Perfect Wedding Story: Kristin & David's Dream Celebration

THE COUPLE

It’s often said that to find true love, you must find a true friend. Kristin Viger and David Schuster take it one step further with a circle of friends, whom they credit with their relationship, engagement and wedding. Although the couple didn’t begin dating until 2022, they met in 2009 at a friend’s birthday party in Marina Del Rey; that friend, Kristi Nakayama, eventually became part of the wedding officiating team.

“Kristin and I met several times over the years, but the timing was never quite right for us,” says David, a biotech entrepreneur who had been living in Arizona. Everything changed three years ago when David ventured to wine country with Kristin, a principal at Deloitte Consulting. Sparks flew, and he frequently traveled to San Francisco, eventually moving to the city permanently. A year later, he popped the question at Sherwin Winery while walking the vines with glasses of cabernet. Forty friends gathered to celebrate the engagement with dinner at Bottega Napa Valley.

The gorgeous setting, Barndiva, located in Healdsburg, hosted the wedding.

THE CELEBRATION

“Each stage of our wedding day moved through the different walkways, gardens, patios and the restaurant of Barndiva,” says David, noting the couple’s closest friends (Scott Sowle, Amy Sumner and Kristi Nakayama) officiated the outdoor ceremony. The color theme featured bright pastels, lush greens and local wildflowers. “The flowers and their colors played a huge part in our decor and theme, from the personalized his-and-hers cocktails to the gorgeous wedding arch to the table settings,” says David.

The joyful day included a string quartet for the ceremony (the rendition of David Bowie’s “Starman” was epic) and a DJ for the lively yacht rockthemed dance party, complete with captain’s hats. Barndiva, which doubles as a farm, provided a multicourse meal, dessert station and a whiskey and cigar bar that the couple and their guests recall fondly. A late-night afterparty occurred at Hotel Healdsburg, where half the wedding guests kept the joyride rolling.

The couple's invitations, created by Sugar Paper, allowed them to create a custom suite that included the invitation, weekend details and the RSVP card with a wildflower theme.

THE HONEYMOON

The newlyweds traveled to Bora Bora to begin their married lives together, staying at the Intercontinental Bora Bora Le Moana Resort and the Westin Bora Bora. “We stayed in overwater lagoonview villas at each property,” says David. “Both rooms featured views to the east, allowing us to have the most spectacular sunrises, followed by glorious shade in the afternoons.”