Sarah & Ian in Wellesley Island, NY

They had danced the night away when they first met, but when Ian stopped by the restaurant where Sarah worked a few days later, sparks didn’t exactly fly. “I pretty much blew him off because I was busy and he was wearing a tank top,” Sarah says. “I hate tank tops on men!” It wasn’t until later that summer that the two bumped into each other and Ian asked her out. “It was the best date I had ever had,” Sarah says. The Bride Sarah Yaussi, 28, writer The Groom Ian Pienik, 31, defense contractor for the U.S. Army The Date September 2 One night, Sarah arrived home to find dozens of tiny tea lights, a roaring fire, and a bottle of wine. “All of a sudden, he was on one knee, digging the ring box out of the couch,” Sarah says. “He asked me to marry him and opened the box. Out of my mouth came, ‘Are you serious?’” Sarah says, “He laughed. I said yes.” With the help of Sarah’s mother, she planned a military wedding at a bed and breakfast -- with a color palette inspired by the blue-and-gold army uniforms and with French-inspired accents.