How they met: They met in junior high but didn’t start dating until December 2005.

How they got engaged: Davood planned to propose one night during dessert, but Elizabeth fell asleep. After staying up all night fretting, he proposed to her over a surprise breakfast in bed.

Special invitation: The couple sent out elaborate 10-piece, pocket-style invitations to 230 guests—all of which Elizabeth made, with help from family.

Details, please: Elizabeth carried her maternal grandmother’s handkerchief in her bouquet, and family made up the majority of the wedding party.

Memorable moments: Davood’s grandparents also got married at Holy Spirit. The priest who married the couple also married Elizabeth’s parents nearly 33 years earlier. Elizabeth’s cousin drove the couple from the church to the reception in Elizabeth’s father’s 1949 Pontiac. Davood’s grandmother, 85, traveled from Iran for the wedding.

Music matters: Elizabeth played the alto saxophone in the marching band at UC Davis, Davood plays the violin, and they both play piano. So having live music—a string quartet along with a dance band—was important to them. Elizabeth’s aunt and father sang at
the wedding.

All together now: Having friends and family fly in from Iran, British Columbia, Texas and Oklahoma meant a lot to the couple. “It’s your party, it’s all your family, your friends, all the people you care the most about all in one room celebrating,” says Davood.