Miss Elizabeth Rainey Esfahani Weds Mr. Robert Haven Willey III

Miss Elizabeth Rainey Esfahani and Mr. Robert Haven Willey III were united in marriage on Saturday, July 8, 2017 at five o’clock in the afternoon in the garden of the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California. The wedding was officiated by Carey Willey Sims, sister of the groom and Collegiate Minister at Mary Washington University. Following the ceremony, the parents of the bride hosted a dinner reception in the wine cellar and garden of the San Ysidro Ranch. On the eve of the wedding, the groom’s parents hosted a dinner at a private home in Santa Barbara.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Matt Ghods Esfahani of Houston. She is the granddaughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Henry Frederick Rainey (Dorothy Green) of Atlanta, Georgia and the late Mr.and Mrs.Fazollah Ghods Esfahani of Tehran, Iran. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Haven Willey, Jr. of Alexandria, Virginia. He is the grandson of the late Virginia State Senator and Mrs. William Vincent Rawlings of Capron, Virginia and the late Mr. and Mrs. Robert Haven Willey (Maxine Mitchell) of Arlington, Virginia and San Diego, California.

Presented in marriage by her parents and escorted by her father, the bride wore a gown designed by Zuhair Murad. Serving the bride as her Matron of Honor was her sister, Sarah E. Tringhese of Houston. Her three nieces were flower girls: Ella Rainey Tringhese, Catherine Gwinn Tringhese and Ellen Ida Rainey Esfahani.

The bride is a graduate of the St. John’s School in Houston and of Georgetown University. She received an MA in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin and an MA from the John’s Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies. She was a business writer for Time, Inc. and later the Press Secretary to the Financial Services Committee of the US Congress. She is currently the Director of Development for Matt Camron, Inc. in Houston.

The groom is a graduate of the St. Andrew’s School in Middleton, Delaware. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Columbia University, New York and also graduated from the French Culinary Institure, New York. He worked as a food and travel writer for publications such as Esquire, Food and Wine, and Details magazines as well as the New York Times. He is currently the owner of the Galerie Novella, a twentieth century design gallery in Houston.

Following a honeymoon to Provence and Corsica, the couple will reside in Houston.