From BottleRock to the Altar | A Wine-loving Napa Valley Wedding at The Mansion
For years, I've had the privilege of working alongside Greg at BottleRock Music Festival in Napa Valley, capturing performances that I still can't quite believe I had a front row seat to. Pearl Jam. Megan Thee Stallion. Benson Boone. Justin Timberlake. Ed Sheeran. Red Hot Chili Peppers.
So when it came time for his wedding, after years of watching me work — in low light, in crowds, in the beautiful controlled chaos of a major music festival — he hired me. When someone who has seen you at work up close chooses you for something as personal as their wedding day, it means something different. It means everything, actually.
Greg and Mikayla found each other at the intersection of wine, literature, and music. Mikayla works in the world of books and literature, and it suits her completely. She's the kind of person who brings that same depth and intention to everything around her, and you can feel it in the way they've built their life together. They are a couple who savors things — a good bottle, a great record, a story worth telling. It showed in every detail of their day.
The wedding itself was intimate and personal — a home ceremony, a backyard, the people who matter most gathered close. There's something about a small, intentional wedding that hits differently than a grand affair. Everything is closer. The emotions are right there on the surface. Nobody is performing for a crowd — they're just present, fully and completely, for each other. It was quiet and lovely and exactly right.
Getting from the ceremony to the reception wasn't just a transfer — it was an experience. The whole group piled onto the Napa trolley, drinks in hand, the energy already building, rolling through Napa Valley with the kind of collective joy that only happens when a group of people who love each other is all heading somewhere fun together.
That everything was ‘The Mansion.’
An exclusive, storied spot in Napa Valley that carries the kind of atmosphere you can't manufacture and can't fake. And tucked inside — a pool table with a story worth telling, originally owned by George Clooney.
A live band, Mustache Harbor, was already in full swing by the time we arrived, and whatever intimacy the ceremony had held gently gave way to something louder, more joyful, and completely unrestrained. The dance floor filled up fast and stayed that way. Greg and Mikayla are in the middle of it, surrounded by the people they love, celebrating in exactly the way two people who appreciate great music, great wine, and a really good story should.
