Unless you’ve been living under the Beta rock for the past week and a half (or have just been locked in your carrels this whole time – sorry, seniors), our favorite AVI worker and Facebook celebrity got married last week. That’s right, Chef Meagan Worth-Cappel is now officially Mrs. Stewart! (You hear that? Hearts, breaking.) I sat down with my campus bestie this week to bring you all the juicy details on the most important wedding of the year; so grab a slice of pizza cookie and let’s get to it!
Chef Meagan, you caused a lot of excitement on campus last week with the spur-of-the-moment announcement of your wedding! Any reason why you didn’t tell us sooner?
Once we found out, we let you guys know. You were the first one! I guess you told some friends, because the Collegian ended up writing a piece about it a week after and that’s how everyone found out!
How long have you and Lawrence known one another?
We’ve known each other since we were about 19. We worked at PF Chang’s together back then. We dated for a bit, but he wasn’t very mature and I was very focused on my career. We separated and lived our lives apart but kept in contact through Facebook.
A few years ago, we had the power outage here at Kenyon and so I had two days off. I had nothing to do, so I ended up reconnecting with him through Facebook. I sent him a message, and we ended up hanging out. I vividly remember being sweaty and gross in my house and him telling me he’d be over in an hour. I had to take a shower for him! But we had a lot of fun and started hanging out from there.
Soon after he had a really bad car accident and shattered his leg. This lady ran through a stop sign and pushed his vehicle into a tree and left him there unconscious. He was in the hospital for a while and that put him in stark realization of what he really wanted and needed in life. That really brought us closer together. He made a big effort – he called me a lot and I visited him a lot at the hospital. We made the relationship work from there. We’ve been together two and a half years.
When did you know he was ‘the one?’
It’s funny, because when we first dated we got along really well and that’s such an important thing. I remember saying “I think I might marry this guy.” It’s cliché to say, but we clicked! And like, twelve years later it finally came into fruition.
He turned out to be a really great guy and not a douchebag, which is awesome. A year into it I could see myself with him. I really could, whereas I couldn’t with other guys. You have to be each other’s best friends.
How did he propose?
Like I said, we’re best friends so we tell each other everything, and that’s really important in telling this story! He started creating my engagement ring in September and wanted to tell me all about it but couldn’t because he wanted it to be a surprise. But it was really hard for him because we tell one another everything. He created the ring himself: picked out the diamond, designed it and molded it…
Well, there’s the original proposal plan and the actual proposal. We had a big get-together with my family two days before Christmas, and that’s when he was going to originally propose. He wanted to do it in front of all of the family. It turns out the ring was only ready a day late – the ring people text him that morning and said the ring wasn’t set and ready. So that didn’t work.
I was home the next day, relaxing on Christmas Eve. He came in from work and disappeared upstairs. He immediately comes back down the front hall. He says “Hey babe, I’ve got an ornament for you,” and so I came to meet him by the front door, and he was on his knee. He said, “I love you with all of my heart and I want nobody else to be the mother of my children and my wife. You’re my best friend and complete every ounce of me. And I want you to be there with me every day of my life.” I said yes, of course.
I later found out he had gotten the ring immediately after work, so the moment he got home he couldn’t wait. He said it was burning a hole in his pocket!
You got married pretty soon after the proposal, but you’re planning your reception for 2016. Why did you choose to structure your ceremony like this?
We really didn’t have a set date, the marriage itself was very spur of the moment. We didn’t know whether we wanted a big wedding or not, originally. But we decided that people get too stressed over this special day and don’t get to enjoy it – so we wanted to do the legal thing first and enjoy ourselves a little while after. We want to really enjoy the reception next year! It took a lot of pressure off, for sure.
What was the ceremony like?
It’s weird, Ohio doesn’t have courthouse weddings anymore. Columbus has these Vegas-style wedding chapels, though, so Lawrence randomly booked this place in Gahanna. It looked really nice in the pictures! Just like an actual chapel. The lady who ran it spoke like twelve different languages and was really culturally involved. We liked her a lot so we decided to do it in her establishment!
So, I take all this time getting dressed and ready. Lawrence also took his time and we both looked really good. We leave the house to go get married and Google Maps is telling us where to go. We’re driving down and all we see is residential, though. At this point, I looked at Lawrence and said: “If this place is a house I will kick your ass.”
We eventually arrive and it turns out it’s a house with a roundabout. We go in and this lady is super excited that we were there. It was just the two of us for that time, so she led us down to the basement where she had this smaller chapel. She had a toy poodle named Babar whom she laid down in a crate off to the side. So she married us, and it was a lovely ceremony. We teared up at the vows. At the end, I looked at Lawrence and said “This will be a cool story for our child – the crazy vow ceremony we had!” It was a very nice ceremony. It was hilarious.
Our family joined us for a really nice dinner afterwards. Lawrence didn’t smash the wedding cake in my face and ruin my makeup, which was fantastic.
You always dress impeccably and your make-up is on point every day! What were your hair and make-up like on the big day?
I had somebody do my hair, but she kind of did a really bad 80s prom hairdo. My hair was so hair-sprayed that I had to wash my bangs and get everything on point afterwards. I did my own make-up myself. I went with a nice, romantic, blushing bride look.
I just wore a lace blush dress with a nice white blazer. I love blazers! The real dress comes afterwards, though. It’ll be an awesome, ombré Sex and the City type deal dress. I’m really excited.
What are you planning for your big reception next year?
Well, like I said, I’ll pick out a nicer dress for the ceremony. I’ll have a bubble tea bar and a martini bar, so I can double-fist it. It’ll be a lot of fun. We’re going to have it catered. I really like spicy food, as you know, but we’re probably also going to have a generic, mild food option. My mom can’t stand spicy food! I will have a great cake – I don’t know the flavor yet. I’m totally excited about doing a tasting, though! That’ll be difficult, though, because obviously I have a very discerning palate.
You also have great taste in music. What are your plans for your wedding tunes?
I don’t know! Chef Nick might sing, but I have a feeling that would turn my reception into a really bad version of “The Wedding Singer.” I obviously love music, so I would have to go with an awesome band. I want a band that could play the variety of music I like. My Pandora goes from Marina and the Diamonds to Juanes, so it’s very eclectic. But I definitely want some Latin flair in there!
Finally, what’s the best part of married life so far?
I think just being able to say “I’m so excited for my husband to come home to me.” I caught myself saying that in my head before we were even engaged. Now I’m so happy I get to say it and it’s true!
Congratulations from us all, Chef Meagan and Lawrence!