Megan & Jordan’s Fun, Eclectic, and Beautiful DIY Fall Wedding

Today’s feature was supposed to be published last November 9, Megan and Jordan’s first year anniversary! Unfortunately my site had bandwidth issues by late October and I had to leave for a vacation so that didn’t work out… BUT here now is their fun, eclectic, and BEAUTIFUL fall wedding for you to enjoy!

We have Audra Starr Photography to thank for the wonderful submission. Here she is to tell you all about the celebration in a nutshell:

Megan Jordan’s simple yet stunning outdoor fall wedding incorporated so many unique things about them and represented them so well. Their friends and family wove so many pieces of the event together to help them out, and the final result made it something truly unique! The bride’s friend, dress designer Brooke Watson, made her custom gown for her. Her mother and aunts made the stunning cakes and simple bouquets. They were able to incorporate so many of their loved ones into their wedding, it was something truly special. The two of them are so kind-spirited and easy-going, it really was their perfect wedding!

Such a handsome couple, right? And here’s the gorgeous Megan to tell you all about her & Jordan and their beautiful wedding:

We worked at a restaurant together in college for about a year before he asked me out. After a few hypothetical “If I asked you out, would you go on a date with me’s”, he finally, actually asked me out. Spoiler alert: I said yes. In the beginning it was pretty much opposites attract. I was a Marketing major with a Fiber Arts minor. He was a Nursing major and eventually switched to Interactive Design and Game Development. Jordan says I’m the life of the party (I do not disclaim this) and he’s a little more reserved. But over time I think we’ve balanced each other out. To give you an idea of us, our first date was dinner and a movie – Part 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to be exact. We are silly and dorky. We love food. We’re not great at being outdoorsy, but we’d like to be. We’ve already started a board game collection. And we love lounging about on the weekends which tends to involve video gaming or reading books.

For my walk down the aisle we chose “The Shire” from The Lord of the Rings – yes, we both love LOTR.

Our wedding didn’t have a theme really, we just let the beautiful estate and Fall backdrop do its thing. The ceremony was beautiful and I loved that our officiant, Mike Bryant, suggested we look at each other during the whole ceremony. It wasn’t easy though — not being able to talk to each other and looking at each other the whole time. Jordan almost cried which made me almost cry… worth it.

We went simple on everything else. Of course I had a little fun with my dress. I wanted the statement skirt for the ceremony but knew it would only hold me back on the dance floor later, so my fabulous designer made the skirt separate and underneath is a simple, floor length dress.

I was in such a rush from the ceremony that I didn’t realize it was cold out, but I felt bad for my bridesmaids since I had them all in knee length dresses! What was I thinking, except that I liked the patterns and the color mixture: Pinterest got the best of me there.

So much of our family helped make our day so wonderful. We really wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. My brothers painted the table numbers, my Papa made my wood cake stands, my incredibly talented Aunt arranged the centerpieces, and my Mom helped me make the invitations among many other things.

We had a lot of fun with the menu to blend foods from both our families too. Our awesome caterer set up food stations that really highlighted our cultures, if you will. We pulled in some delish Lebanese food for me and we went for good ol’ Southern food for Jordan. Passed hors d’oeuvres included Lebanese ‘Fetayir Bi Laham’ aka Minature Meat Pies and Spanakopita. More Mediterranean dishes included Tabbouleh and Chicken Marbella, then Braised Brisket with Cream and Cheddar Southern Grits. My mom and Nana made homemade baklava and banana pudding to go with four different cakes my Aunt made! And Jordan loves Sour Patch Watermelons so we also had a few pounds of those on the dessert table.

Dinner was excellent and was followed by the party – lots and lots of dancing, and sweets, and more dancing.

Our first dance was also a little different with “Walking on a Dream” by Empire of the Sun. It’s not exactly a great first dance song but nothing else was a better fit for us so we did it anyway. There are some excellent pictures that show off our sweet dance moves with a little grocery store shopping, sprinklers, and elbow-to-knee action.

Charlie Fellingham, owner of My Big Day Music, is a spot on Frank Sinatra impersonator and sang “Fly Me to the Moon” for the father daughter dance.

It was a good night.

Words of advice from the newlyweds:

Don’t lose sight of what the celebration is all about – it’s incredibly easy to get lost in all the planning and details. At the end of the day, you’ve married your best friend and that’s all that matters. It’s literally the best feeling in the world.

Big thanks to Audra for sending her beautiful images my way, and congratulations to Megan and Jordan! I wish you guys a lifetime of married bliss.

Photographer: Audra Starr Photography
Ceremony and Reception Venue: The Gardens at Great Oaks
Catering: Jerry Dilts
Dress Designer: Brooke Watson
DJ: My Big Day Music
Officiant: Mike Bryant
Cakes: Diane Woods (the Bride’s Aunt)
Other sweet treats like Baklava and Banana Pudding!: the Bride’s Mom and Nana
Hair: Brianne McWilliams (the Bride’s sister-in-law)
Flowers: the Bride and her Aunt Diane and Mom
Invitations: the Bride and her Mom

Image submission via Two Bright Lights