A Romantic Winery Wedding in Sonoma

Ami Yoon and Eric Dewald met in September 2009 as classmates at the University of California, Berkeley. "I missed the first few classes of the semester and asked the guy next to me for his notes," she remembers. "That guy was Eric! And his handwriting was so terrible that we had to meet up to go over the notes. We became study buddies, and the rest is history." In December 2014, Eric proposed in the yoga class Ami was leading by holding the plunge pose, where you're already down on your knee. She says, "He seemed to really like that pose and stayed in it for a while. When I turned around, he was holding the ring and asking me to marry him!"

For their September 17, 2016, celebration, the classmates-turned-couple selected The Barn at Tyge Williams Cellars in Sonoma, California, as their venue and set about planning a romantic, chic, and rustic wedding (yes, it's possible to do all three at once!) with good music, good food, and plenty of shade. Keep reading to see Mariel Hannah's photos of the gorgeous winery wedding, designed by Lauren Miller Events.

Ami's Pronovias dress embodied how she wanted to feel on her wedding day: easy, breezy, beautiful, and sexy. "It was so lightweight and easy to move and dance in," she says. Since her dress was fairly simple (her words, not ours!), Ami accessorized with a beautiful veil and silver glitter wedges, which she made sure were visible through the slit in her dress. "I think it added a fun twist to my look," she says.

The groom wore a dark-navy suit, which he paired with a lavender tie to go with the winery wedding's romantic lavender-and-mauve color palette. Funny story from his bride: "Eric doesn't wear dress shirts, so we realized on the day of that he didn't own cuff links." Thankfully, his future brother-in-law came to the rescue and lent him his.

Just before walking down the aisle, Ami took a minute to pose with arrangements of roses, lavender, and greenery, created by Poppy Design, Co. Talk about a dreamy backdrop for bridal portraits!

The ceremony took place on the venue's open lawn, so the couple provided guests with fans and parasols for shade. Ami and Eric exchanged vows overlooking the vines, under an altar covered in roses, which wasn't the original plan. "We were supposed to have flowy linens as the ceremony backdrop, but our rental company forgot them," says the bride. "Luckily, our florist designed and set up the altar using leftover flowers and eucalyptus—and it looked even better than the original plan!"

The couple wanted the cocktail area to feel open but have enough seating, and they admit that choosing the furniture rentals was the hardest part of planning. Yes, seriously: "Nailing down a specific number of cabanas, couches, and umbrellas was a challenge," says the bride.

It all came together—and with the addition of more lavender, butterflies seemed to like the setup almost as much as the guests did.

Inside the barn, long farm tables were set with classic white plates, silver flatware, and arrangements of blush roses and (of course!) more lavender.

In addition to their wedding cake, Ami and Eric served Sift cupcakes in red velvet, cheesecake, and s'mores flavors.

The bride's advice for planning? "Plan together as a couple," she says. "It is so much easier and more meaningful to make decisions together. One person may take the lead on certain aspects of the planning, but try to walk through each step of the process together."