S11E4: A Military Wedding Planned from 4,500 Miles Away
We often think of destination weddings as being at a vacation destination.
But, when you're in the military, you're often planning the opposite way. That's what Meg and Will did. While stationed in Hawai'i, they planned a wedding in Megan's hometown in Northern Virginia.
That meant relying on family members and lots of travel for Meg while Will was deployed.
Tune in to hear how they managed the planning process and had a beautiful wedding, steeped in military traditions!
with Meg Graham
This week on The Wedding Dish podcast, we’re dishing about…
what it was like planning a wedding in your “hometown” while living in Hawai’i
military traditions
a broken bustle with a surprising fix
the best decisions Meg and Will made about their wedding day
how life has changed since their wedding
... and more!
Meg and Will
How did you two meet?
We met in college! We both attended the University of Cincinnati for Stage Management at the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). He's a year older than me, so we actually "met" for the first time at my interview in my senior year of high school/his freshman year. I was waiting to go into my interview and he rushed by, did a double take, and came back- the rest of it went like this:
Will: Are you interviewing for Stage Management?
Meg: *SO NERVOUS* Yup.
Will: *reaches out his hand* Will Graham, freshman stage manager" He then proceeded to AGGRESSIVELY shake my hand and ran back to this show duties.
What was the first thing you noticed about your partner?
His confidence and his ginger hair
Tell us about the proposal!
LOL okay. So we have these days called "Will (or Meghan) Days" where one of us plans the whole day and the other person gets to go along with it. So, on October 30, 2021, Will told me we were having a Will Day. He said we were going to a brewery and then to Great Falls, followed by dinner at our favorite restaurant. A very important piece of information here is I am from NoVa. Will is not. So I have been to Great Falls before. He has not.
So I get dressed and put on a pair of leggings and a cute sweatshirt. Will immediately has a problem with this- he says "You're wearing THAT?" (rude.). I was like, "Uh yeah? It's Great Falls? What do you mean?". He kept going on about how I was underdressed and needed to change because we were going to Ahso (restaurant) after and weren't coming back to the house between stops. So, I met him halfway, and after telling him he looked like an overdressed a**hole, I packed a bag of nicer clothes.
Little did I know, he was freaking out texting my mom and sister about my outfit and they told him to bully me into changing. But alas, my stubbornness got the better of me. While we were walking around Great Falls he told me to sit on a wall and face the falls so he could take a picture of me. Well, I turned around and BOOM there he was on one knee. And, there I am in leggings and a sweatshirt.
Wedding Details
Wedding date: November 10, 2023
Wedding venue and location: Historic Rosemont Manor in Berryville, VA
Approx. number of guests who attended your wedding: 165
What were your top 5 favorite moments from your wedding?
No particular order:
The huge group photo of all the guests in the reception hall
Getting ready with my wedding party
Photos and video at the springs (these were some of my favorites)
Changing into my sneakers at cocktail hour
What, if anything, would you change about the wedding planning process?
NOT BEING SO DAMN FAR AWAY.
What, if anything, would you change about your wedding day?
I wish we kept better track of the bouquets so my bridesmaids had them in more photos.
Did you participate in any family, cultural, or religious traditions into your wedding?
We did a ring warming during the ceremony
What was the planning process like? Did you run into any obstacles? How did you overcome them?
We had a long engagement so we had time on our side! Since we were coming out of the covid wedding push back we knew we had to book vendors and venues FAST even if we were 2 years out. Shortly after our engagement, Will and I moved to Hawaii so I involved my mom (who was in VA where the wedding was happening) in EVERYTHING. She was in just about every zoom meeting, interview, phone call, etc. She was also on most of my emails with vendors and was a massive part of planning the entire thing. I truly couldn't have done it without her. This also required a lot of transparency with my vendors when planning communication. The 9am HST/3pm EST meeting time became a part of my everyday schedule.
What was the most important decision you made about your wedding?
How military-heavy did we want to be. This impacted SO much throughout the day like:
What did Will, the groomsmen, and my dad wear?
Will the aforementioned be changing after the cocktail hour?
Do we do a mini Veterans day/Marine Corps bday toast?
Do we do a sword arch?
What is your favorite thing about your significant other?
He always keeps me laughing. He's the funniest person I know (besides myself of course).
Married Life
What’s the best thing that’s happened in your lives since getting married?
Getting to be guests at weddings instead of hosting lol
What is the most surprising difference between being married vs dating and/or living together?
We feel like we started a new chapter after our wedding. We officially became a package deal and that's something we honor every day in our lives- we are a team in everything we do.
Have something else to share? A funny story? Something crazy that happened?
At the reception, my brother-in-law accidentally broke my dress!!! He accidentally stepped on the back of my dress while I was walking by and snapped the bustle clasp off my dress. Sam (groomsman) took the rank off Will's shoulder and he and my sister shoved it through like a million layers of fabric to create a makeshift bustle clasp. See photo.
Photo credit: Photos from the Harty, @photosfromhart
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