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| Minnestoa Bride, Spring/Summer 2008 |
Toasting to Love
Minnesota wineries offer charming event spaces for pre-wedding festivities and the big "I do"
By Kelly Westhoff
Sarah Nylander Deming dreamed of getting married in a vineyard. “My husband and I definitely love wine,” she said. “I wouldn’t say we’re connoisseurs, but we have gone to tastings. It was just the idea of a vineyard that seemed romantic.”
After researching the cost of a destination wedding in Napa Valley, Nylander Deming realized that particular hope was destined to remain unrealized. Her sister and a friend were determined to make her dream come true some other way, though, so they planned her bridal shower and hosted it at a Minnesota winery.
The 15 guests arrived at the Alexis Bailly Vineyard in Hastings (carpooling from Minneapolis to ensure designated drivers). The party “took over” the tasting room with attached deck, Nylander Deming explains; guests brought food because the vineyard has no kitchen.
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“We had little appetizers, salads, crackers and fruit. It was like a picnic and we bought wine once we were there,” she says. And though the winery remained open to other customers, the shower felt exclusive. “I didn’t even notice if others were around,” Nylander Deming says. “It was really beautiful out on the deck with the vineyards behind us and the setting sun. It was really special.”
Nan Bailly is the second-generation to run the vineyard, which was founded in 1978; she inherited the winery from her father and assumed his role as winemaker in 1990. She grew up with the vineyard and well understands the allure. “A vineyard is a beautiful, bucolic setting,” she says. “Grapes are an agricultural product so there is a rustic quality to the land. There is a certain romance to be found in a vineyard.”
More and more Minnesota brides are seeking that romance—and Minnesota wineries are providing spaces designed to host everything from the pre-wedding gathering to the intimate ceremony to the big reception.
The remainder of this article can be found in the spring/summer 2008 issue of Minnesota Bride.