Megan & Joseph || Stone Valley Meadows

The Proposal

of

Megan & Joseph

Joey and I grew up on opposite coasts from each other. I am from Los Angeles, California, and he is from a small town called Wilbraham, Massachusetts. My Mom is from Cincinnati, so I spent a lot of time as a kid flying to Cincinnati to visit the family I had, and in 2018 I decided I wanted to make a permanent move to Cincinnati. Luckily, I had a close friend from high school who also moved to Cincinnati to attend Xavier University, so on nights I wanted to go out, I would hit up ‘Cali Joe’ (I know, another Joe). Cali Joe went to introduce me to his group of friends, and one of them was Joey. Joey heard I had moved to Cincinnati recently and that I brought my dog and was looking for some hiking spots, so a few weeks later, we reconnected, and he asked me to hike with him to Red River Gorge. It was November by this point, and we lucked out and went on the most beautiful day with perfect 65-degree weather and not a cloud in sight. We wouldn’t go back to that place for a while, life just got busy, and we moved in together and got another dog; things were good! It was getting close to Joey’s 29th birthday when he said he wanted to return; we had meant to go for a while, so it felt like the perfect time! I reached out to our friends, and we all planned it. March 27, on Joey’s birthday, we were going for a hike! As we drove out with our group of friends, storms were rolling in, but none of us wanted to turn back; by the time we got there, it was muddy and gross and cold and wet, but we all decided to go for it – cautiously. It took longer than usual to hike to the top of Natural Bridge, and by the time we made it, we were muddy and soaking wet since it started to pour again. I climbed up before everyone else, and when we reached the top, thunder, and lightning were cracking in the distance; it was a beautiful and terrifying sight. I was taking it all in, and when I turned around, Joey was down on one knee, asking me to marry him in the middle of a thunderstorm. I Didn’t know that even though I thought I planned this trip for him, he intended it for me. Our friend’s girlfriend is a photographer, and she snuck her camera onto the hike without me noticing, and she was there to capture the whole thing for us; they even brought bottles of champagne!!

The Wedding of Megan & Joseph

We got married on Friday, August 26, 2022. It was the most beautiful day, with no clouds, perfect temperature, and a slight breeze.
I arrived at the venue on a bus that picked us up from the venue, I was in matching pajamas with all my girls, and we were ready for quite the day! Hair and makeup started quickly, and we all enjoyed the snacks and mimosas while being pampered. I had a first look with my Dad first and Joey after that, so I needed to be ready a bit earlier than my girls. I got my hair and makeup done and stepped into my dress to put it on, my Mom zipped me into it, and my sister helped with my hair and veil. My Mom is the superhero in this story; she planned the entire wedding; found the caterer and arranged all food for the reception and cocktail hour; handled all florals; found all decor, made sure the whole planning process for Joey, and I was as stress-free as possible, and I trusted her completely. I bring this up because I had no idea what to expect from flowers. I had never seen my bouquet! I had a conversation with my Mom where I described bold pops of color, no roses, no perfectly round and uniform bouquet; I wanted it WILD! So, I am dressed, my hair and makeup are done, my veil is on, and my Mom is ready to show me my bouquet. Hiding behind the couch was a box brought in at some point that morning without me noticing, and she pulled out the most beautiful vibrant WILD bouquet of my dreams!! I would not have been able to design it better myself, it was amazing, and on top of that, I realized there was a piece of my Moms wedding dress wrapped around it for me to hold on to; the woman literally thought of everything! My Mom mentioned she had something else for me, and I thought, “I am not supposed to cry this much before the wedding, now what could it possibly be!”… My Mom pulled out a small black box and began to tell me the story of the first ring my Dad ever bought for her and how she got it sized for me. She opened the ring box to reveal the most beautiful sapphire ring; my parents were born in September, so it’s their birthstone. The sapphire was in the middle, surrounded by beautiful baguette diamonds in a starburst shape on a yellow gold band. The ring was BEAUTIFUL, and of course, I cried; it was a wonderful moment for my Mom and me.
After finally being dressed and ‘jacked up,’ I was ready for my first looks, I hid behind the large beautiful red doors at the venue until my Dad was in place, and then I walked out and had help fixing my dress. The photographers and videographers set up the shot, and my Dad turned around and started crying the second he saw me; at this point, my makeup was holding up surprisingly well! My Dad and I hugged and talked for a few minutes, and I returned to my hiding spot inside the red doors while they set up the same shot with Joey. Again I was brought out and posed, and when we were ready, Joey turned around; the anticipation building before this moment made me feel like my heart wanted to burst out of my chest! Joey lost his words momentarily and began to cry; we embraced, cried, hugged, and laughed. Seeing Joey after being separated and running around all day was so good!
Joey and I went to the ceremony area and took as many pictures as possible of our bridal party. We wanted to do this beforehand to enjoy all the fantastic food, drink, and company at cocktail hour!
After the pictures were complete and guests began arriving, we hid until ceremony time. Once it was time, we lined up in our positions, and I watched from afar while the procession started. Joey made his way to the front, our Bridesmaids and Groomsmen followed, and then it was the ring bearer and flower girl. The Ring bearer was my older brother Josh (34) and our nephew Lucas (2). Josh led Lucas down the aisle with gummy worms as bribery; it was the cutest thing! Next was the flower girl, my Grandma Karen was our flower girl, and she was so cute; she tossed flowers left and right, “Some flowers for you, and some for you, and some for you over here!”.
Everyone then stood, and I heard my song; I walked with my parents down the aisle to the Jurassic Park theme song, played on the piano, locked eyes with Joey the entire time, and focused on him.
Our friend Joe officiated the ceremony (we call him Cali Joe; he is why Joey and I met). The ceremony was about 15 minutes, but it felt like 10 seconds to Joey and me. We sealed it with a kiss, and we were ready to party!!
After the ceremony, Joey and I took some family pictures, and then we proceeded into cocktail hour to mingle with our guests and enjoy the food, which was terrific). Our band had a piano set up for cocktail hour, so the venue had beautiful melodies. Joey and I went upstairs to the bridal suite to prepare for our ‘grand entrance.’ Our band announced our bridal party and then played our walkout song, ‘Sirius’ by The Alan Parsons Project (the Chicago Bulls walkout song, we all know it!). The song got our guests EXCITED, and it felt amazing to walk out to a screaming crowd cheering for us! Once we descended the staircase, we walked to the dance floor and enjoyed our first dance. We giggled the entire time and had a blast dancing together to the song Lovely Day by Bill Withers, Studio Rio version.
After our dance Joey and I was finally able to sit down and relax, our excellent caterers made sure we had one of every Hors D’oeuvres waiting for us, and they made sure to serve us salads and meals before everyone else. By the time Joeys and I finished eating, we had a chance to walk around and mingle with our guests, then we sat back down for speeches. My Dad, sister, and Joey’s brother all gave speeches, and they were all funny and sentimental and maybe a tad embarrassing for us, hahaha. Next, I danced with my Dad, and then Joey danced with his Mom. After speeches and dances, the band started, and wow, were they a blast from the start! Everyone was on the dance floor the entire time; it was all honestly blue. We were having such a blast! Joey and I were grabbed by our photographer to take some pictures at golden hour, we frolicked in a field and posed in the setting sun, and then it was back to partying! The entire night seemed to go by in a flash; I almost wished I could return and relive the night as a guest and enjoy it again! Joey and I had the best night; we were surrounded by loved ones who flew in from LITERALLY around the country; I wouldn’t have changed a thing, and I would do it all over again.

Megan’s

Bridal & Formal Experience

Bridal and Formal was the first Bridal boutique I had ever stepped foot in, and WOW, did it set the bar high!! I live in Cincinnati, and my then Fiancé is from Massachusetts, so our closest family members and friends flew out for a week for some wedding planning. At my appointment, I had my Mom, sister, and Grandma, who all flew in from California. I also had my best friend, who flew in from Seattle, and my now Mother-in-Law, who drove in from Massachusetts, so I felt a massive pressure to find my dress while they were all there! My consultant was Sally, who made me feel so comfortable; I told Sally I didn’t want strapless, didn’t want a ballgown or anything close to it, and I didn’t want lace. Sally suggested a few dresses for me to try on, and we weren’t quite finding the one. Sally dug deeper to find my style and clung to my words, “Different, wild, out of the box.” So, after trying on a few dresses from Sally and a few dresses my family chose for me, Sally told me she had a dress in mind. Sally pulled me into the dressing room and showed me THE DRESS! It was Sunday Bouquet by Watters, and the second I saw the lace and structure of the dress, I WAS INFATUATED! The lace pattern was something I had never seen before, but I was still hesitant to try the dress on; no way would I love myself in a strapless lace A-line, right? WRONG. I have always heard about ‘that moment.’ The moment you know it’s your dress, we’ve all seen the shows, and I cried watching other women having their moment on those shows, but I thought it might have been theatrics or that maybe my expectations were too high and I just wasn’t going have my moment. I put on the dress, and I had my moment. I giggled while crying because how could a dress make me cry!? I told Sally to ‘jack me up.’ Sally took me into a room where she put my hair into the prettiest bun in a matter of a few minutes; she put earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet on me. We picked a veil and added details to my hair; how she did all that in 5 minutes still baffles me. I told my family and friends to close their eyes (my sister secretly pulled out her phone and caught this entire moment on camera while she had her eyes closed). I walked into the room, stood on the pedestal, took it all in myself, then had my family open their eyes. We all knew right then, and there it was; we were all an emotional mess! I sat in the dress, walked in it, and held a bouquet; I did it all; there was no denying it was the one. I left the dress there that day; no way it could be one of the first dresses I tried on at the FIRST salon, right? Well, I proceeded with my other appointments, but they were a waste of time, nothing measured up to my Sunday Bouquet. I thought of the Watters dress the entire time and returned and bought it!!