There are some wedding videos that are just so emotional, so over-the-top or so absolutely stunning, we feel they deserve a bigger accolade on our site, like the title of Love Story of the Week! There's an old saying that if it rains on your wedding day, you'll have a happy marriage…well, Maeghann and Ryan should have a pretty wonderful life together, in that case!
Watch the video by Bonnie Newman Creative and then scroll on for an inside look at Maeghann and Ryan’s planning process, tips and vendors!
1. How did you two meet?
We met in graduate school where Ryan and I took the same class together one semester and we were put into a group project together. He was graduating that year and I was going to leave at the end of the semester for a study abroad trip in Italy for the summer. But when I left for Europe, Ryan came to the airport to say goodbye, and the rest is history. We talked every day while I was gone and he picked me up from the airport when I returned two months later. We moved in together shortly after and have been together for almost seven years.
2. How did the proposal happen?
Ryan was in Japan for work and I flew out there to meet him for an extra week of travel. We were staying in Kyoto and one day went to hike the Inari Shrine. As we were walking up through the shrine, we wanted to get a picture at some point, we found a spot we thought would be great and Ryan asked a stranger if they could take a photo of us. She accepted and took several photos of us. As she was returning our camera to us, Ryan asked if she could take one more photo. She was confused and said “but I’ve already taken four photos” (haha!) and Ryan politely asked again and she did. As she was taking this final photo, Ryan got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I, of course, immediately cried and said yes. Luckily the woman who took our photos caught it on video as well! Sadly, we never got the woman’s name.
3. What are each of your favorite things about your relationship?
We both think our favorite thing about our relationship would be that we can constantly laugh with each other and just joke around. It’s never a dull moment and we can always be extremely goofy around each other.
4. What was the first thing you did as an engaged couple?
Well, of course, we called our parents and texted our friends. We finished walking up the Inari Shrine to the top, and then, later on in the day, we met up with some friends at a local Japanese whiskey bar in Kyoto!
5. What were your top three priorities when planning your wedding?
Music, food, and atmosphere. We picked probably every song the DJ played throughout our whole wedding. We are huge foodies, and southern food in Charleston is the best. And being designers, atmosphere and all the little details that go into a wedding were really important to us.
6. What did you each think the first time you saw each other on your wedding day?
Maeghann: I thought the hardest part was done and now I can finally be with my partner in crime. I didn’t care about the rain or anyone else but being with him for the rest of my life.
Ryan: I thought she looked gorgeous and was excited to start the next chapter in our lives together. We were both ready to get the party started!
7. Did you write your own vows? If so, what personalized details did you add? If not, how come?
We didn’t write our own vows because we were too nervous and wanted it to be a private moment between each other. But our Officiant, who is also our good friend, asked us a series of questions about each other days prior to our wedding to make personalized vows for us.
8. Maeghann, we love your whole look! Can you talk about your dress shopping experience and how you found THE dress?
I did a lot of research on styles and designers that I liked and had a general idea of what I wanted; unique lace detailing, fitted, and optional sleeves. I went to about four shops between Florida and New York. Before moving to New York, we took every chance we could to be up here and explore the city. Ryan and I visited my best friend (and maid of honor) for New Year’s in 2018 and while we were up here I took the opportunity to go to Kleinfeld Bridal and the Pronovias Flagship bridal store with her. Pronovias was hands down the only designer I was obsessed with, every dress I looked at online was so beautiful. At the Pronovias shop, I picked out a few dresses that I liked a lot online and others that I thought met what I wanted. Of course once you put something on that you love online but not crazy about in person is definitely heartbreaking, but then I tried on styles that I didn’t even come across while doing my research, and they were right in line with what I wanted. One dress I tried on was the perfect shape, floral lace everywhere with an open back, and the greatest feature, detachable medieval sleeves. It was perfect, although I did not purchase it immediately. Even though I was with my MOH for some extensive dress shopping, I wanted to be with my mom when I made my final decision.
Upon returning back home to Florida, I found a local shop that sold Pronovias gowns along with some other designers. Like many brides I’m sure, you want to make sure you found THE ONE when it comes to a wedding dress. So I tried on other dresses but I could not get the Pronovias gown I tried on in New York out of my head. My mom could tell, the bridal consultant could tell, what the hell was I doing?! I immediately made my decision and purchased my dress through the local shop.
9. Can you also talk about how you decided your wedding hair and beauty?
In general, I’m not a huge makeup and hair person day-to-day so I wanted something natural. I kept my makeup neutral to my skin tone, and I left my hair naturally curly (Ryan loves my hair natural) and did a simple half-up/down hairstyle with a beautiful headpiece that wrapped around my head.
10. Why did you two decide to read letters while back to back? Love this emotional moment!
We wanted to have a personal moment between the two of us so we thought it would be a great idea to write letters as our vows and read them to each other during our first look. I would rather ugly cry around Ryan than all of our guests haha!
11. You were married in such a gorgeous location, what made you choose this venue?
During graduate school for architecture, the students go to Middleton Place to study the architecture. We both went there during school and wanted to have our wedding somewhere that meant a lot to us so we thought it would be an amazing place to get married. At Middleton, we were able to offer hotel accommodations as well as a venue for our ceremony and reception, which was great for our guests.
12. Your wedding bouquet is beautiful—how did that come about? Did you have any floral preferences you wanted included?
I really wanted our color scheme to be expressed through the décor and having a majority of the colors in the florals. Given the time of the year we had our wedding, holiday colors seem very typical but we wanted a more moody color tone with deep burgundy and purple. Our florist made it extremely easy to pick out some unique flowers for our centerpieces, bouquets and boutonnieres.
13. Why would you suggest hiring a videographer?
I’m horrible at documenting any sort of event/moment and I couldn’t imagine not having one of the most important days of our lives captured. Everyone was right when they say your wedding goes by fast. I miss our wedding day probably every day since it happened and I’m so glad I can relive it again through the amazing videos and photos.
14. What is your favorite memory from your wedding day?
My favorite memory from our wedding day was our first look because I finally got to be with Ryan again. Even though I was getting ready with all my bridesmaids, mom and mother-in-law, it was a relief to be with my best friend again.
15. What's your top tip to all soonlyweds out there planning their weddings?
Hire a wedding planner. This was probably the only thing keeping me sane, especially when planning a wedding out-of-state. The planning service we hired was highly recommended by our venue and they also had rentals and florals under their company so it was really great to get everything all in one place.
16. Who were your favorite wedding vendors and why?
Bonnie Newman Creative was incredible. Literally they go above and beyond for their couples. The weather for our wedding turned much worse than we thought and rained for our whole ceremony and part of our cocktail hour, but Bonnie and Jon were out there barefoot and soaking wet getting every photo and video shot they could for us.
Middleton Place is a spectacular venue and has an amazing event team. They work really hard to make sure you have every event planned perfectly. They also coordinate with the Inn at Middleton Place for guest accommodations and shuttle transportation which was extremely helpful.
Ooh! Events knew exactly what I wanted for our wedding, even if I didn’t. They provided not only wedding planning services but also our rentals and florals. Their whole team is amazing and helped us out a lot when it came to some last-minute decisions regarding the weather
See all the vendors here
17. Anything else you'd like to share about your wedding or some details I didn't ask about?
We really wanted to create an atmosphere that not only we enjoyed and remembered, but that all our friends and family would really enjoy and remember as well. We made sure to curate the entire weekend to create not only a memorable day but an entire weekend that we would remember forever. We hosted events within Downtown Charleston and at the Inn at Middleton Place so we could make sure to see everyone during the weekend.
To watch more wedding videos by Bonnie Newman Creative, click below.