Sonoma Valley, California, Wedding: Congratulations Lauren and Cyrus!

Lauren and Cyrus shared a special wedding weekend with their guests including a rehearsal at the Napa Reserve, a wedding ceremony at Kunde Winery in Sonoma and a wine tasting tour to finish the celebration.

The wedding day began with preparations at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn.

Lauren shares, “Cyrus really only had one request of our whole wedding, that it was to take place in Northern California. Cyrus went to school at Santa Clara University and he really fell in love with the area- I can’t say I could really complain, it is gorgeous there. When we went through the process of selecting a venue, we went to a few places but there was only one where I felt that we were really in wine country. Kunde’s rolling hills with vines sold it to me. I told Cyrus, “You wanted Northern California, this is it plus some!”

There was some stress leading up to our big day; it was forecasted to be very rainy all week long. My dad passed away when I was in high school, but I still talk to him as if he is here, especially on significant days in my life. I asked my dad for a favor, “If there is any control of the weather up there, please send me the weather that you want me to have on my wedding day” – I wasn’t specific, just a simple request. The day before our wedding, the news had headlines of “San Francisco’s Weather Door is Officially Open” and “Impending Bomb Cyclone Hovers for this Weekend.” I was very focused on our friends and family not having to sit in any rain, let alone a bomb cyclone. When we woke up the next morning, the sky had opened up and there was even sunshine!

When we were driving to the venue, our wedding party was in awe of how gorgeous all of the fall colors looked. Then, when we arrived for the ceremony, the sun was really shining. Our ceremony was my favorite part of the day. I felt like my dad was right there with us and had sent the sun to really show off – that was always his style.

It was so special for Cyrus and me to hear our vows that we had kept secret from each other.

Beyond the ceremony, my favorite parts were being able to surprise Cyrus all night long with meaningful parts of our relationship woven into our wedding. We both always wanted a very classic timeless wedding, but I made sure to add in some subtle touches that are really us – our signature drink names, his Toro nigiri sushi groom’s cake, and “bottle service” from the night we met complete with champagne and pancakes. Even our string quartet played a Drake song when he came down the aisle. It was so much fun seeing Cyrus’s face light up through the night at so many of our inside jokes being represented subtly on our wedding day.”

The ceremony included Persian traditions. A mirror brings brightness and gives the couple a view of themselves with their support system – their wedding guests. Kaleh ghand (sugar cones) were rubbed together over the heads of the bride and groom to bring sweetness into their life and marriage.