Rehearsal Dinner

Wedding Day

Wedding

Reception

Our Wedding

With Rachel heading off to graduate school at Harvard in the fall, the clock was ticking for Michael to "put a ring on it" before she flew halfway across the country! Michael&nbsp;was determined to surprise Rachel&nbsp;for the proposal (a very arduous task) and decided the only way he could do it was on his birthday. July 12, 2018, started as a day Rachel THOUGHT she had planned. To celebrate Michael, she had created a "Book Crawl"&nbsp;treasure map to celebrate&nbsp;The day! Excited to have "finally" kept a successful surprise, Rachel was very perplexed to find Michael strangely stressed throughout the day... After insisting he needed some "nature time,"&nbsp;Rachel, in a rare moment of relinquishing control, let Michael drive them to a nature spot near a bookstore on the map.&nbsp;Unbeknownst to her,&nbsp;Michael had contacted all of Rachel's closest friends bringing them in on the plan. As they began walking through the trees, a guitar began playing. When they approached the waterfall, Alex (a High School friend of Michael's) was playing&nbsp;the guitar. Rachel, worried they had disturbed some stranger&nbsp;practicing, went to turn back.&nbsp;Michael grabbed her hand and asked Alex to play Rachel and Michael's song and slyly pulled the ring out of the guitar case and got down on one knee... to which Rachel said... "Are you going to ask?"&nbsp; With Michael having successfully put a ring on it, they got in the car to get some dinner. But the surprise wasn't over at the waterfall! Michael and Rachel drove to their favorite restaurant, Sorella Caffe, where all of her friends were waiting, and then to Prizefighter to celebrate with the Ubuntu family! Two days later they left on their huge Europe vacation to Greece and Italy later dubbing it their "Proposal-Moon."&nbsp;

The Proposal 

Our Story

Nitty Gritty Details

The Venue

What you need to know:

We will be saying &nbsp;"I Do" on a beautiful ranch at 1175 Garcia Ranch Road, Briones, CA&nbsp;94553. The wedding ceremony and reception will all be outside so&nbsp;please make sure to bring layers&nbsp;because&nbsp;the temperature will drop significantly when the sun sets.&nbsp; The ranch is very accessible but has uneven gravel and dirt paths so please&nbsp;join the bride in wearing comfy shoes&nbsp;to dance the night away.Travel to the Ranch:&nbsp;Our wedding ceremony and reception will be at MezaLuna Ranch.&nbsp;The trip takes about 25-30 minutes from Oakland or Berkeley and we recommend that you exit off the freeway at Orinda and take Camino Pablo to Bear Creek Road if you are driving. Please note that there is no cellular service at the ranch and that your service will likely drop out for the last 10 minutes of your drive. If you have pre-programmed directions into your phone, it will continue to work offline as you get to the property, but we recommend printing hard copy directions for the drive back.Transportation:&nbsp;There will be ample parking on the property and you are welcome to drive. Should you choose to use a carshare service (Uber or Lyft) you will be able to sign onto wifi on the property beginning at 8:30pm to get your transportation home or to the after-bar. Should you choose this option, we recommend you join the newlyweds in pre-booking you Lyft or Uber. Finally we are excited for our&nbsp;guests to get to interact with many of the sweet animals who live on the ranch&nbsp;including&nbsp;goats and Alexander Hamilton the pig!

Wedding Timeline

2:45pm - Guests&nbsp;arrive 3:00pm - Wedding Ceremony 3:45pm - Sangria Hour 5:00pm - Dinner 5:45pm - Wedding Toasts 6:30pm - Dance Floor &&nbsp;Dessert Bar Opens 9:00pm&nbsp;- Reception Ends 9:30pm - Afterparty 21+&nbsp;at Prizefighter 6702 Hollis Street, Emeryville&nbsp;

Details

The real secret of Mara and Rachel's relationship is that most everything about Rachel that people think is cool...she learned from her sister. While often it's the little sister who learns from the oldest, Rachel instead stole,&nbsp;and continues to steal,&nbsp;her best&nbsp;recipes and her most fashionable pieces of clothing from her little sister. (Exhibit A: Rachel's&nbsp;coat in this photo)

Mara Schneiderman Eisner

Rachel and Emily first became inseparable, literally, while&nbsp;dancing&nbsp;as one giant&nbsp;whale together in their freshmen college production of Children of Eden. Through the ups and downs of figuring out what the heck it means to be a person in college, there's no partner in crime Rachel would have rather gone with on this journey.&nbsp;

Emily Cohen

Lindsay and Rachel have been friends for the past 20 years, and though Lindsay was a little less tone deaf when they first met, not much else about their friendship has changed.&nbsp;Lindsay and Rachel have gone through the pain and joys of adolescence together and come out the other side as fierce&nbsp;women.&nbsp;

Lindsay Szymanski

Alyssa and Rachel became best friends after Alyssa decided Rachel&nbsp;wasn't her enemy. In high school Leadership,&nbsp;Rachel and Alyssa both knew what had to get done, and rather than waiting for permission, did everything&nbsp;themselves, forging a tight bond only building homecoming floats&nbsp;in your parent's garage can lead to.&nbsp;

Alyssa Gervasoni

Tiff and Rachel first connected at Spring Rush of their Sorority. Rachel, keen on only recruiting women who she wanted to be her friends, eagerly courted Tiffany and after&nbsp;many parties, shows, all-nighters,&nbsp;and Sunday brunches, Rachel's plot to win&nbsp;Tiffany's friendship is still going strong!&nbsp;

Tiffany Cheng

Rachel and Meagan were assigned to be freshmen year roommates and after a series of awkward adventures became soulmates. They developed their infamous yo-yo relationship with Rachel constantly pushing&nbsp;the pair to do crazy activities&nbsp;and Megs reeling them back,&nbsp;&nbsp;in a perfect yin and yang.&nbsp;

Meagan Dietz

Beth and Rachel first bonded while toning their glutes on the never&nbsp;ending late night walks up the hill home after rehearsal in college. Despite their unsuccessful schemes to keep Beth in the states, their many shenanigans and adventures created a bond that lasts even from across both sides of the pond.

Beth Hitchcock

Rachel and Nikki's friendship started when Rachel interviewed her for a job and they actually ended up interviewing each other to be friends.&nbsp;While constantly talking over each other&nbsp;and adopting too many of each others' mannerisms, they create a unique yet perfect pair of fools.&nbsp;

Nikki Johl

Colin and Michael first met playing little league baseball together on opposing sides. But, their friendship sparked in middle school when they both did theatre together. From there, they shared performances in high school and pursued their Bachelor in Fine Arts in college. Colin and Michael have been roommates, cast-mates, teammates, co-founders and business partners as they've shared a friendship spanning over 15 years.&nbsp;

Colin Mandlin

Just shy of two&nbsp;years old, Seren entered Michael's life and changed it forever. As a sister, Seren is Michael's most trusted&nbsp;confidant, colleague, friend&nbsp;and compass always pointing to true north. Suffice it to say,&nbsp;Michael would not be celebrating such a perfect partnership with Rachel if it were not for Seren steering Michael clear of a multitude of mistakes over the past 30 years.&nbsp;

Seren Moran

William and Michael met while both were losing their minds in graduate school. Luckily, they were both crazy enough to fall in love with the Ubuntu Theater Project and steer it to success during and immediately following graduate school. If it were not for William double booking himself (and Michael probably not listening carefully enough), Michael would never have been a substitute teacher&nbsp;for William's class and met Rachel at Berkeley Playhouse.

William Hodgson

Ronnie and Michael also met while losing their minds in graduate school. Lucky enough to live on the same floor of the same apartment building, they would commiserate and stumble upon brilliant conversations solving the world's problems as they walked back home together after&nbsp;long days pursuing their passion. Luckily, they were able to continue their friendship across the country as Michael would see him when he visited New York City and Ronnie came out to the Bay Area to&nbsp;play the title role in Othello.&nbsp;

Ronnie Washington

William Oliver III&nbsp;and Michael met during the first crazy summer of Ubuntu. William walked into Michael's mother's apartment complex's clubhouse to play a role in Dutchman. And, since then he's been the heart of the Ubuntu Company and an enduring support for Michael through all the ups and downs. Of course, he was also the catalyst for Michael asking Rachel out on a date: "Michael, it's easy. Just walk up to her and say, 'Hi, I'm Michael Socrates Moran. I have my own theater company. Boom." The rest is history.&nbsp;

WIlliam Oliver III 

Carson has&nbsp;known&nbsp;Michael since the day he was born. Their parents were neighbors&nbsp;and, even after moving away, the families continued their friendship. Carson and Michael&nbsp;grew up together, played together, wrestled together, shared their childhoods with one another&nbsp;and became family friends. Carson was always Robin (or the Joker) to Michael's Batman and Michael was always willing to play Carson's ever inventive games.&nbsp;

Carson French

Wedding Party

Proposal-moon

Engagement

Engagement Photo Shoot 1.19.19

Photos

Registry

Q + A

<a href="https://www.marriott.com/meeting-event-hotels/group-corporate-travel/groupCorp.mi?resLinkData=Eisner%20%26%20Moran%20Wedding%5Eoakdt%60emwemwa%60169%60USD%60false%604%6010/10/19%6010/15/19%609/20/19&app=resvlink&stop_mobi=yes" target="_blank">Here is the link</a>&nbsp;to the group rate if you would like to book!

Start Date: 10/12/19 End Date:&nbsp;10/14/19 Last day to book: 9/20/19

The rate will be $169 per night.&nbsp;

Oakland Marriott City Center

Travel

Make the wedding a long weekend and go and enjoy some famous California wine just an hour's drive North in Napa Valley. While there are many options to suit your taste, Rachel and Michael's favorite is <a href="https://rutherfordranch.com/" target="_blank">Rutherford Ranch Winery</a>&nbsp;best known for the Cabernets and wine and chocolate pairings. Some other fun ones to try are <a href="https://castellodiamorosa.com/" target="_blank">Castella di Amorosa</a> (yes it is in a castle) or <a href="https://www.sterlingvineyards.com/en-us" target="_blank">Sterling Vineyards</a>&nbsp;where you ride a Gondala up to the Vineyard!&nbsp;All vineyards are kid-friendly.

Wine Tasting 

One of Michael and Rachel's favorite activities is to get away from the city and out into the beauty of nature. Luckily, there are quite a few Bay Area green spots and hiking you won't want to miss! Here are some of their favorites- <a href="https://www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden/" target="_blank">Tilden Park, Berkeley</a> - <a href="https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/cataract-falls-trail-high-marsh-kent-trail-and-helen-market-trail">Cataract Falls, Marin</a>

Hiking!

Rachel and Michael's favorite Saturday morning activity is walking down to the local Farmer's Market at the northern point of Lake Merrit. Favorites include gourmet avocado toast, fresh-pressed juice, samosas, Uhuru pies,&nbsp;and the most beautiful, exotic seasonal flowers that you will ever lay your eyes upon!

Farmer's Market at Lake Merritt

Long Day's Journey into Night

Oct 4-27, 2019 by Eugene O’Neill directed by Michael Socrates Moran





As part of our season that explores individual morality in immoral systems, we have chosen Long Day’s Journey Into Night&nbsp;as our American classic. Each character struggles to live fully amidst the systemic decay of the family, which they simultaneously need, and from which they might remove themselves. This is a memory play for each character battling with the haunts of their past embodied in one another.

Rachel & Michael

Rachel & Michael

Details

Nitty Gritty Details

The Venue

Wedding Timeline