Real Weddings: Maegan Murr and Ryan Isip

‘Through sickness and health’ had special meaning for one Dallas couple.

By by Allison Hatfield
D Weddings Fall-Winter 2012

Two weeks before her 25th birthday, Maegan Murr learned she had breast cancer. On her blog, there’s a photograph Maegan snapped with her iPhone just minutes before hearing the diagnosis. She’s kissing her fiance, Ryan Isip, in an elevator. That’s the kind of girl she is—she kisses and takes pictures even when her fate hangs in the balance.

“I have always been in love with life,” she says, now cancer free. And a few days after her last round of chemotherapy in 2010, the love of her life asked her to marry him.

The couple met in 2005 when Ryan moved to Panama City, Florida, to work in his family’s business. He and Maegan spent their first date—and as much time as possible that summer—at the beach, getting to know each other. By the time Ryan was due to move back home, the two were inseparable, and she moved with him. That’s how she became a Texas girl.


Here’s how she became his wife.

“Ryan and I are laid-back, easygoing, and happy people. Ryan loves anything I love, and I love anything dainty,” she says. “We absolutely did not want a wedding that was stuffy and serious.” What she did want was a whimsical, romantic feel, like a dream from the 1940s. With that in mind, Jaime Jones of Bella Flora set about giving the pair an evening of simple elegance and down-to-earth fun.

The November 6, 2011, wedding took place at sunset at Vaquero Golf Club in Westlake. To acoustic guitar music, the family, wedding
party, and bride walked down an aisle lined with lanterns, each topped with a single flower. The couple said their vows outdoors, under an arch of flowers and a big oak tree.

For the reception, Jaime transformed the porch of Vaquero into an enchanting, fairy-tale scene, with a big white tent, an abundance of flowers, and candlelight. Maegan loves antiques and vintage decor, so Jaime topped wooden tables with vintage mercury glass and clear glass vessels filled with garden roses, peonies, hydrangea, Queen Anne’s lace, and lisianthus. Dark wood Chiavari chairs, crystal stemware, heavy Jan Barboglio chargers, and colorful Sevres dinnerware completed the table settings.

“She wanted a very eclectic, Anthropologie-style wedding,” Jaime says. To accomplish that, the designer layered a variety of textures and colors and planted unexpected, nontraditional personal touches, such as birch-wrapped votives and vintage hankies.

“I loved every detail,” Maegan says, always smiling.

RESOURCES
Ceremony Site: Vaquero Golf Club
Photographer: Sara Donaldson
Bridal Gown Designer: Monique Lhuillier
Bridal Gown Retailer: Neiman Marcus
Hair: April Ruiz, Pure Colour
Groom’s Attire: Neiman Marcus
Bridesmaids Dresses: Laundry by Shelli Segal
Bridesmaids Dresses Retailer: Bloomingdale’s
Flowers: Bella Flora
Reception Site: Vaquero Golf Club
Cake: Panini Bakery & Cakes; Vaquero Golf Club
Caterer: Vaquero Golf Club
Band: Mars Hill Band; Don Shannon (bagpipes); Terry Hankins (guitar)
Lighting: Absolute
Transportation: G&G Limousine
Invitations: Paradise Design
Calligrapher: Tara Jones Calligraphy
Fireworks: Atlas Fireworks Factory
Wedding Rentals: Bella Flora
Wedding Planner: Jaime Jones, Bella Flora
Wedding Designer: Bella Flora