5 questions for Sadie, Wedding Planner

(c) Steep Street Photography

1. How long have you been an event planner and what is your level of experience?

I have more than a decade of experience in event planning. I began my career as the promotions manager for a display company in 2001, then moved to producing corporate events. Before starting Locally Grown Weddings, I was working in the non-profit arena on large fundraisers, such as 1,000 person bike rides and 500 person luncheons.

This experience as an event manager, coupled with my need to help promote eco-friendly choices for my clients lead me to branch out on my own. My most recent work has been focused on providing creative, unique and sustainable options for clients who are getting married.

(c) Steep Street Photography

2. What do you love the most about your work?

I love seeing my clients expression when they first walk into their event and see all the work we have done come together to create their special day. Event planning appeals to me because it allows me to mix my love for logistics and details with my creativity.

Guiding each of my clients step by step through the planning experience, and being able to share ideas, listen and engage throughout their planning process are both exciting and rewarding to me.

The personal service and time I dedicate to each client allows me to make sure their unique story is told. Each client is provided with the tools to help make their event flawless. I focus on creating personalized events that are both a representation of the clients style, and are sustainable. The goal is to keep our environmental footprint to a minimum while creating an amazing celebration!

(c) Mike Larson Photography

3. Why "green"?

For myself it’s a personal lifestyle choice and I would not dream of running a business any other way. I feel we need to know how our choices directly impact our environment. Education and understanding the ramifications of our actions can help guide us to better choices. Events bring large groups of people together which creates an immediate impact on our resources and surroundings. By being “green” we can help you reduce this impact and therefore make a positive difference for the environmental future of our planet.

We use avenues such as organic catering and locally grown flowers to minimize environmental impact. As a sustainable events planner, I have built a collection of resources to offer and guide clients toward making the best choices for their event.

(c) Mike Larson Photography

4. Do you only plan weddings?

No. I have experienced working on many types of events such as corporate events, trade shows, conferences, fundraisers and private parties.

5. What is your role in Locally Grown Weddings and how do you work with the team?

My role as the Event Planner for Locally Grown Weddings is to listen and gather information from our clients and to guide them through their planning process. As facilitator, I help ensure that all details and moving parts are communicated to the Locally Grown Weddings group. Having a professional team of exceptional vendors whom I know and trust, gives the client a level of comfort that is unparalleled. 

 (c) Misti Layne Photography

Locally Grown Weddings Featured Members:

Sadie Waddington, Event Planner

Guest Photographers:

Steep Street Photography, Kelty

Mile Larson Photography, Jake

Misti Layne Photography

Farm to Table Dinner with Chef Stephanie- August 4th!

Chef Stephanie and Farmer Patricia - photo by Aimee Goggins

 Are you ready to savor the bounty of Summer? Chef Stephanie and Farmer Patricia are joining forces again! The Algarden Cafe is hosting it's second Farm to Table Candlelight Dinner next week on Thursday, August 4th at 7pm at a secret location in the Mission.  The evening is a celebration of food that has been grown locally and traveled under 15 miles from the farm to your plate and an opportunity for you to learn more about your food producers. If you missed the first Farm to Table dinner, you can read about it here.

photo by Chef Stephanie

This menu will include all your mid-summer favorites including squash blossoms, peas, berries, lettuces, plums, avocados and culinary herbs as well as a special elixir to accompany your dinner.

photo by Aimee Goggins

 Patricia Algara has been hard at work growing vegetables, fruits, culinary herbs, and tending to her bees. I look forward to transforming her produce, etc. into some delicious and beautiful food for you to enjoy!

photo by Patricia Algara

photo by Patricia Algara

 We hope you can join us! Reserve your seat here.

Congratulations Julie and Michael!

Congratulations Julie and Michael! We are looking forward to your wedding next weekend. Thank you for making us part of the celebrations.

You can see more of Julie and Michael's engagement photos on Aurora's blog.

Featured Locally Grown Weddings Member:

Photography: Aurora Meneghello

Locally Grown Weddings at the Lyford House

Locally Grown Weddings is the creative team that designs and produces unique and sustainable events. We help our couples tell their story by creating and orchestrating beautiful, sophisticated and unique celebrations that reflect personal styles and tastes. 

Inspired by the natural world and the period details of the setting, the Locally Grown Weddings team designed a special photo shoot at Lyford House in Tiburon. Perched on the edge of Richardson Bay, Lyford House shares its surroundings with a bird sanctuary and stunning views of San Francisco. 



The site was a natural fit for us since the venue not only hosts weddings, but also educates the public about the area and its inhabitants. We also appreciated that they had a shared focus on the environment that is aligned with the business values and practices of the Locally Grown Weddings team. 

 We first learned about Lyford House through Chef Stephanie, who is a preferred caterer at this venue. With her Green Business Certification and focus on local and sustainable cuisine, Lyford House is one of her favorite venues in the Bay Area because it enables her to showcase her talents in a gorgeous setting. 

Each of the team members brought their own unique twist to the overall vision of this photo shoot. Whether it was Angela channeling a bygone era of romance and haunting beauty in the hair and makeup styling for our bride, Cacey, Madeline and Sadie integrating gorgeous avian details with the sumptuous linens and place settings, the subtle artistry and references to the natural environment in Pei-Yee’s wedding cake design, Chef Stephanie’s elegant plates of delicious and seasonal food, or Aurora’s ability to capture the “perfect” moment in time.

Weddings aren’t just about the location, beautiful as they may be! For the Locally Grown Weddings team, one of our key goals is to help tell the story of the couple and bring their personalities and vision to life. And while this was a faux wedding, weaving together the story of an actual couple was a critical element for our photographer, Aurora. Having studied film and directing in school, she knew that one of the hardest things to fake is the chemistry between a couple; having Cacey and Paulo as our models was a true delight!

What sets Locally Grown Weddings apart in the wedding industry is that we are a cohesive team, each with a rich knowledge base in our area of expertise. Since we all know each other so well and trust each other’s instincts, we were able to work together seamlessly with plenty of smiles and laughter throughout the day. We also loved the opportunity to work with our network of partners, including: D & H Sustainable Jewelers, who shared some stunning vintage earrings and graceful rings from their well-curated collection, while Hartmann Studios provided us with the beautiful linens, tableware, and chairs that tied the whole vision together, and videographer Deepa Pathak of FilmTwist, who crafted a film interpreting the day’s shoot as a bride dreaming of her perfect day. Adele Wechsler provided a gown from her eco-couture collection where couture bridal fashion and a green perspective merge. 

The end result of our collective team efforts? A modern take on Victorian era romance that was inspired by the local wildlife and surroundings and celebrates the timelessness of the Lyford House.

 Locally Grown Weddings Members:

Event Planning: Sadie Waddington
Catering: Chef Stephanie
Photography: Aurora Meneghello
Flowers and Design: Madeline Trait
Wedding Desserts: Pei-Yee Woo
Make Up Artistry: Angela LaFlamme

Venue: Lyford House

Locally Grown Weddings Partners:

Jewelry: D&H Sustainable Jewelers
Rentals: Hartmann Studios

Guest Vendors:

Videography: Deepa Pathak for Film Twist Productions
Invitations: Cherish

A Special Thank you to Adele Wechsler for lending us a gorgeous dress from her Eco Couture collection.

Watch a Video of Locally Grown Weddings at the Lyford House

Thanks to the amazing Deepa Pathak of Film Twist, here's a video of the Locally Grown Weddings team working at the Lyford House.


Lyford House + Locally Grown Weddings Promo Video from Filmtwist Productions on Vimeo.

Film Twist is the joint collaboration of Franck and Deepa, two filmmakers passionate about art and story telling. The best part of working with them is that they understand how every couple's story is different and can create a video that reflects that.

Franck and Deepa don't just film weddings, they also work on other narrative projects. This keeps them passionate about what they do and at the cutting edge of new technology.

Thank you, Deepa!

Check out images and text from this beautiful faux wedding shoot next week!

Locally Grown Weddings Members:

Event Planning: Sadie Waddington
Catering: Chef Stephanie
Photography: Aurora Meneghello
Flowers and Design: Madeline Trait
Wedding Desserts: Pei-Yee Woo
Make Up Artistry: Angela LaFlamme

Venue: Lyford House

Locally Grown Weddings Partners:

Jewelry: D&H Sustainable Jewelers
Rentals: Hartmann Studios

Guest Vendors:

Videography: Deepa Pathak for Film Twist Productions
Invitations: Cherish

A Special Thank you to Adele Wechsler for lending us a gorgeous dress from her Eco Couture collection.

5 Questions for Chef Stephanie

Stuffed cremini mushrooms with truffled white beans

1. How did you become a Chef?

I have worked in restaurants since I was a teenager, but I did not attend a formal culinary school. I learned to cook in the kitchen, "jumped right into the fire" if you will...the term "self-taught" doesn't resonate with me because I know who I have learned from, Bella Frye of the legendary Whole Earth Restaurant in Santa Cruz, CA, and Eric Tucker of Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco, CA. I have also learned so much from all the other chefs I have had the privilege to slice and dice alongside. I learn everyday I pick up my knife and try something new.

Seared scallops with red pepper relish

2. What do you love the most about cooking?

I love the creative process and there are a few ways that I experience that.  First, when I meet new clients, we engage in a collaborative process of designing a menu that reflects who they are. It might include their ethnic backgrounds, places they have traveled or family traditions. Every menu is as unique as the people I am working with. Second, when I get into the kitchen to cook for an event, I have the opportunity to work with amazing seasonal ingredients. My challenge, as a chef, is to create the best possible food I can. Thankfully, the bay area makes that pretty easy for me!

3. Why "green"?

For as long as I can remember I have had an "environmental awareness" and that is visible in my lifestyle and my business. It makes sense to me to eat food that is less processed and not sprayed with chemicals and I want to feed my clients that quality of food. I love seeing how much compost vs. trash is generated during a prep shift, trash is so minimal! In my experience, it doesn't take additional effort to run a business that is environmentally responsible and I find it rewarding

Heirloom tomato salad with feta cheese and fresh basil

 4. Do you only cook for weddings?

I wish... people are so happy at weddings! Actually most of my events are celebrations and include Birthday parties, Anniversary parties, Baby showers, Bat Mitzvahs...you name it. If there is something to celebrate, food is usually involved, and I am happy to provide it. Planning a wedding menu does offer a unique opportunity to work with clients in an intimate way and feeding people on such a memorable day is pretty special. I strive to create dining experiences that are equally memorable.

Mango and beef rolls with goat cheese and fresh mint

5. What is your role in Locally Grown Weddings and how do you work with the team?

As the Caterer in Locally Grown Weddings, I often meet clients at the beginning of their wedding planning process. This gives me the opportunity to introduce them to the rest of the team which typically results in a huge sigh of relief for them. When they find all these talented people on a creative team that has experience working together, it offers not only a convenience, but a guarantee that their wedding will be unforgettable and unique.

Locally Grown Weddings Featured Members:

Chef Stephanie, Caterer

Aurora Meneghello, Photographer

Farm to Table with Chef Stephanie

Last week, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a local farmer and present a true farm to table dining experience at the Algarden Cafe, we called the "Candlelight dinner".  The farm to table movement has gained momentum in recent years as chefs look to have direct relationships with their farmers and ranchers. In addition, diners want to know more about the sources of the food on their plates and everyone is looking to reduce the food miles their ingredients are traveling. The average ingredient travels up to 2,500 miles. The path that food travels for a farm to table dinner is typically much shorter, only passing through the hands of the chef before arriving on your plate and, in this case, we are talking 13 short miles!

Patricia Algara tends a farm in Berkeley called the Algarden, where she grows vegetables, fruit, culinary herbs, mushrooms and almonds. She is also raising chickens and keeps bees. She is the owner of Foodscaping, a design build studio specializing in edible landscapes and urban farms. 

I started out with a trip to the farm in April to see what was growing and what would be available for a dinner in early June. I met the chickens and the bees and was impressed with the gorgeous edible flowers, huge fava plants and the variety of greens growing. I started my menu planning right away and enlisted Pei-Yee Woo to tackle the desserts

Chef Stephanie (R), Patricia Algara (L)

As the  dinner approached, I learned that some of the ingredients would not be available, like yellow beets, they were still too small. But others were in abundance, like kale and chard. So I set out to adjust the menu accordingly.

Even when it was time to harvest, the day before the event, we had a few surprises with the available ingredients and this is what I ended up with:

Edible flowers, lettuces, kale, chard, fava beans, potatoes, parsnips, red beets , spring onions and garlic, daikon radishes, mint, rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano, strawberries, lemons

And this is what it became:

Lettuces, edible flowers, strawberries, blue cheese and pecans

Parsnips, , parsley, lemon, chives, chive blossoms, chipotle aioli

Dikon radish salad with preserved lemons and arugula, Red beets with beet greens and chard

French lentils, fava greens, onions, roasted potatoes, eggs

Pistachio caramels

Lemon curd and strawberry pastries

The Candlelight Dinner was a huge success and a lot of fun! Please join us for the next event scheduled for August 4th. Email with any questions or to sign up!

Locally Grown Weddings Featured Members:

Chef Stephanie, Caterer

Pei-Yee Woo, Wedding Desserts 

Photographs courtesy of Chef Stephanie and Patricia Algara