Sun, epic clouds, and a venue that makes me drool every time I set foot on the property. The perfect formula for an epic wedding at the Fontainebleau Inn! Erin & Meaghan’s day was the perfect blend of wedding elements. Then adding on the intense feeling of love by Erin, Meahgan, and their families, well that’s just the cherry on top of the sundae (they had those too!)!
From the moment I walked into the Fontainnebleau, there was a serenity through out. Erin and Meghan were calm, collected, and just so excited to be getting married! The whole day followed suite. We had plenty of time for a gorgeous “First Look,” their ceremony was full of stories and beautiful moments, and lastly the rockin’ party where everyone danced the night away! Amy and I had such a wonderful time capturing moment, after moment, after moment! Thank you so much to Erin & Meaghan for literally planning their event around me! It was so special and beautiful!
XOXOXO,
Mabyn
How did your fiance propose? Erin proposed to Meaghan on the day she had her wisdom teeth removed. Meaghan was taking care of her all day, running around getting her milkshakes and jello between her Nursing exams and classes. Erin was laying on the couch with a mouth full of gauze, Meaghan was sitting next to her on the floor making sure she was okay. At that moment Erin knew that no matter how sick or ridiculous she ever was, Meaghan would always be right there by her side. Barely being able to get the words out, Erin asked Meaghan to marry her. At first Meaghan thought maybe the question was drug induced, but once she realized what Erin was saying through all of the gauze and that she was 100% sober she said “yes!”
Tell me a bit about the planning process for your wedding (how did you pick the venue, colors, funny stories, etc..):
The planning process for me (Meag), was really easy because Erin took the reigns and was up to her elbows in emails, phone calls, and websites. I got to make the fun decisions and sit back and enjoy the fact we were getting married (Thank you, Erin!). The most fun we had in the planning process was the tasting–we highly recommend doing it, even if you know you’re going to love the food! It was a great time to meet the caterer in person and really get to know them.
Our bridesmaids wore gray, and that was a surprisingly easy decision, too. Our flowers came from Plenty of Posies, and they use whatever is in bloom at their farm so we wanted to make sure the girls would match whatever blooms ended up going in the bouquets. The flowers were beautiful, and the girls were comfortable. We couldn’t ask for more!
We actually found the venue through Mabyn! One of Erin’s friends had her as a photographer for her wedding, and we loved the pictures and knew instantly we wanted you. Prior to the wedding, we only had about 3 nice pictures of us together (we are so bad at taking pictures!!) and Mabyn did such a lovely job with everything. We were on her website scoping out the pictures and we came across a wedding she photographed in Alpine at the Inn. We googled it and found it wasn’t that far away from us, so we picked a weekend and took a roadtrip. Terri and John are the nicest (the Inn owners) and said they were almost booked solid except for the weekend of July 4th. We were sitting in the room next to library, and we could see the grounds through the windows and the flowers and the lake, and the thought of July 4th weekend made us think of cookouts and fireworks and watermelon ….it really was no contest, and we signed right then and there!
What was the most memorable moment(s) of your day?:
We had so many beautiful moments during our wedding, but we both agreed that one of the most memorable was our father/daughter dances. Erin danced with her dad to a Billy Joel song (Lullaby), and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the place! Erin’s dad is very tall and is a policeman on the side, so to see him so broken up dancing with his little girl was so sweet. I danced with my dad to a Tom Petty song (Wildflowers), and we were both laughing because I kept stepping on his feet (I’m not the best dancer;)). So I asked him if I could stand on his feet like when I was little, and he let me. I’ve never seen my dad cry before, and it was so nice to feel that much love at that moment.
Funniest memory from your wedding day?
One of the funniest things that happened was that our DJ (who did everything else right, and we loved him!) played an Aladdin song as the bridesmaids walked down the aisle. Music is extremely important to us (sometimes I think of my life in terms of what soundtrack I would have;)) and we spent a lot of time planning and picking out what we wanted. We had a beautiful song picked out (Ben Rector, White Dress) that we wanted to play the entire time the party walked down, but I think he thought we only wanted it for us. So when I got to the back door of the Inn for my turn to walk down the aisle, I looked at my dad and said “Are you kidding me??” Several people videotaped the ceremony and you can hear me cackling with laughter the entire time I walk down the aisle to the lovely notes of “Whole New World.” It was good, actually, because it calmed my nerves and made me laugh.
One of our friends also got our grandparents to dance to that Robin Thicke song (Blurred Lines) and now every time it comes on the radio, Grandma says “Whew, that was a long song!”
If you had to do it all over again would you change anything?
The only thing we would change is to have made the reception longer. We had five hours from the ceremony to the end, and we could have danced longer and enjoyed our guests longer. Otherwise, everything really felt perfect and exactly what we wanted–we are both so lucky to have the support we do from our family and friends, and to share our love with each other and them at such a beautiful place was priceless.
Any advice for future bride & grooms?
One piece of advice we both agree would be to take it easy on the amount of craftiness and things that have to be done by yourselves for the reception/ceremony. We got crazy at first thinking and planning all sorts of Pinterest crafts for tables, favors, shower, rehearsal, etc. We did do some things, but we cut back a lot once we realized that we would be running around in the days prior trying to get everything done. And that our Michael’s bill would be astronomical! Little things that add personality and a bit of yourselves at the reception rock, but there is something to be said for relaxing and preparing just yourselves on the day of. We also were lucky because Terri and John (the Inn owners) set everything up for us, including what crafts we did have!
We would also definitely say to have the first look between the two prior to the ceremony. It was so nice to have that moment to ourselves and getting some of the more formal shots done before the ceremony meant that we could enjoy the cocktail hour/reception more. It was so exciting seeing Erin in her dress before everyone else did, and I got to remind her how much I love her and how I couldn’t wait to marry her.
What was your favorite part about working with Mabyn Ludke Photography?:
Mabyn and her assistant were wonderful; they danced with us, ate with us, and by the time they left they felt like family!
Our favorite part, though, was that she made us feel so beautiful and confident in our dresses. We both know that she does this for a living and is so good at it, but we genuinely felt in the moment that we were the only two she had ever called beautiful. She brought such joy and excitement with her that it felt like we were the only wedding party that she had ever been with!
