Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert are closing out this weekend as husband and wife. According to PEOPLE, the couple tied the knot in Monterey County, California, with a small crew of guests totaling a little over 100.
“We’re in a redwood forest, but we got married right in front of this mother tree that’s surrounded by all these smaller trees,” Erbert told PEOPLE. “They drop all the seeds, and it plants kind of like an army of children to protect the mother. The symbolism of it was beautiful. We’re here, planting our seeds to grow our family.”
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Erbert had some great help planning the event, with Simply Troy Lifestyle+Events getting the nod. The festivities started on Thursday, with a welcome party for the guests at a “cliffside estate” in Carmel. “It’s one of the most breathtaking places,” Hough says. “It’s like a fairytale.”
Friday the rehearsal for the main event, with family and wedding party members coming together for a “big love fest.” Hough’s brother-in-law was the officiant, with the couple giving both a personal set of vows and the more traditional set. The couple also had a special version of Richard Walters’ “Unconditional,” rewrote and recorded specially for Hough and Erbert.
“When we were thinking about location we asked ourselves, ‘What’s important to us?’” Hough told the outlet. “Nature was the first thing. We want to be around trees and plants and Northern California kind of spoke out to us. We just want people to experience this place that we love, this nature, but also, it just feels incredibly romantic.”
The newlyweds were engaged in June 2022 and even had a special dance together on Dancing With the Stars following the engagement. It is fitting that the couple would use the show to celebrate their engagement a bit. Hough met Erbert during the series’ tours and she was a dancer during some of the earlier seasons. Still, the couple kept their big moment low-key.
“It’s so beautiful, but I’ll say this. I think everybody’s expecting us to do a performance and a dance whole thing,” Hough told the outlet. “But that’s the thing, if we perform, we go on stage, we dance, we do things. So for us, it feels more special for us to not perform. To be on the floor with each other, to listen to music, and just be in the moment.” The couple’s first dance was to “Fall Into Me” by Forrest Blakk, described as a “pure magic moment” by the couple.
