THE COUPLE Maegan & Chris Joseph
THE DATE August 13
THE SCENE The natural backyard setting of the bride's parents' home in Cranberry Township, PA
Maegan’s story:
"We were planning a June 2006 wedding but that all changed when I went to a charity auction and bid on and won a trip to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. That night, I called my fiance and told him to get ready, because we were moving up the wedding (a whole year!). The trip had to be used in 2005 and we decided to make it our honeymoon. We went full steam ahead into planning our wedding, and decided to have the ceremony in my parents' backyard and our reception at a small golf club nearby. With help of friends and family we were able to make our wedding a great success. Many people said it was one of the nicest weddings they had seen because it was so simple, yet elegant."Her tips:
Don’t have a long engagement. "Our suggestion to other people planning a wedding: don’t spend a lot of time between the engagement and the wedding. It just builds stress, confusion and costs. When you have fewer options, it's easier to make decisions."
Find the right baker. "Instead of looking to a bakery for someone to do your cake, look for individuals. We found a woman that did wedding cakes out of her home. She created exactly what we wanted at a much more reasonable price than our local bakery."
Use what you’ve got. "Nature is just a wonderful back drop for a ceremony. Using my parents' backyard made it much more personal, intimate and it was a lot cheaper!!!"
)
