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Derek Hough, 38, and Hayley Erbert, 28, are officially married! The gorgeous couple wed in Monterey County, California, on August 26, and revealed their first wedding photo to PEOPLE. They shared the wedding photo on their Instagram pages as well. Derek and Hayley tied the knot in front of 106 guests.
“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,” Hayley told the outlet. “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.”
During their ceremony, Derek and Hayley exchanged personal and traditional vows. Hayley wore a custom wedding gown designed by Georgina Chapman from Marchesa. She walked down the aisle to a rendition of Richard Walters’ “Unconditional” that the singer rewrote and recorded for the couple. The DWTS judge wore a Tom Ford suit for the ceremony.
The couple held their wedding reception in a 100-year-old barn. Famous names on the guest list included Jenna Johnson, Shawn Johnson, Nina Dobrev, Shaun White, Alfonso Ribeiro, Freida Pinto, Amy Purdy, Robert and Kym Hejavec, and, of course, Julianne Hough.
Derek and Hayley are both very accomplished dancers who met when Hayley joined Derek and Julianne’s MOVE Live Tour in 2014. Their paths then crossed again when Hayley was hired as a member of the DWTS season 21 troupe, which ended up being another winning season for Derek, who was partnered with Bindi Irwin. The couple began dating at some point after that but did not go public with their relationship until 2017.
The couple got engaged after 7 years of dating in June 2022. “It’s only the beginning…the beginning of forever,” Derek captioned a beautiful photo of the proposal.
HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with the man who designed and brought the proposal to life, Troy Williams of Simply Troy Lifestyle + Events, to learn all the behind-the-scenes details of the special moment. “I am very proud of how it turned out, and I adore them and love them very much. This happened in their living room,” he gushed.
The first secret Troy spilled was that while the happy couple announced the news on June 2, Derek actually got down on one knee on May 23! He then revealed where it all happened. “He told me that he wanted candles and there were 250 candles. To be able to do that and surprise her, in their own living room, was really touching,” Troy noted.
Derek popped the question almost as soon as they walked in, according to Troy. He was there to witness the sweet moment, seen above, which was captured by New York City-based photographer, Anée Atelier. Derek also asked Hayley to be his wife with a sparkling oval diamond by Canadian jeweler, Paris Jewelers.
