Joe + Meghan

When Meghan, a competitive swimmer, moved with her family from Texas to Indianapolis, she didn’t know that among the faces on her swim team would be her future husband. As she became acquainted with her new teammates, she met Joe, and their story began.

The two developed a flirty relationship, but still hadn’t dated by the time Meghan’s family left town to relocate again. In fact, it wasn’t until college, when Meghan was studying at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, that she found an email from Joe in her inbox one morning at 6 a.m.

“You never understand what they mean when they say, ‘It’ll happen when you least expect it,’” Megan recalls. “Well, I got a first-hand experience that morning.”

The two fell in love and started seeing the future in store for them. It was on the day of his Army commissioning ceremony that Joe got down on one knee to pop the question.

“Meghan,” he said nervously, “there has been one question I have wanted to ask you since I was 13 years old.” A surprised Meghan accepted Joe’s proposal, and the couple began planning an August wedding.

The event for just over 100 guests was set at the quaint and elegant Kalamazoo Country Club. Their special day played out against the backdrop of a whimsical garden theme, with a yellow and Malibu blue color palette which their florist—VanderSalm’s Flipse—captured perfectly! Meghan’s stunning gown was the centerpiece of the day’s details, and featured an embellished bodice and a ball gown skirt of cascading ruffles.

Meghan credits her mom for her role in wedding planning, calling her the true “leading lady” when it came to preparing for the nuptials. Yet Megan admits her mom had a little help. “Kalamazoo Bride Magazine was one of the most helpful tools that we used when planning our wedding,” she gushes. “We picked most of our vendors straight out of the magazine as well as other ideas to embellish our perfect day.”

The bride and groom, along with their guests, savored food catered by the country club, danced under a canopy from The Canopeum and caught all of the memories for a lifetime with the help of Carrie Miles Photography.

“Everyone was smiling and laughing and dancing — it was too much fun!” Meghan reminisces, “The only bad thing is that it ended!”

Flowers: VanderSalm’s Flipse
Reception Location: Kalamazoo Country Club
Catering: Kalamazoo Country Club
Party Rentals: The Canopeum
Guest Accommodations: Holiday Inn West
Photography: Carrie Miles Photography