A dream wedding in wine country? Yes!!  I felt excited as I read my invitation to attend the wedding of the year by the wedding website, The Knot. I had used The Knot website to plan my wedding back in 2000, and since that time they have become the premier wedding website. I also noted that the wedding location, the picturesque Chateau St. Jean, in Sonoma Valley, is a quintessential wine country venue.

I had read about the couple, Samantha Carisch and Taylor Sinclair, who had originally planned a destination wedding in Mexico, but Samantha's mother's health issues prevented her from traveling. As they moved the wedding location back to California, they received the devastating news that her mother's cancer had returned, diagnosed stage 4, and had spread. Samantha and Taylor were determined to bump up the wedding date so that her mother could attend the celebration. In this clip they speak about their wishes with the local news. As you can see, America voted and this deserving couple won their Dream Wedding!

Once they were announced as the winning couple, the voting--on everything from wedding gown, makeup look, hairstyle, flowers, wedding rings and honeymoon destination--began. In the end, viewers made some beautiful choices for this wine country wedding, co-sponsored by Revlon and Chateau St. Jean. The selections included the lace Pnina Tornai wedding dress and Jenny Yoo's Annabelle bridesmaid dresses in spearmint. The flowing, pastel bouquets and florals were created by Farmgirl Flowers.

Samantha carried a heart-shaped locket with her mother's picture on her wedding day.

I can only imagine there was a touch of bittersweet in this reflective moment for Samantha.

 As Samantha wrote on the Knot, "Life has challenged our relationship in numerous ways and has yet to affect how incredibly in love we are and our ability to grow even closer as a couple. After canceling our wedding plans twice due to my mom's health concerns, it brings tears to our eyes knowing that we'll be able to share our wedding day, which may be our last “big life moment,” with all of our loved ones."

The beautiful wedding party...and

The sweet story of finding her gown.

The picture perfect wedding day...

and the affectionate kiss seals the deal.

Meet Mr. & Mrs. Taylor Sinclair!!

Not only did the couple look forward to the inherent romance of wine country, but also a high-tech twist to their nuptials. The wedding was live-streamed on the wedding day so family and friends, including Samantha's mom, unable to attend in person, were able to watch the romantic wedding ceremony in real-time. Samantha was able to chat with her mom throughout the wedding day on skype.

Drones captured the spectacular views of the intimate venue, set among the vineyards. A robotic machine created cocktails, the wedding party wore 3-D printed jewelry and the bride and groom wore fitness monitors during the ceremony.

Why technology is important for this special day.

As Samantha and Taylor look back on their wedding, I hope the beauty and romance of these images will be a sweet reminder of the day they were united as husband and wife. As many of us know, marriage is not all about a gorgeous lace gown, stunning flowers and a champagne toast. Samantha and Taylor, destined to meet, have already experienced some of the deepest challenges that life can bring. Life has already tested them with joys and sorrows along their journey. They have already lived some of the most essential wedding vows, in sickness and in health. Samantha and Taylorare beginning their married life with the genuine, hard-won knowledge of how to support each other, and their families, in this journey of marriage, commitment and life.

Best wishes on your marriage, Samantha and Taylor, and this new chapter in your lives.

Enjoy your well-deserved honeymoon in Tahiti!

I hope to be invited to the Knot's next Dream Wedding. In the end, I made the choice (difficult as a blogger and a romantic!) to watch the wedding on live-streaming, and not in person this time.  Instead of a glamorous wine country wedding, I kept my previous commitment (as a school psychologist) to celebrate our Special Education graduates and throw an end of the year party for our hardworking Special Education staff at my house. The live-streaming broadcast of the wedding allowed me to be part of each event that day. Despite a surprise rainstorm, we had a beautiful rainbow to end our evening, and I toasted to Samantha and Taylor's wedding day from my view across to wine country.

I received this message from the beautiful bride Samantha on Instagram:

sinclairndipity "Such a beautiful blog about our wedding thank you so very much!💗 Wish you could have made it to our big day as well but I agree it was a worthy reason to miss...ironically enough my mom was a special education teacher and a great one at that! Takes a genuine soul to be in such a field and I send all my best wishes to the graduates! Hope you had a wonderful celebration and glad you could follow along from afar☺️ Cheers all around!😘🍷"

Watch the entire video series of the Wine Country Dream Wedding.

Read more of Samantha and Taylor's story at Dream Wedding People Magazine.

I was offered lodging/transportation to attend The Knot's Dream Wedding in Wine Country.

All opinions about the event are my own. 

Wedding Event Planning: Jeannie Savage and Tips on Planning

All Images: Credit Jasmine Star Photography/The Knot