Four Cakes and A Macramé Tapestry Made This Oxford, MD Wedding A Boho Fantasy

We <3 mauve, and wedding pups, and Megan Dorbin's polka dot socks.

// How They Met

A lesson in dating, courtesy of Andrew Dorbin: Don’t invite the high school senior you just met to a music festival in Tennessee when you’re basically a stranger and older. A Dave Matthews Band concert in Philadelphia is marginally better, but still crossing state lines. If you want her to say yes, stick with something casual like kayaking in the town she actually lives in. And that’s where Megan Lord and Andrew Dorbin’s romance (finally) begins. Megan, who had never been kayaking before, threw on a tie-dye t-shirt and old jeans, just in case she fell in the Miles River. Andrew, meanwhile, was dressed to the nines, in a button-down and khaki shorts. “We still laugh about how he overdressed and I underdressed for the occasion,” Megan recalls. After paddling for hours, the pair headed back to Andrew’s house, where Megan unexpectedly met Andrew's mom. “All I could think about was my tie-dye shirt!” she says, “but she was so welcoming and sweet. I can’t say for sure, but I’ll bet I learned more about Andrew than he would have liked me to on our first date.”

// How He Proposed

For New Year’s Eve 2017, Megan and Andrew, who had been dating for seven years, visited Manayunk, Pennsylvania, the first town they lived in together. They stopped in one of Megan’s favorite shops to purchase a pickle ornament and grabbed a meal at the town tavern, when it started to snow. The couple sought refuge in the warmth of their car, until Andrew suddenly stopped by a tiny bridge and insisted the couple walk across. “I thought he was crazy!” Megan says, but she reluctantly indulged her boyfriend’s whim, speed-walking into the wind. Then he popped a question: “You would do anything for me, wouldn’t you?” (Yes.) And with one more query, it all made sense: Andrew got down on his knee, Megan said yes — and, in her excitement, snatched the ring, which elicited a stern admonishment from her now-fiancé. “We were standing atop of a bridge with several nooks and crannies large enough to swallow a dime and send it straight into the Schuylkill River!” Megan explains. She handed back the ring, so Andrew could carefully put it on her finger and finally release the breath he’d been holding.

// Her Dress

Megan set a date with her bridesmaids and mom to try on gowns at Dryden Dress Co. in Salisbury, where her sister found her wedding dress a few years prior. About a month before the appointment, the shop posted a photo of a dress on their Facebook page. "It had everything I wanted -- from a lace design to an open back -- and was on sale, so my sister and I decided to go check it out," Megan says. "We figured it was too good to be true." When Megan tried the gown on, it fit like a glove, but she was torn; she didn't want to leave her best friends out of the process! Fortunately, Dryden's owner had a clever idea; she suggested Megan bring her bridesmaids to the appointment as planned and tell them she'd found her dress but to walk out in something hideous instead of her real gown. The moment came and the girls were dead silent. "It was so funny, I couldn't hold back the laughter," Megan says.

// The Groomsmen Gift

Andrew purchased knives for his groomsmen as a thank you gift and symbol of friendship. "I know I can count on them to be there for me whenever I need them, just like a good pocket knife," he explains. He bought each attendant a knife uniquely suited to his personality. "As we got ready that day, I gave out each knife and read a short note about its recipient," Andrew adds. 

// His Attire

Megan took the lead on most of the wedding planning, but Andrew asked to have a live band and wanted his groomsmen to wear blue suits. He banned cacti boutonnières and suspenders, but acquiesced to Megan's wish that he wear a floral printed tie (after she talked him out of a bolo tie). "We were fairly agreeable with most of the decisions," Megan says, "though Andrew was not a fan of his office slowly being overtaken by wedding decorations!"

// Their Venue

Andrew and Megan got married at Oxford Park, where Andrew had spent a lot of time as a kid. “I had envisioned a large wooden arbor overlooking the Tred Avon River, but he insisted we stand in front of a large sycamore tree in the corner of the park,” Megan says. “I don’t say this often, but he was certainly right! It was beautiful and the tree was the perfect symbol of our relationship: new, not young, mature and strong."

// Their VIP Guest

The couple’s dog, Ellie (also known as Eleanor Rigby), made a cameo during the ceremony, escorted by an usher. “We were so proud of her!” Megan says. “Though we didn’t trust the hound in her enough to lie down quietly at the end of the aisle, we made sure to have a frozen peanut butter bone waiting for her when she found her spot,” Megan says.

// Her Vision

Megan wanted to keep the ceremony decor simple, so the park’s natural beauty would shine. She used touches of macramé and a mauve, blush, and sage color palette to create a boho aesthetic. For the reception, the couple covered beige table runners with eucalyptus sprigs, dressed with bud vases and single stem flowers.

// The Wine Box Ceremony

Megan’s uncle, who is a wine connoisseur, gifted the couple a bottle of wine. During the ceremony, the bride and groom each put a letter in a monogrammed box, expressing their feelings about the other, with instructions to open the box in 5 years or if their marriage was in turmoil. At that point, they will read the letters, drink the wine, and restock the box with another bottle, to, again, be opened in 5 years’ time.

// Their Menu

Megan and Andrew loved the smoked turkey they had catered by Mission BBQ, but their dessert display — which included four cakes — was a total scene-stealer, bedecked with beautiful macramé. Megan’s favorite flavor was the chocolate ganache, while Andrew devoured his one bite of banana caramel (there simply wasn’t enough time for them to try the carrot cake or the lemon rosemary masterpieces concocted by Jordan Fuchs!)

// Their Best Decision

Megan is so glad they hired a live band, Dan Haas & The Feathermakers, to perform during the reception. “We’ve been told from our guests this was their favorite part of our wedding and we even had an open bar!” she says.

// The Guestbook

For a fun twist on the traditional guestbook, Andrew and Megan invited their guests to sign a guitar. "He's a huge guitar lover and can't wait to hang it up in his office," Megan says.

// Credits

BRIDE'S GOWN: Dryden Dress Company // HAIR: Pretty Weird Beauty (Tina Blottenberger) // MAKEUP: Pretty Weird Beauty (Taylor Stanley) // JEWELRY: Silva*Wear (Bracelet) Olive + Piper (Earrings) // SHOES: Keds // BRIDESMAID DRESSES: Show Me Your Mumu // CAKES: Jordan Fuchs // CATERING: Mission BBQ // DAY OF COORDINATOR: A Touch of Jules // FLORALS: Sweetbay Design // INVITATIONS: Vista Print // MACRAME: Margot Tate // MEN'S ATTIRE: Berrier Limited (Suits) Show Me Your Mumu (Ties) // MUSIC: Quinn Parsley (Ceremony) Dan Haas & The Feathermakers (Reception) // OFFICIANT: XOXO Ceremonies // PHOTOGRAPHY: Victoria Selman // RINGS: TNT Jewelers (Wedding) Shearer the Jeweler (Engagement) // RENTALS: Price Rentals // VENUE: Oxford Town Park (Ceremony) Oxford Community Center (Reception)