - Non-alcoholic beer - Non-alcoholic Champagne - Sprite, Coke, Diet Coke, Tonic, assorted seltzer waters