Healdsburg Wedding Photographer: Erin and Patrick at Haydon Root Vineyard | Alicia Parks Photography
May 11, 2026
Some weddings stay with you long after you pack up your gear and drive home. Erin and Patrick’s late September celebration in Healdsburg is one of those. The images from their day were recently featured on Style Me Pretty, one of the most respected and widely read wedding publications in the world, and honestly, it felt like the right home for a wedding this quietly extraordinary.
Here is a little more of the story behind the photographs.
A Proposal Worth Backing Up Twice
Patrick came prepared. His original plan was to propose on the beach overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, which also happened to be where he and Erin later did their engagement session. Fog had other ideas. He pivoted to Plan B: Lovers Lane in the Presidio, a spot he had scouted in advance and even tidied up beforehand. They had the whole place to themselves. It was perfect.
Healdsburg, where they would eventually marry, holds a special place in their hearts now too, made even more meaningful by everything that followed that evening in the Presidio.
An Organic Design That Moved With the Land
The vision for this wedding was organic in every sense of the word. The couple and their design team wanted florals that felt native to the surrounding grounds, a palette that breathed, and a setting that did not fight the natural beauty of the venue but moved with it.
The ceremony was anchored by a large oak tree and rock formations with views of the surrounding vineyards. In place of a traditional arch, the floral team built what can only be described as a naturalistic floral nest: a textural arrangement of pistache, golden raintree pods, dahlias, native grasses, smokebush foliage, Japanese anemone, aster, and nerine that felt like it had grown there. Pops of peach, white, and salmon carried through to the reception, where locally grown cosmos, phlox, coral dahlia, delphinium, and honeysuckle vines filled dinner tables alongside candles and green velvet textures and printed linens.
It was one of the most considered floral designs I have had the pleasure of photographing.
Lyric by Ines de Santo, Chosen on the Best Day
Erin wore Lyric by Ines de Santo, purchased at Chic Parisien in Coral Gables, Florida. She had spotted it online before the trip, knew it was the one, tried it during a girls’ weekend with her mom and sister in Miami, said yes to the dress, and then went to see Taylor Swift perform the Eras Tour that same afternoon. As days leading up to a wedding go, that is a hard one to beat.
Her bridesmaids wore a beautiful mixture of colors ranging from blush to sage, with a mix of textures and patterns that felt collected rather than coordinated.
A Flower for Her Father
When Erin was a little girl, she used to pick a flower from the yard every morning before school. Her father drove her every day, and each morning she handed him that flower before she walked in. Her father shared this story during the ceremony.
Then, without any prompting, Erin reached over, picked a flower from her table arrangement, and gave it to him.
His hand went over his mouth. He cried. The entire room cried.
“That is the kind of moment that reminds me why I do this work.”
Southern Roots, California Heart
Neither Erin nor Patrick eats cake, so instead of a wedding cake they brought in a local ice cream cart as their sweet ending to the night. Their catering took Southern comfort classics, including pimento cheese, and reimagined them through a fresh California lens. Familiar flavors, thoughtfully elevated.
Late in the evening, when the dance floor was fully alive, they brought out light-up cowboy hats as a playful nod to their Texas roots. Every detail was intentional. None of it felt forced.
