Real Wedding: Molly & JR
Sewly Yours & Once Upon a Bride [nid:336], Vermont Brownie Company [nid:3094]
When people talk about the path of life that brought them together, they usually don’t mean it quite as literally as Molly Bogan and JR Withers do.
In fact it was the Appalachian Trail that brought these two together, though neither of them knew it at the time. Passionate long-distance hikers, both Molly and JR had chosen to hike that historic trail in 2002. As it happened, Molly was a couple of weeks ahead of JR and the two of them didn’t meet each other on that hike. They both made friends with a fellow hiker, whose speedy trail-blazing brought her into contact with both Molly and JR despite the distance between them. A few years later, in 2005, JR joined his new hiking friend for a cross-country drive, and she stopped in Boulder, Colorado, to meet up with her other new friend, Molly. The connection was instant for both of them, though Molly says JR was much better at playing it cool than she was, and the two of them began e-mailing each other. In 2006, Molly was visiting friends in Virginia, where JR was living, and they reconnected over drinks. It was only the second time they’d met in person, but they both knew it was something special. After that weekend, JR packed up his car and moved to Colorado.
It was a little crazy. It was a risk. But in the end, it was a gamble that paid off for both. On the Saturday before her birthday, Molly woke up to a guitar serenade of one of her favorite songs — “First Day of My Life,” by Bright Eyes. JR had been secretly learning the song on his guitar, and when it ended, he dropped to one knee and asked Molly to marry him. Molly immediately said yes.
Although neither Molly nor JR had ever lived in Vermont, they knew from the moment they got engaged that they wanted to get married there. They had hiked throughout the state, separately and together, and both had special memories of the area. “We have spent a lot of time in Vermont and feel like it’s our ‘soul home,’” says Molly, whose parents now live in Panton, Vermont. She and JR both love Shelburne Farms, with its beautiful combination of lake and mountains and its emphasis on environmental education, so pinning down their location was a cinch.
Inevitably, Molly and JR’s shared passion for long-distance hiking figured prominently in their wedding plans, particularly the playful nicknames that hikers traditionally give each other. Molly and JR incorporated their own nicknames in their wedding favors — jars of ‘Lizard’ and ‘Easy’s’ Happy Trails mix — and used their trail friends’
nicknames for their place cards.
“It was so fun to see the place cards with names such as ‘Wildflower’ and ‘Walk-It-Off’ and ‘Spoonful’ next to ‘Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Nolan,’” says Molly.
Friends and family were also an important part of the celebration. Molly’s lucky sixpence had been slipped inside the shoes of each of her five closest college friends on their wedding days. A bevy of bright-faced children, including JR’s two nieces and Molly’s best friend’s three children, joined the wedding party. Molly surprised her sisters with mini chocolate mousse cups as one of the wedding desserts because as kids they’d considered those little chocolate bites to be the ultimate special-occasion treat. The Twister game set up for the children was quickly taken over by the adults, whose antics produced some of Molly and JR’s favorite photos from their wedding day. Best of all for Molly and JR was watching their college friends mingle with their trail buddies, work pals, and family members, laughing and talking as many of them met for the first time.
“Seeing the people we love meet each other and make a connection was so amazing,” says Molly.
Molly’s Tips:
1) Share your personalities. If you’re not a buttoned up couple, you don’t have to have a buttoned up wedding.
2) Choose vendors you like personally, not just vendors whose work you admire. You’re going to be spending a lot of time together, & feeling like you have a connection with them makes it much more fun.
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