Sarah & Joel in St. Paul, MN

Joel and Sarah met through mutual friends in the dorms at the University of California, Berkeley. “It didn’t take long for Joel to ask me out,” Sarah says. The Bride Sarah Anthony, 27, MBA Student The Groom Joel Tashjian, 28, Lawyer The Date August 5 In a city full of top-chef restaurants, the freshmen went out on their first date to the “worst restaurant in Berkeley,” as Sarah puts it. (She blames it on a “this-place-looks-good-enough” kind of decision.) But a bad meal was the beginning of Sarah and Joel’s long-lasting relationship, and seven years later Joel proposed during a spring trip to Kauai, Hawaii, on a veranda overlooking Hanalei Bay. “Joel completely surprised me,” Sarah says. “Absolutely romantic!” A year and a half later, Sarah and Joel were married on a beautiful, mild Minnesota day at Joel’s parents’ Jacobean-style house in St. Paul with an intimate, English garden-style celebration to follow. “Everything was perfect,” Sarah says.