Olin, a Woodland native, met SoCal girl Megan while they were undergrads at UC Davis. “He was the student director of the California Aggie [Marching] Band-uh! at the time and both of my roommates were members,” she remembers of their meeting. “He just started showing up and hanging out at our place a lot.”
His persistent presence must have finally paid off, as the two soon became college sweethearts. Fast-forward to summer 2015 and the couple went for a ride on the Davis Bike Loop. “I thought he was helping me cross-train for the CIM (California International Marathon), which I was running in December,” she remembers. “The loop goes around the park where we had our first date, and when we got there he asked to pull over.” Though at first she thought he may not be feeling well, the sparks began to fly when he said, “Do you remember this park?” Megan shares. “I pretty much knew what was happening.” After saying he wanted to spend his life with her, Olin whipped the ring out of his bike bag and the rest is history.
When planning their wedding, the newly engaged duo knew they wanted to keep the event low key and intimate. “The venue helped keep the vibe relaxed,” says the bride.
As a self-proclaimed “overly organized” person, Megan used a Google Docs spreadsheet to track everything, including her to-dos, budget, etc. “My favorite moment of planning was obviously getting my dress,” she says. “His was taste testing the donuts for the reception.” Overall, she recalls the process of planning so easy that she soon became stressed about how unstressed she felt.
Keeping their ceremony short and sweet, the pair walked down the aisle to an instrumental version of “With or Without You” by U2, something the bride was “stoked” her groom agreed to. “Our grandmas were the flower girls, which everyone really enjoyed,” she adds. “When we asked them they replied, ‘I’ve never been a flower girl before!’”
A mutual friend, Georgia, performed the ceremony. “She spoke beautifully about our relationship, including details only a friend could know,” says Megan. “We didn’t want to do any of the side ceremonies, like candles or sand. It was all about us—our past, present and future promises to each other.”
On to the big party, the reception was filled with amazing Mexican food, music and tons of fun. “We had exactly the people we wanted there, so there were no awkward moments,” says Megan. “It was like a big hang with our favorite people. Exactly what we wanted!”
Overall, the couple sums up the entire day as a perfect blur of happiness and love. “My goal was to throw Olin the wedding he never knew he wanted, and I definitely succeeded,” says the bride. “We were surrounded by the people we love most, celebrating our relationship so far and all that’s left to come…and we looked damn good too!”
— Darren Elms
