San Diego couple celebrate at Zaca Mesa Winery
Newlyweds Annie Yan and Kevin Yim spend time together at Zaca Mesa Winery & Vineyard. They won the winery’s “I Do, Redo” contest.
Annie Yan and Kevin Yim, who met as freshmen at UCSB and now live in San Diego, are the winners of the “I Do, Redo” contest sponsored by Zaca Mesa Winery & Vineyard for couples whose wedding plans went awry because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The happy newlyweds celebrated with four friends in gala style on Oct. 7 with a dinner at the winery followed by a two-night stay for the couple at
The Winston hotel in Solvang.
“The I Do Redo experience was great because we were able to see our close friends and have a mini-celebration at one of our favorite wineries. It was a little preview of what’s to come when we have our full ceremony with our friends and family in the future. We are super thankful to Zaca Mesa for providing us this opportunity and great time!” said Ms. Yan, the court operations clerk at San Diego Superior Court. Her husband is the technical account manager at Yardi.
In the letter they submitted explaining their COVID-19 wedding story, along with a photo from their pandemic-era wedding, the couple wrote that they planned to be married Aug. 1 in Santa Barbara.
“When the pandemic first began in March, we weren’t too concerned about our wedding date. However, as the summer crept up, we started to realize that maybe our original plan for Aug. 1 was not going to be feasible. After a few tearful days and nights and conversations with our wedding planner, we decided, for the safety of our family, friends and vendors, to reschedule our wedding for 2021.
“Although we would have to wait to go forward with our original plans, we still wanted to officially get married in 2020. So on Aug. 7, we headed to the Santa Barbara courthouse with our best friend as our witness and tied the knot. It was a beautifully intimate and personal experience that we are so glad to have.
“After the civil ceremony, we headed to the Rose Garden at the Mission to have a socially distant picnic celebration with some close friends. It was so great to be able to see their faces after such a long time of quarantining and to be able to celebrate something.
“Unfortunately, our families were not able to be there because of the court’s limit of just one witness and travel restrictions. However, we are still looking forward to having a big celebration with all our loved ones once the pandemic is over. While we are disappointed we weren’t able to have our original wedding on Aug. 1, we are so grateful to have been able to get married. And on the bright side, we get two weddings now!
“We hope to be able to have this ‘I Do, Redo’ celebration at Zaca Mesa. The Zaca Mesa Syrah is our favorite go-to wine, and we love sharing bottles of it with our friends! Of course, the other wines are delicious as well, but we are never without a bottle of the Syrah in our home.”
The couple revealed that they first met at UCSB’s freshman orientation when Annie was walking with her friends to a presentation, and they ran into Kevin, who was walking to the same presentation.
They made their introductions and decided to all walk to the presentation together. After spending the rest of the evening together exploring the college town, the two parted ways, thinking they’d probably never meet again.
However, as Annie was moving into her dorm room on move-in day, Kevin walked by, and the two recognized each other from orientation.
They happened to be living just two doors apart on the same floor!
Kevin and Annie quickly became friends again and shared a lot of the same classes that year, so they were seeing a lot of each other (whether they wanted to or not).
It wasn’t until the very end of the school year that they realized during the same weekend, that they had feelings for each other. Kevin made the first move, and the two started dating.
Lacey Fussel, spokesperson for the winery, said that Zaca Mesa received “many wonderful submission letters, and it was a very difficult decision” to choose the winners.
As consolation prizes, however, each couple who entered the contest received a bottle of wine with an attached card in each package plus a handwritten note that read:
“Thank you so much for entering our ‘I Do, Redo’ contest! To keep the love going, we want to invite you and four guests to our winery for a special wine tasting in our brand-new View Room and Club Lounge & Terrace.
“Your wine tasting will include:
— A flight of our Estate wines for each guest.
— A COVID-19 safe tour of our winery.
— 15% off any wine purchases made on the day of your visit.
— A special Zaca Mesa gift for the newlyweds.
— A discounted stay at the Vinland Hotel & Lounge in Solvang.
“While we will not have a photographer on site, you and your guests are welcome to dress in wedding attire and take your own photos amidst Zaca Mesa’s century-old oaks, vineyards and rustic barn.”
email: mmcmahon@newspress.com
