Our Bride of the Week is the gorgeous Gretchen, who celebrated her nuptials with her wife Megan in our dazzling Jill Gown. The two held a spectacular reception filled with dancing, laughter, and unforgettable moments. In the following interview, Gretchen shares the details surrounding her wedding day and how she knew our Jill gown was 'The One'. As told by Gretchen:
A moment of your wedding day will you never forget?
I will never forget when we said our vows. In all the years that I’ve known Megan I have never heard her be so convicted in what she was saying. It was really beautiful.
One thing you wish you knew as a new bride? What advice would you give to future brides?
You never get this time back, so when you are planning and dreaming of your wedding day be 100% present in every detail. You want to soak in every minute because it truly is the journey of putting everything together that makes it so special. The advice I would lend is to make this day look and feel exactly how you and your partner envisioned it. There is no right or wrong way to design, dress, choose a venue, pick flowers, eat or dance. I will add that staying true to some traditional elements creates some very special moments and really ties the day together.
I had two very special looks. My ceremony outfit and my mini dress. I knew my Galia Lahav mini was absolutely breathtaking. I’m not the bride that tried on 5, 10, or even 20 dresses. I tried on three looks and two I ran with. The mini I tried on and it fit like a glove. I think everyone in Galia was shocked and I was too. The dress was made for me!
How did it feel when you put on your dress the day of the wedding? What was everyone's reaction to the dress?
I felt beautiful, radiant, and a little overwhelmed. Everyone was shocked! They couldn’t believe that I was wearing a dress! I killed it. I also woke up the next morning with an IG inbox full of DM’s from brides trying to outbid each other to buy my Galia Lahav JILL mini.
I would not have changed a thing. I loved every moment. We planned our looks thoughtfully and John & Joseph delivered the most beautiful wedding photos. We really wanted to create an experience for our family and friends. We didn’t want to break the bank so we spent money in places that we were going to spend the most time (& obviously on our outfits!).
What was your favourite part of the wedding to plan/you were most looking forward to?
My favorite part of the wedding to plan was how our looks complemented each other. Being two women we wanted to make sure we were true to our own personalities but still looked great together. I was most looking forward to the surprises we had in store throughout the night: the butterfly release, synchronized swimmers in the fountains after we said I do, the In & Out truck delivering burgers to everyone on the dance floor as our late-night snack, the band – everything was incredible.
How did you meet your significant other? How did they purpose?
We met in college when we were 19 and 20. We both played basketball for opposing teams. It was one of those, “Hey, tell your friend I said what’s up” moments. Very quickly it was something that we would move mountains to make happen. We dated for two years before we officially got together. We were living eight hours apart and on completely different schedules. My career (at the time) took me to Los Angeles where Megan was finishing her last year of college and the rest is history.
Now we are on our fifth Sand Spa location in Southern California. We got engaged on September 19th, 2018 (the longest engagement ever, but worth the wait). I surprised Megan by recruiting our PR team. We planned an elaborate but very fake magazine interview and photoshoot. We put together the longest, most detailed email chain knowing Megan would google everything and everyone involved. We decided to “shoot” in Malibu and meet the interviewer after. We started shooting right off Will Rogers beach. Leaving no stone unturned we routinely practiced our “interviewer questions” on the ride down. I remember sitting in the back seat as our manager took off down the 405 and looking around, seeing all of our friends on the freeway too, headed to surprise Megan at Rosenthal Wines immediately after.
As we were taking pictures our PR team slipped different jackets on and off us. Until the right moment, my jacket said “Marry Me?” and hers, “HELL YES”, the photographer kept Megan engaged while I took a step back, and then she said, “ok, now look at Gretchen” it was a perfect surprise. We floated across the street to Rosenthal and were greeted by all of our family and friends.
They have flawless and friendly service, they made me put that little Jill dress on and strut around the store! It was so much fun and I think every bride needs a little Galia Lahav in their life.
