This week’s couple is very dear to me. Megan and Joshua were married last August in the Indianapolis area and I was blessed to be Megan’s matron of honor. I met Megan when I was fourteen and her and her husband are two of the greatest people I know. You may have seen either of them featured here or here on my blog. Their wedding was a beautiful red, black and white affair so enjoy some of their thoughts and photographs!
1. Now that it has been over 6 months since your wedding day, what do you remember most about the day? What I remember the most is realizing that we had everyone that we loved and cared about in one room, supporting us — and it was overwhelming. It’s such a unique situation, and it will never happen again. Realizing that was a humbling experience, and we felt so incredibly blessed.
2. What was the vision for your wedding day before you started planning? My favorite color is actually blue, but I decided that I wanted something classic and timeless — even though a rose can be cliche, I wanted a red wedding with red roses. I love fresh flowers, so I was hoping to have a lot of bouquets and arrangements everywhere. I wanted to really create an atmosphere and a whole environment that revolved around this theme of classic, romantic red.
3. How did that vision change by the time you were finished with the planning? Well, fresh flowers are expensive, and turns out roses are the most expensive! Hah. I ended up using many different types of silk flowers, and many different shades of red. I had to give up a lot of the “atmosphere” and “environment” ideas, but I found that it is the people that create these things — I didn’t need a bunch of decorations, my guests made the environment wonderful and warm.
4. What difficulties did you face while planning a wedding that was out of town? Oye. Planning out of town requires a lot of internet searching, and a lot of networking. Certain resources aren’t online, so I had to do some trips over to Indianapolis to research. However, when people find out I was planning a wedding, they were always excited and willing to help.
5. What was your least favorite part of wedding planning? Budgeting! Yuck. But you gotta, and in the end it is worth it.
6. What was your favorite part of wedding planning? I have a lot of favorite parts, but I’ll list just three: One, my bridesmaids. I could not have asked for a better group of girls to stand with me — I felt so loved and supported. They kept me smiling and relaxed.
Two, the fact that all of our siblings were in the wedding party. Joshua and I are both extremely close with our siblings, and his sister stood with me, while my brothers and his brother stood with him. I know this doesn’t happen with many weddings, and I am so grateful that we have families that get along so well with one another.
Three, my music man, Jim Cerone. He was our entertainer at the reception, and we were over-the-top pleased with him. We’ve gotten countless compliments about him. Jim was a true host, classy and fun.
7. If you could go back in time – what would “married Megan” tell “engaged Megan” before the wedding planning started? I am a designer and I, by nature, care about all the details — but I think sometimes the bigger picture can be forgotten inside all those tiny details. All I mean is that I would reassure myself that a few of those small things can be forfeited, in order to better enjoy the moment. Married Megan would say, “Engaged Megan, don’t sweat the small stuff: less is more. At the end of the night, all that matters is that you are surrounded by family and loved ones — the most important of those being your husband.”
8. How did Josh (the groom) fit into the wedding planning process? Joshua and I actually designed our wedding invitations together!
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY JANIE ALANNA.
