First and Golz – Advancing Towards Marriage

Looking back, the play-by-play accounts seem rather traditional if not predictable. Daughter graduates from college and moves to follow a new career. Time passes. Daughter meets a young man through mutual acquaintances and interest blooms. The young man meets daughter’s parents. Time passes. The young couple join the daughter’s sisters and parents on a family trip abroad. The young man proposes. A wedding date is selected. A wedding dress is located. Planning ensues, announcements are sent and more time passes. Family and friends converge upon wedding city. There is much excitement and readiness. The wedding unfolds. New son-in-law whisks daughter away from the protection of her father. (This is the onerous part). Father reflects and is comforted by the honor of the young man and the unquestionable happiness of the daughter. Time passes…

And so it was that our first daughter Jenna married Matthew Golz. It has taken me a month to collect my thoughts - and I am happy.

Over the past twenty years DeLille Cellars in Redmond, Washington has become the State’s premiere producer of Bordeaux and Rhone inspired wines. The winery properties project a fantasy like image with its restored 1890’s farmhouse, grazing sheep, dreamy soft meadow, trickling brook and rich landscaping. Being there, one could easily lose their bearings of time and place. The canopy of trees creates contrasts of defused light and deep shadows reminiscent of the French Expressionist works of Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh. And the winery and 10-acre site overlooking the Woodinville Valley offers a splendid venue for a late summer in Seattle wedding not to mention a wonderful location for a fabulous wedding reception.

The day before the wedding would be a busy one. And as 11:00 arrived, so would we converge upon DeLille Cellars for last minute instruction from the coordinator on procedures and placement for the upcoming ceremony…practice.

The day offered an ideal 70 degrees and sunshine and everything was as it should be. The mothers were teary. The bride and her father were joyful. The groom and best man were nervous. Our stars had aligned.

Following rehearsal Denise and I volunteered to deliver the “children” to their vacation lodge where they would remain until after the honeymoon. Kasey is a Shepherd, Chow, Lab mix and Maddox is a Rottweiler, Lab mix. They were each rescued from previous circumstances and have become wonderfully playful pets. The trip to doggy camp in Snohomish, Washington was just over an hour. They seem to like riding in the back seat of a small car. It’s easier to lick the back of the driver’s ears from there.

That evening was a formal rehearsal dinner in the cellar dining room of Januik/Novelty Hill Winery in Woodinville, Washington. (Click here for a few pictures) This welcome reception was a wonderful opportunity for far traveled guests to meet and greet the wedding couple without the distractions and constraints of time of tomorrow’s wedding reception.

Januik/Novelty Hill is a state-of-the-art winery. It is also an exceptional piece of architecture that has won several design awards including honor awards from the American Institute of Architects and the International Interior Design Association. Its harmonious use of simple materials, concrete, wood and glass mirror identical traits necessary in winemaking. An honest blend of a few materials that, in the end, offer a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. (Click here for a few pictures) We had a wonderful time that seemed to end all too quickly.

Morning arrived with a vengeance. The girls were delivered to a ready room at Willows Lodge, a mere half-mile from DeLille. Here the moms, the brides maids and the bride would do whatever it is that girls do in preparation for a wedding. They would have at their disposal a hair stylist, makeup artist, photographer, unlimited Starbucks, mimosa and about five hours to squeeze it all in. (Click here for a few pictures) I was quite content to leave them and join Matt for a relaxing breakfast at the nearby Barking Frog. Then several hours later the guys all converged upon DeLille for beer and brats on the barbie for lunch – a pre-wedding ritual of sorts. Very manly.

I would depart early as it was my privilege to sneak a peek at the just readied bride and then to deliver Jenna and her mother and sisters to her future. We all sensed that this day would be spectacular.