A Sophisticated, Rustic Wedding At Solage Calistoga in Calistoga, California

As a professional in the luxury hotel and hospitality design industry, Joshua Wyatt knew that choosing the perfect venue for his marriage to Louisa Kent was crucial. After briefly considering venues in London and the Caribbean, the couple concluded that Solage, Calistoga was the perfect choice. “We had the fortune of discovering Solage during a trip to California in the summer of 2012, a few months before we were even engaged,” says Josh. “We instantly fell in love with the relaxed vibe and stunning landscape of the hotel and surrounding vineyards–not to mention, the amazing pool and spa.” 

Solage provided the exact look and feel of the couple’s dream wedding, and they could readily imagine it as the site of a weeklong celebration with all of their friends. They also loved the fact that they could have the wedding outside on the lawn, which represented the perfect mix of sophistication, natural beauty, and organic “healthiness.”

Josh and Louisa planned their event in partnership with Scott Corridan Design, knowing they wanted a warm, intimate wedding with an emphasis on great food, wine, and décor. “Our vision for the event was something relaxed, yet stylish and elegant,” says Josh. Integrating a color story of white, blush, pink, gold, and early-autumn green, the couple selected primarily local flowers and foliage. This included end-of-harvest roses, Japanese anemones, and ranunculus, along with olive and oak foliage.

The wedding celebrations were kicked off with a Thursday night rehearsal at Solage to run through the ceremony, with a dinner afterward in a private room at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in nearby St. Helena. On Friday, friends joined the couple for a pool party at Solage, where they rented out the poolside cabanas. Later that night, they hosted a cocktail party at Spectera, one of the resort’s smaller event places. “Hilariously, we also organized group workout sessions on Friday and Saturday for the wedding party,” says Josh. “It perfectly represented our active friends who work hard, play hard, and spa hard!”

For her wedding day attire, the bride selected an Inbal Dror gown for the ceremony and paired it with shoes by Freya Rose. At the reception, she wore a Dennis Basso dress with Badgley Mischka shoes. The groom wore a Tom Ford tuxedo in midnight blue (as worn by Daniel Craig in “Skyfall”), with Harry’s of London shoes for the ceremony, and slipped into black velvet slippers by Alberto Moretti for the reception.

As lovers of food and wine, the reception dinner was something the couple carefully orchestrated. “We are inspired by wine,” Louisa shares. “Josh is from Marin County, near Napa. I have lived in Chile, Madrid, and Provence, and travelled to every major wine region in South Africa, Australia, France, Italy, and Spain–so we know and love wines.” Over the course of the evening, guests were treated to wines chosen to reflect the stages of a relationship–flirty (Rose by Gary Farrell), breezy (Sauvignon Blanc by Pont de Chevalier), then a bit more serious, deep, nuanced, mysterious, and rare (Voignier by Terre Rouge, Pinot Noir by Meiomi, and Charbono by Shypoke). The night concluded with a wedding cake by Perfect Endings, as well as a late-night s’mores bar.

Looking back on a celebration of love shared with their closest friends, the couple carries forward wonderful memories as they embark upon married life. “It could not have been a more magical week,” says Josh.