Welcome to our little Hawaiian Wedding!

Sara Yavari &
Rahi Tajzadeh
are getting married
in Oahu, Hawaii
June 27, 2026

We want to take this opportunity to thank our guests that are making the trip to join us for this incredible occasion! Sara and I have waited a lifetime to find one another, but we spent that lifetime in bliss thanks to each of you!

Meet Sara & Rahi

Meet Sara Yavari and Rahi Tajzadeh

One is conquering artificial intelligence and medical imaging from the ground up. The other has spent his career building businesses, leading teams, teaching the next generation, and asking really good questions for a living. Together, they are almost certainly the most overqualified couple you know, and also two of the happiest.

They met over WhatsApp three and a half years ago, fell in love across 500 miles, and never looked back. He flew to Chicago 25 times to prove it. She moved to Memphis to make it official.

This is their wedding website. Grab a drink and stay a while…let’s start with a few photos of the lovely bride, the handsome groom, and their incredible families!

The Chance Meeting

It started with a WhatsApp message.

No candlelit dinner. No chance encounter at a coffee shop. Just a notification, a name they didn’t know yet, and a sister who clearly knew exactly what she was doing.

Sara had just made the bold leap from Iran to Chicago to pursue her PhD in AI and Medical Imaging; because apparently conquering one impossibly demanding field wasn’t enough. Her sister, playing matchmaker with the confidence of someone who has never once been wrong, connected her with Rahi, a certified management consultant, educator, entrepreneur, and as Sara would soon discover, someone who could actually keep up with her.

They started talking over WhatsApp. Then they couldn’t stop.

She was brilliant, funny, kind, patient, and relentlessly positive. He was sharp, driven, warm, and had just enough charm to make her laugh across a 500-mile distance. By the time they met in person, they both already knew something rare was happening. Three and a half years, countless late-night conversations, and 25+ trips from Toronto to Chicago later they knew that they were right for one another.

He started his own PhD journey in Memphis. She finished hers. And now they’re building a life in the same city, in the same home, for the first time ever.

Some love stories need a grand gesture. Theirs just needed one very smart sister and a good Wi-Fi connection.

The Engagement

Sara thought she had Rahi all figured out.

After three years together, she was confident about one thing: he could not surprise her. So when her friend Debbie and her sister Soodabeh whisked her away for a girls’ day out in Chicago’s Gold Coast on December 16, 2025, Sara was relaxed. Happy. Completely unsuspecting. The story was that they were celebrating her eventual engagement. Someday. Whenever Rahi got around to it.

They settled into Restoration Hardware, ordered coffee and tea, and were just beginning to enjoy a perfectly ordinary afternoon when a staff member approached the table carrying something that was decidedly not a scone.

It was a Sitar. A beautiful Persian Sitar, the instrument Sara had loved and played back in Iran, and had not held in years. With it, a greeting card.

The table went quiet. Sara’s hands were shaking before she even opened it.

Rahi had written something sweet inside (that part stays between them), but the last line read simply: “Turn around.”

And there he was. The man who was supposed to be in Canada, who she was certain could never pull something like this off, was on one knee behind her chair, holding a bouquet of roses so large it was almost unreasonable, and a ring.

The entire restaurant erupted in applause.

She said yes. Obviously.

Turns out, she didn’t have him figured out at all.

The Wedding

Small Ceremony. Big Love. Hawaii.

We could have had a big wedding. We thought about it. Then we looked at each other, looked at a photo of Waikiki Beach at sunset, and said — that’s it!

On June 27, 2026, at 6:00 PM, on the sands of Magic Island, Oahu, Hawaii, Rahi and Sara will officially become husband and wife. The ceremony will be intimate, heartfelt, and beautifully short. We will gather at 6 and spend up to 90 minutes for a quaint ceremony and lots of photos! We know you came a long way, but we promise it’s worth every minute.

About 32 of our friends and family will be there, flying in from across the world; a small but mighty crowd that represents every chapter of our story.

After the ceremony, we’ll head to Empire Steakhouse in Oahu for dinner and dancing. Expect great food, better company, and at least one person on the dance floor who is trying way too hard. (It might be Rahi)

If you’re joining us in Hawaii, we cannot wait to celebrate with you. If you’re following along from home, we’ll be thinking of you as the sun sets over the Pacific, grateful for every single person who’s been part of our journey.

The Dinner

From 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. it will be our pleasure to host you at the lovely Empire Steakhouse in Oahu, Hawaii. We will be in the Mable Room -a private dining experience set up just for us!

Wedding Registry

The Gift of a Fresh Start

Here’s the honest truth: we are two PhD students who have spent the last several years accumulating books, laptops, and very little else. We are rich in knowledge and somewhat short on kitchen supplies.

As we finally move into our shared home together for the first time, many of you have generously asked how you can help us get started. We are deeply touched — and we took the hint.

We kept our registry intentional and simple. No fluff, no filler — just the things that will genuinely help us build our home and celebrate this new chapter together. Because we already have the most important thing: each other. (We know, we know. Bear with us.)

A few things to keep in mind:

We have a small home, so we’ve been very selective — every item on this list is something we’ll actually use.
If you’d prefer to give a monetary gift to help with our honeymoon or home, we gratefully welcome that too.
Your presence (in Hawaii or in spirit) is already the greatest gift you could give us!