New York Jets' Nick Bawden Is Married! Inside the ‘Dream Come True' Wedding at a California Winery (Exclusive)

“The food was incredible and everyone danced their faces off," the couple tells PEOPLE of their July 7 wedding

Football star Nick Bawden is married!

The running back for the New York Jets, 27, and his girlfriend, Alexis Elizabeth, exchanged vows during an intimate ceremony at the Thomas Fogerty Winery in Woodside, California earlier this month.

“It was an absolute dream come true,” the couple tells PEOPLE of the affair. “The food was incredible, [our] wedding planner killed it, and everyone danced their faces off. It was the best wedding [we’ve] ever been to.”

The pair, who are parents to daughter Skylar, originally met through mutual friends at the WM Phoenix Golf open in Scottsdale, Arizona, and were engaged by July 1, 2022. "It was her confidence and heart,” Bawden says of what drew Elizabeth to him. “She knows who she is and loves with every part of her being."

For her part, Elizabeth says she loves Bawden's sense of drive. “He competes with the top 1% of athletes in the world and still blows them all out of the water with his determination and dedication,” she says.

A week after the event, the new bride shared several snaps of the ceremony on Instagram. "And let me tell you I got that ring," she joked. In another post, she also added that she was changing her social media handle now that she was married.

"RIP thecaliforniagirll, hello Mrs. Bawden," she wrote.

The bride told PEOPLE that the venue was the perfect place for their friends and family to gather, since they who both hail from the nearby coastal cities of Los Gatos and Danville, respectively. She adds that the location’s stunning views also complimented their wedding colors of whites and neutrals, as well as their decor of white roses and lilies. "It was perfect,” she says of how everything came together. "A dream come true."

The ceremony was just as beautiful. As Bawden waited for Elizabeth at the altar, guests listened to the song “Best Part” by Daniel Caesar. As she walked down the aisle, in a wedding gown designed by Justin Alexander that had a low-cut back, the song “I Get to Love You” by Ruelle played.

Related: All the Celebrity Weddings of 2023

The couple then recited special handwritten vows, saying that many of the wedding party shed tears "with how beautiful it was."

After the ceremony, the newlywed had their first dance to "Beyond," by Leon Bridges, then sat down to dinner that included a carving station, and butternut squash ravioli. "The food knocked everyone's socks off," they told PEOPLE.

Instead of a traditional wedding cake, they opted for mini strawberry shortcakes that wound up a big hit with the guests as there were barely any left by the end of the night.

Related: Celebrities Who Had Secret Weddings

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The three-day affair, which initially kicked off with a taco party, culminated with a planned double honeymoon with fellow Jets teammate Alijah Vera-Tucker and his wife Jesse, to either Turks and Caicos or Bora Bora.

"It was a great big party with all our closest friends,” they said of the magical weekend. “We wanted it to be a movie. And it was.”

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