Reminder: book your rooms by June 13th to ensure that your room will be in the same location of the hotel as the rest of our party. Also, you will want to take advantage of the great group rate ($66 which includes tax and 2 breakfast tickets per room!) Even if you are local...you may want to take advantage of the hotel since there is a shuttle service taking you to and from the wedding!
Our Story...
Tell us your Dream Couple™ Story (how you met, the engagement, etc. We want the full scoop).
Once upon a time, in a far away place called B Street Theatre in Sacramento, two actors started rehearsal for a stage production of Rumplestiltskin. Megan, a recent college graduate, had just begun a ten month internship with the theatre. Peter, a veteran actor with the theatre, had also completed the internship several years prior. It was not love at first sight but if every story started with a happy ending, you wouldn’t have a story.
Megan: The first time Peter told me he loved me it was before we started dating. We were in rehearsal and, on a short break, I decided to play around on a nearby piano. He said “Megan, I love you, but will you PLEASE STOP PLAYING THE PIANO?” I was plunking out the same phrases over and over since I only had a small portion of a song memorized. My initial thought was, who is this jerk?
Peter: We weren’t very fond of each other as far as first impressions go. She was a fresh fish at the theatre and I thought, who is this goofball? I didn’t take the time to explain to her that my mother had been a piano teacher my whole life and the repetitious sounds of simple piano-ing had become “nails on a chalkboard”.
Time Changes Everything
Once the show opened, Peter was cast in another show at the theatre that ran in the evenings and Megan too was eventually put on that show doing work backstage. There was a point when they were doing 17 shows a week together! Soon, first impressions wore off and they were able to learn more about one another.
Megan: We started to spend all of our time together, even outside of work. As an intern, your work schedule included 12-14 hours a day, six days a week, with a day off if you were lucky. There was never a lot of time to rest, let alone eat! It was so wonderful that Peter had completed the internship years prior because he truly understood what I was going through and knew how to be supportive. He started inviting me to spend breaks with him and brought me lattes or breakfast to my dressing room before shows- just little things. I’d make sure his costume (which always ripped) was sewn up properly and I always found my way next to him in his dressing room or conveniently close to him on the couch in the green room, backstage. It was truly a sweet start.
Peter: What first caught my attention was how hard she worked. Both on and off stage. The internship can be brutal—lots of manual labor and hard hours—but Megan always seemed to be undaunted by it. Not only that, but she always had a great attitude. I was starting to realize that this girl was truly remarkable. Another surprise was the fact that I couldn’t find a single person to say anything negative about Megan. And in a gossip-central, drama-loving theatre hub, this was an enigma. She seemed to be perfect. I later found out…she was. After getting ample time to know each other, I started to discover how wonderfully complex Megan was and as first impressions started to melt away, I found myself falling in love with her.
Megan: He tried to kiss me twice. The first time, I honestly couldn’t tell if he was shooting for my cheek or my mouth so I went the safe route and gave him my cheek. I was so nervous!!! The next time he tried, it was all my fault! I ended up turning my cheek and hugging him instead. WHY!?!
Peter: I wanted to kiss her from pretty early on, but I hadn’t found the right opportunity. One night, after hanging out at her place, I was saying goodbye to her on her porch and I tried to kiss her. She turned her face and gave me the cheek. What? I went away pretty dejected. Was my radar off? I thought the signals I was getting were pretty clear. Our first official date would be later that week at a Sacramento minor-league baseball game. Before the game, I went over to Megan’s for a BBQ. At one point we found ourselves alone in the kitchen and I tried once again to kiss her. Once again, rejection. She subsided the awkwardness, though, by giving me a long heartfelt hug. This made me think, maybe it’s the timing? Later that evening, at my apartment, we were getting ready to go to the ballgame and surprise ending: SHE ended up kissing ME. She saw the puzzled look in my face as I tried to piece together where this came from, especially after two hardcore rejection!
s. She quickly reassured me, “I’m just shy”. The baseball game ended up being a really special date. Afterwards, we went to my apartment and stayed up half the night talking and sharing unrejected kisses.
Megan: That night of our first date was amazing. He made me laugh and feel at ease. I felt like I could completely be myself around him. He asked me everything about my life, good and bad, and somehow he knew more about me after one night than people who had known me for years. It was an instant bond, an instant trust which laid the foundation for our entire relationship. I thought the sparkly honeymoon stage of our relationship would eventually wear off as months went by, but it never did! Peter is so romantic and was constantly doing sweet things for me and I always returned the gesture. I think that is what is so great about us. At the end of the day, we feel most content just by making each other happy.
Fall Ended…
Peter left Sacramento to go back to LA while Megan finished up her internship and began a job in Chicago that would last until the following summer. Having horrible experiences in the past with long distance relationships, Peter decided it was best to end things
Peter: When I left Sacramento, I remember thinking those five months went by in a snap…I could do this for years with this girl. Decades. But at that point, Megan would be moving to Chicago and I was pretty sure she wouldn’t be happy in LA. It was a sad time.
Megan: I knew that we couldn’t be together at the time, but there was no doubt in my mind that we would end up together. I was done. He was it for me but I knew that I had to be patient while he figured out that I was right for him. Luckily it didn’t take long.
Peter: I never felt good about us ending the relationship. It was only a matter of weeks apart before I realized that the fears and apprehensions I had about us being together were truly immature and unfounded. I realized that I couldn’t hold Megan to the trials and tribulations of relationships past for one simple reason: she was unlike any girl I had ever met. So when she called and asked if I wanted her to come and visit for Christmas, it was a no-brainer. Of course I wanted her there. I wanted her with me….always.
The Proposal- Denali National Park, Alaska
Peter: I had been to Alaska years prior, and after travelling all over the world, it still stood out to me as the most beautiful place I had ever seen. I wanted to share it with Megan and I wanted it to be very special. After saving for months, and planning every detail, I somehow managed to put together a pretty good trip. We flew into Anchorage, trained up to Denali, and spent several days in some of the most beautiful surroundings you can imagine. I rented us a quaint little cabin outside Denali National Park (Mt. McKinley, the highest point in North America). We then took a shuttle bus into the heart of the park, an area preserved to the way it looked over 2,000 years ago—untouched landscapes, wild animals roaming free. See a short clip of our fun bear footage at: (http://www.youtube.com/user/muchadobenedic#p/a/u/0/hIqW68zqYms). I wanted the proposal to be memorable and I wanted it to be very intimate. Knowing Megan, I was sure that something public would be very embarrassing for her. Arriving at our destination in the park, we went off on our own, hiking up a small mountain. At the top, overlooking a gorgeous mountain range and serene valley, I turned off the camcorder and proposed. It was perfect. I turned the camcorder back on and interviewed her, only to find out that she knew I was going to propose the whole time.
Megan: Peter actually thought that he could plan a trip that elaborate and I wouldn’t suspect what it was all about. He said the trip was for my birthday, but I knew the real reason. But even though I had a good idea he was going to propose at some point in the trip, when he actually asked me to marry him I found myself completely surprised. I was so excited I almost tackled him, and after holding him tight for a long time… I said yes. I was so excited in the moment that I even forgot to look at the ring. He had to put in front of my face for me to notice it. The whole thing was so romantic. I found out later that he had asked my parents’ permission at the rehearsal dinner for my brother’s wedding a few months prior. It had not been easy for him because he had just met my dad for the first time that day. Peter is a true gentleman.
Bridal Registry
Bed, Bath and Beyond - Registry #5568972
Target - Registry #013399700444985
Crate & Barrel - Registry #4527377
In lieu of gifts, Megan and Peter would also like to offer the opportunity for guests to donate to the Lake Avenue Community Center.
Learn more about this organization here
Make a gift contribution here
Hotel & Lodging Information
Hotel reservations can finally be made. You can choose between a room with a king size bed or two double beds. The price per night will be $66.00 which includes taxes. An additional fee of $15.00 is charged if you need a roll away bed. A few adjoining rooms are available on a first come, first serve basis. Two breakfast tickets will be included per room, per day. Reservations can be made by calling the Grand Vista Hotel in Simi Valley and mentioning the reservation is for the O'Neil/Story wedding. Please call and ask to speak with Tawny to make the reservation. She works 9 to 5 most days (PST). Her number is (805) 583-4000. Group rates will expire June 13.
SHUTTLE INFORMATION:
For those of you staying at the hotel, there will be a shuttle van that will take you to the wedding and back. Sign up for a time slot at the hotel front desk. Eat, drink and be merry (and don't worry about driving home!)
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