Dennis Quaid Elopes With Laura Savoie in Secret Wedding

Dennis Quaid and Laura Savoie are officially husband and wife after a surprise wedding! The actor, 66, and his bride, 27, exchanged vows in Santa Barbara at a seaside resort on June 2, the couple confirmed to PEOPLE Wednesday. “It was beautiful,” Quaid told the outlet.

The couple, who got engaged last October, initially planned for a Hawaii wedding in April followed by a reception for family and friends in Nashville but had to postpone their celebration due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The newlyweds decided to tie the knot anyways, however, marrying on June 2 with only their pastor as a witness.

“Just looking into her eyes, she was the most stunning bride,” Quaid said. The actor wore a Hugo Boss suit. Savoie wore a Chosen By One Day gown and carried a bouquet of roses and calla lilies designed by S.R. Hogue & Co. florist. The bride told PEOPLE she was moved by the pastor’s message “of what it really means to bring your lives together” and “to put another person before yourself.”

The Parent Trap actor and Savoie met at a business event before they began dating in May 2019. “It was love at first sight,” said Quaid, who has been married three times before — to P.J. Soles from 1978 to 1983, to Meg Ryan from 1991 to 2001 and Kimberly Quaid from 2004 to 2018. Savoie is a doctoral student, who previously was valedictorian at Pepperdine University and went on to get a master’s degree in accountancy at the University of Notre Dame.

“I just love who she is as a person,” said Quaid of his attraction to Savoie. “Her character, her intelligence, of course, her beauty. And her point of view of the world.” His new wife feels the same, saying she had “never met someone who is so in love with life.” She continued, “It’s like nothing can bring him down. Just getting to do life with someone who lives that way is inspiring for me. It changes my perspective, and it brings so much joy to every day.”

Quaid revealed the details of his engagement to Extra in October, saying it was “kind of spontaneous” and “very much a surprise” when the two were on the northernmost point of Oahu at Turtle Bay. “I had the ring in my pocket… It has been kind of a month-and-a-half plan… I wanted it to be private,” he said. Quaid added he proposed to his wife while she was trying to take their photo. “She was actually taking a selfie of us, and I put the ring in front and said, ‘Will you marry me?’” he recalled. “And then she fell down.”