I loved everything about John & Megan’s wedding. Ascetically, this wedding was perfect – gorgeous venues, beautiful flowers, awesome wedding party – just to name a few. But, what really set this wedding ‘over the top’ is the love that John and Megan have for each other. At the time of their wedding they had been together 7+ years with 3 of those being long distance. It was easy to see how much they care for each other. 

I proudly present to you John & Megan’s features film.
Enjoy! Nick

Below, you will find comments from both John & Megan about their wedding day.

Tell us about your wedding day.
Megan: Our wedding day was the perfect culmination of seven years of talking about and 15 months of planning our wedding day as well as the perfect beginning to our married life together. We had heard frequently “you will be sad when it’s all over”, and although I miss the anticipation and planning, our day was more perfect than we could have imagined, and we look back on it with so much happiness and joy.

What was your most memorable moment of the day?
Megan: There were so many special moments during the day that I often replay through my mind, so it’s hard to pick just one! After the ceremony, John and I got into a getaway car and drove around downtown for a few minutes. The whole day up until that moment had been scheduled down to the minute and that was the first time we were alone, could take a deep breath and say to each other “we are actually married!” My sister-in-law told me to have a moment for just the two of us, and I am so happy we were able to spend time together—just the two of us—during the day. Having that first moment alone was something I’ll always remember.

John: I’ll never forget that moment that the cathedral doors opened. It seemed as though I had waited forever, patiently watching all the groomsmen and bridesmaids walk down the aisle. As soon as the doors started opening, I remember feeling a gush of adrenaline and my heart raced. It was the first time I had seen Megan since the rehearsal dinner. She looked so amazingly beautiful that I quickly forgot how nervous I had become. As she walked down the aisle, I could tell that she was full of emotion, and all of a sudden, that made me fill up with emotion. The music playing, all the guests standing—it was a powerful scene.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?
Megan: By far the biggest challenge we had to overcome was planning from a distance. It was important to us to get married in the place we consider home, so it wasn’t really an option to do it any other way. It helped to be able to have a “long” engagement so that we had plenty of time to plan like we wanted and not feel rushed. We were lucky to have vendors who were accommodating and communicated well with us throughout the whole process. Thank goodness for email, Facetime, cheap Southwest flights, and moms willing to stand in for me at appointments! Although it may have been more difficult to plan at times, everything still turned out exactly like we wanted, so planning from a distance can be done!

What was most important to you when you were wedding planning?
Megan: Although I would not call myself a “DIY bride”, I thought it would be fun to do as many little details on our own so that we could have our own little personal touch in many parts of the wedding. Since I knew this was my only chance to plan my wedding, I wanted to do as much on my own, even if it did end up being a little more work for us. For example, we created our own guestbook on Shutterfly, hand-tied ribbon wands for our getaway and made our own programs. Even though we may have been over our heads in DIY projects at times, I am happy we had our own personal touch on many parts of the wedding. Some of my favorite memories from wedding planning were tying pink ribbons and bells until our fingertips were numb and outstaying our welcome at Kinko’s for hours many days in a row.

Tell us about any meaning detail/special moment(s) during your ceremony.
Megan: I absolutely loved my bouquet . All of the pictures that I showed my florist came together more perfectly than I could have imagined. Although I loved the colors and the flowers she picked, my favorite part was that she incorporated my dad’s rosary in it. Because he wasn’t there, it was so special to have a part of him with me as I walked down the aisle. Another special object I carried with my bouquet was a handkerchief lent to me by John’s grandmother. John’s great-great-grandmother carried it in her wedding and the women in their families have carried it on their wedding days ever since. I was so touched that she let me borrow it, and it was a special way to honor John’s family in the ceremony as well.

John: There were so many special moments during our wedding. One of the most meaningful was having Megan’s brothers walk her down the aisle. I know that having them there to support her was very meaningful for Megan, but it was also very powerful to have them there, passing Megan to me. It was also very special to have all of our closest friends with us on the altar as we said our vows. Megan and I both felt so much love and support from all our friends—knowing that they were there backing us helped us all of along the path to marriage and will continue to help us throughout.

Tell us about meaning detail(s) during your reception.
Megan: During the reception, John and his fraternity brothers serenaded me with their serenade song, “Beta Sweetheart”, the same song that the 18-year old freshmen fraternity boys would sing to the sorority girls at the beginning of each school year. When John learned that song many years ago, he told me that it was a tradition for the fraternity brothers to sing it at weddings to the new bride. Since then, I anxiously awaited the day when it would be OUR wedding day and I would get my own serenade of “Beta Sweetheart”.  Finally getting my own serenade from John and his pledge brothers really was a dream come true.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress.
Megan: It was important to have my family and best friend with me while shopping, so I knew I wanted to shop in Wichita for my dress. I had an idea in my mind of what I thought I wanted to wear, but I was definitely open-minded and was willing to (and did!) try on dresses that were suggested even though I wasn’t interested. There were dresses I liked, but none that were the one. I was starting to get frustrated until I went to the restroom in a different part of the store and saw a sample gown on a mannequin. It was exactly what I had imagined, and I asked to try it on. When I didn’t want to take it off, I knew it was the one!

What advice do you have for couples currently planning a wedding?
Megan: I loved the entire process of wedding planning, and wouldn’t have done anything different. With that being said, thinking back on the hours I spent thinking about the size of the font on the save the dates and other now-seemingly meaningless details, I wish I would have remembered to sometimes put things into perspective. The color of the tablecloths and the number of tiers on the cake didn’t change the fact that when it was all over we were husband and wife. And at the end of the day, that’s what made our day the best day ever.

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you most looking forward to about married life? Megan: Since we’ve been married, we have enjoyed being able to relax and spend time together without the stress of an approaching wedding. Right now we love cooking together and exploring the fun sites and restaurants in San Antonio. We look forward to starting a family in the future, but for the time being we are enjoying our family as just the two of us.

John: After being married for six months, Megan and I already feel like we know each other at a completely different level, despite dating for over 7 years. Now that we’ve had time to settle down from all the wedding hoopla, Megan and I have spent a lot of time discussing one anthers goals, admirations and desires. I’d imaging that our near future involves continuing to grow even closer to one another as well Megan continuing to work as a speech pathologist and me working towards graduating medical school. I’m most looking forward spending my life with Megan and accomplishing all of our dreams together.