Morgan + Troy’s Waynesville Wedding!

Meriah here.

Ok, when my “little” cousin… ok, grown up cousin Morgan asked me to photograph her wedding I was so happy to oblige, but I’m a bit in DENIAL. I have literally know this girl since she was in her mom’s belly! (Her mom Lisa and I are pretty close!) So as Morgan grew up she felt more like a niece than a second cousin. And because of her close relationship with our two boys (she helped her mom watch them quite often!) she asked them to be in her wedding as the ring bearers! We were honored and a bit worried at how that 4 year old with the stick would do. But they crushed it. *insert proud mom smile.

Let’s back up to the beginning of the day and let the pictures tell the story a bit.

We loved Troy’s ring with the wooden inlay. This wedding was a family affair. Morgan’s cousin, Savannah, did Morgan’s hair and helped do her makeup. Morgan’s sister, Leah, and I helped paint her nails. Morgan’s mom Lisa helped Morgan get dressed.I didn’t have to beg to get Morgan to twirl for me. She made such a pretty bride! Oh Troy. We do love that hair!The wedding was held at Haywood Community College in the Rhododendron Garden. Morgan’s aunt Michelle had her work cut out for her in making this bench (which was falling apart) look gorgeous. She did a marvelous job!Onward to the ceremony with the two cutest ring bearers EVER. Note… that box our older son Ezra is holding actually had the real rings in it! They forgot to grab the rings from him after he walked up the aisle. However our sweet Ezra patiently held that box throughout the ceremony till it was needed for the ring exchange. Morgan’s dad Kevin not only walked her down the aisle he also officiated the wedding. It is always fun to know SO many people at a wedding. A lot of our family and friends were there to celebrate with us.We love sweet moments with happy tears.Even my mom was wiping tears away. This venue was so fun and allowed for us to get some great angles. (During the prayers we like to sneak around!) This is absolutely one of our favorite moments from the day. The “after kiss, kiss shot” 🙂Congrats Morgan and Troy!Troy carried his Morgan away from the ceremony!These two have SUCH great chemistry. I had a blast getting to spend some time with them just the 3 of us!Quick! Lets get photos with these two boys before they get dirty. 😉 I’m not gonna lie, we were kind of hoping that the bench would not crumble beneath them. It was SO old! And of course bolted to the ground so they couldn’t move it. But it provided a really fun place to do photos! The reception was at the gorgeous Lake Junaluska. Morgan is so lucky to have some amazing and talented family! Aunt Michelle did all the floral and Morgan’s mom Lisa made the cake!We do love Morgan’s family so much. Troy’s family was a hoot as well!These two have a goofy side and we LOVE it. First dance love.Pretty sure she accidentally caught the bouquet! She didn’t even know it was being thrown!This is the part of the evening when Troy lit Morgan’s dress on fire by accidentally dropping a sparkler on it. Whoops.

Now enough from us, here is a bit more from Morgan and Troy!

A bit about Troy:

He loves to work on cars and uncover the general mechanics of how things tick. He’s all for fun 24/7! He loves being out in the woods, whether building a bonfire (a bit of a pyromaniac), sitting and pickin’ on his guitar, or looking for animals and creatures of any kind.

A bit about Morgan:

Coffee obsessed with the art of making it and of course drinking it. Spends free time either doing that, hiking, kayaking, playing guitar or drawing/painting. Loves to always be on the road out looking for adventure. Lord of The Rings marathons happen often as well.

How did you meet?

I was finishing up high school at a program they have at HCC when along came Troy who was sitting in the classroom one morning when I walked in. Every morning after, he’d be there sitting trying to finish up high school as well. It didn’t take too long for Troy to finally roll his school chair over to me to talk to me, which was the start of a relationship neither of us knew would become what it is today. Every hour of school work, we’d get a ten minute break which the two of us would use to walk around the campus on our breaks getting to know each other. Sometime walk, but most times race, jump off high walls, climb trees, snowball fight, and really anything else you can name a couple kids would do. Our talks grew deeper and he soon became my closest friend and I his.

Describe your first date?

We call this our first date cause it was the first time planning to hang out just to be with each other. He asked me to come along with him to the laundry mat, as romantic as that sounds. As we waited for his clothes to wash, he took me outside and we started throwing tide pods at each other for the sheer fun of it. They weren’t busting when they hit, so he had his genius idea of getting closer to me and just squeezing one in his hand. You can image how that went. I had tide pod laundry detergent from the top of my forehead sopping down to the bottom of my chin. Him, feeling guilty but also holding in a laugh let me do the same to him for payback. So here we are, two humans clearly with the lack of brains outside behind the laundry mat, drenched in detergent laughing endlessly until in got in my mouth and our eyes. Blindly touching the walls of the building to eventually find our way to the public bathroom, we took turns holding each others long hair up to dump our faces in the sink and wash it out. It took us a lot of time and a lot of toilet paper to get enough out to see rightly again. At that point we’d lost all sanity, so I jumped on his shoulders and we journeyed down to get a Hawaiian pizza and some coffee ice cream. Taking our dinner to the bench outside the mat while his clothes were drying, we watched the sunset (it was a pretty blurry one with our vision and all) and listened to Passenger’s entire cover album. We talked music like critics and sang along together until it was late into the night, way past when his clothes were done drying.

How long have you been together?

A little over two years ago as friends and a little over a year as a couple.

What are your favorite hobbies and activities to do as a couple?

We love to talk, to spend entire days hiking/exploring out in the woods, camping, cuddling while watching TV, playing guitar together, driving, listening to music and talking music, reading to each other, finding coffee shops, and watching sunsets.

Who popped the question and HOW?

You know those movies when the guy gets on a knee to propose to his girl multiple times before she ever says yes? That is our story. Troy has been proposing the question to me ever since just a few moths after we fell in love. There is one time I remember him proposing that I consider as the first time he asked that I didn’t instantly say no, I don’t know, or that he was crazy for asking. We were walking under a tree path late at night close by my house when the moon peered through and lit us up.I started saying yes every time after until the day he had a ring when he asked. We were celebrating our one year anniversary together by kayaking down the same river we fell in love on. He picked a place to ask me on the side of the river (I had no idea). After hours of paddling, he got me off the kayak and had me stand on this massive rock by a swimming hole ready to ask, but by accident kicked my sunglasses into the water and dove for them. I stood on the rock a while and he never came back up from the water. I decided that he was most definitely drowning. Under the water at the same time as almost drowning he was contemplating if this was the time to propose. Just as I almost dove to save him, he splashed out of the water with the rings and asked his question. I said yes of course, got him out of the water, and he put the rings on my finger.

Why did you pick the Rhododendron garden at HCC and Lake Junaluska?

After looking at many venues, we decided we’d get married where we met at the very start. Before we were even dating we were walking and getting to know each other in that garden.

What adjective best describes your spouse on your wedding day?

Troy says “Gorgeous”

Morgan says “Happy”

What tangible detail of your wedding day did you love the most? (Cake, dress, special item?)

Troy loved the sparklers

Morgan loved the lights everywhere

How many guests attended the wedding?

Around 100

What did you and your guests eat at the reception?

BBQ, chicken, corn, beans, bread and brownies and cake for dessert

What was the flavor of your wedding cake?

Vanilla cake

What is the one of the funniest things that happened on your wedding day?

We both agree that Troy setting my dress on fire with sparklers was the funniest moment of the day.

What was your first dance song and why did you pick it?

We chose Come Rain or Come Shine by Ray Charles because it and him are huge favorites of ours. We’ve spent many evenings star gazing and slow dancing to his music.

What stood out to you the most when you think of your wedding?

Troy- My brides smile and the look of happiness she had.

Morgan- How significantly happy Troy was and how he beamed with joy.

What is on your “bucket list” to do together as a married couple?

– Be awesome parents

– Drive to Yellow Stone National Park

– Do the sling shot by the beach

– Binge watch both The Hobbit trilogy and Lord of the Rings trilogy

– Hike a volcano

– Visit a coffee plantation (outside of the U.S.)

(And much more)

Morgan + Troy’s Waynesville Wedding!

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