A Refined Farm Wedding at a Private Residence in Sebastopol, California

Chicago, Illinois, residents Graham Williams (53 and an insurance director) and Ryan Rivera Foster (37 and a marketing manager) fell in love in 2008, after enduring a rained-out minor league baseball game at Wrigley Field on their first date. “Thoroughly soaked, and laughing while walking home afterward, we both realized this was the real deal,” Ryan says. Seven years later, on the anniversary of this first date, Graham and Ryan said their vows before 40 guests in an intimate destination wedding at Woodshed Farm, a private property in Sebastopol, California, owned by friends of the couple. “Our primary objective was to create a relaxing, casually elegant, fun event for our friends and family,” Ryan says; the farm’s pastoral setting was a perfect fit. To harmonize with the rustic environment, Ryan and Graham chose neutral navy and cream linen suits and accented them with bright yellow pocket squares. For flowers, colorful, locally grown zinnias and dahlias were set in glass jars filled with blue and white pea gravel (a nod to the grooms' colors). String lights illuminated the on-site reception, which took place at a restored barn and adjacent courtyard. “As the night was winding down, a chilly fog rolled in. Luckily we had arranged for keepsake pashmina wraps to keep the guests warm,” Ryan says. As for advice, Ryan offers this: “Talk to each other about what you truly want in a ceremony and reception, then say yes to each other’s ideas. Then together say, ‘And?’ Like life, planning a wedding is much more fun and interesting if you are always ready to say yes and you follow it up with an ‘and?' ” —Carolyn Meers