Classic Wedding at the Appleford Estate | Megan + Brendan

A backpacking trip to the Swiss Alps naturally involves a visit to the Matterhorn. But a proposal in view of that peak? Iconic. Much like the proposal location, some things are timelessly beautiful – like the classic bridal style Megan chose for her day.

From Matterhorn to Main Line

After soaking in the magic of their engagement and exploring more of Switzerland, Megan and Brendan headed home to plan their wedding. These two live in Utah with their adorable pup, but Megan grew up near Philadelphia, so a hometown wedding felt right. Though the cross-country distance meant Kodak couldn’t make the trip, he was there in spirit: he appeared on their cake, their custom matchboxes, and even made a surprise appearance via a life-sized fathead that Megan’s brother brought out during the reception.

Their Philadelphia Wedding at The Appleford Estate

Megan and Brendan’s day at The Appleford Estate was all the things classic wedding dreams are made of: A gorgeous, historic venue, outdoor ceremony in a lush garden, an elegant reception, a beaming bride in Esme, her off-the-shoulder ballgown wedding dress, and a gallant, tuxedo-clad groom. It was also playful, modern, and full of Megan, Brendan, and Kodak’s happy energy!

Read on to hear more about their celebration from Megan, plus see some amazing dance floor shots!

How did the two of you meet?

We met during our freshman year of college at a party, became friends and started dating early in our sophomore year.

Could you share your engagement story?

We graduated college in 2020 and had planned to go for a big trip backpacking in the Swiss Alps. That plan naturally got cancelled, so three years later when I graduated from my master’s program, we finally decided to take a trip to the Swiss Alps. Brendan planned to propose on the first day of our trip on a hike but the route he had planned was closed and he didn’t think it was the “perfect moment”. On the second day we took the funicular up a mountain to see a view of the Matterhorn, but the top of the mountain was snowier than expected and there was too much cloud cover. We stopped at 2 more stops along the mountain until Brendan found the perfect spot and proposed with a (only partial cloud covered) view of the Matterhorn.

What little detail or decision are you especially glad you included?

We live in Utah but got married in my hometown near Philadelphia. Because of the distance, our dog couldn’t be there for our wedding day so we tried to incorporate little details to make us feel like he was still included in our day. He was on our cake, and we included him in our matchboxes – his name is Kodak, so the matches said, “To a lifetime of Kodak Moments”. My brother also created a fathead of our dog’s head and brought this out during the reception which was so fun!

What unexpected moment brings a smile when you think back on your day?

The weather forecast for our wedding day was not looking great and showed rain throughout the day but stopping around the time our ceremony would start. Our venue was an outdoor ceremony and cocktail hour, with a tented reception and while we had a good rain plan, we really did not want to have to use it! There was on and off rain throughout our photo session before the ceremony, and about an hour before the ceremony was set to start and as we were taking family photos the rain picked up and it was absolute downpour for about 30 minutes. At the last minute though, the rain completely stopped, our incredible event team prepped the ceremony space and we were able to have an absolutely beautiful outdoor ceremony without any rain!