Here to inspire you, it’s Real Weddings Wednesday! Today, we present Meghan & Will!
Wedding Date: August 18, 2019
Tell us a little about you and your beloved: Will and I met through a mutual friend on a recreational soccer league in San Francisco. Our friend, Jessica, had known Will and been good friends with him since high school. I met Jessica when I first moved to San Francisco, as we worked together at Brilliant Earth at the time. Jessica convinced me to join a recreational soccer league even though she hadn’t played the sport since she was a kid. She was more than delighted when she found out Will and I had a connection and he had asked me to go out on a date with him. Since Jessica was such a big part in our meeting, we actually asked her to be our officiant for our wedding.
Will proposed to me on June 23rd, 2018 in Santa Cruz at the Dream Inn. It was a special place for us, because it was the first getaway we ever took together while dating, and a place where we first realized we loved each other. When he proposed, Will casually sprung a last minute trip to Santa Cruz on me saying it would be nice to do a small getaway and get out of the city in the summer. We had been dating for over five years at this point, so I kept thinking he might be proposing, but he kept throwing me off; saying we didn’t have any plans and he didn’t make any reservations, that we would just be hanging out mostly. The day after we arrived, we grabbed breakfast, hung by the pool, and then Will mentioned we should head up to our hotel and have a drink on the balcony. When we got up there, we were having fun and playing music, when all of a sudden Will handed me a book and told me to read what was inside. He then went into the room while I read from the bookmarked page. Inside he had written everything he wanted to say because he knew he’d be nervous and didn’t want to forget anything. I now have that letter framed and on our bookshelf so I can always remember that special moment. When I looked up from reading the letter, he was down on one knee with the ring in hand. The ring was gorgeous, and he had purchased it entirely himself without me knowing or providing input. This was a big feat because at the time I was working at Brilliant Earth, where I did product development and vintage jewelry buying, so I was very knowledgeable about diamonds and jewelry. He set up a chat with my sister and two best friends that he called “The Fellowship of the Ring” to get their input on his decision and was able to work with a friend of mine at Brilliant Earth to set up a secret customer account to ensure I wouldn’t accidentally see the order. During the proposal, he also had discretely set up the video on his phone to record and put it in the corner of the balcony, so little did I know he had actually recorded the whole thing as well! It was the best moment. When we announced to our friends shortly after, Jessica and her husband Parag had Champagne sent up to our room so we could continue the celebration.
I thought our wedding planning would be really stressful honestly, and that Will wouldn’t want to be very involved, but he was actually very opinionated in the whole process and it made it really fun to plan together. We are both very organized people, so we had a Google document to keep track of everything we needed to accomplish in the planning. Our favorite thing to do together is travel and be outdoors, so we knew we wanted to get married somewhere with beautiful scenery. Our biggest decision was whether that scenery should be in the mountains or on a beach. When we thought back on our favorite travels together, they were all in National Parks or skiing in beautiful mountainous scenery so we quickly narrowed the search to the Tahoe/Truckee area. I can’t imagine having gotten married anywhere else. Our vendors were some of the nicest and most professional people and our venue was like something out of a dream. We had to select a lot of things over email or by phone, since we couldn’t always drive up, but we are both very easygoing people and knew it would all work out. We also trusted our vendors’ opinions when we were uncertain on how to proceed. They did an amazing job. We wanted our guests to have an experience, and being able to ride the ski lift up to our ceremony and reception kicked the wedding off in the best way possible.
What was the best part of your day? Saying our vows to each other that we had written ourselves as well as getting our photos taken at the golden hour before sunset. They are by far some of our favorite photos of that day.
What else would you like to share about your day? It was honestly perfect. Over a year later and we still talk about how amazing our wedding was and we will be talking about it for the rest of our lives. The weather was perfect. We had our family and friends there to support us, including my (Meghan’s) 90-year-old grandmother, who danced all night and was the last one at the party after the reception. Friends and family traveled from all over, both nationally and internationally, to be at our wedding and it meant so much to us. There were wildflowers in bloom down the entire mountainside. The music was amazing and kept everyone on the dance floor all night. During the golden hour, you would see people sporadically throughout the sloping mountainside getting pictures in the beautiful scenery. It couldn’t have been any better if we tried.
Photographer: The DeLauras
Videographer: Chair7 Films
Ceremony and Reception Site and Caterer: Northstar California Resort
Officiant: Our friend, Jessica Gupta
Wedding Planner: Venue-provided day-of coordinator, Paula Cymbal
Ceremony Musicians: Sierra Strings of Tahoe
DJ: DJ Brock & Steele Weddings
Florist: Art in Bloom
Bridal Gown: BoLee Bridal Couture
Gown Alterations: Tailor Maid SF
Hair and Makeup: Love Is In the Hair
Groom’s Suit: Couture Designer European Clothing
Groomsmen Attire: Men’s Wearhouse
Cake: Delicious Designs
Invitations: Greenvelope
Signage: Etsy
Honeymoon Location: Delayed due to COVID-19 but planning for Tanzania and Zanzibar in 2021
First Dance Song: “Summertime Magic” by Ife Kehinde
Any advice you’d give to couples planning their wedding right now? It all comes together. Don’t feel that you need to fit a certain expectation of what your day should look like. Have faith in your vendors, and make sure to enjoy the planning part, as it is one of the first big things you and your spouse will plan together in a lifetime of decisions.
Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance? We would have ordered more desserts! They were gone in an instant!
Photos courtesy of and copyright The DeLauras, used with permission.
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