Inside a fall wedding at the Missouri History Museum

Meghan Robinson and Randy Birkenmeier spent their first date... house-hunting?

by Erica Sloan

March 1, 2017

2:27 PM

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Photo by Carretto Studio

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Photo by Carretto Studio

Courtship: In July 2013, Detroit native Meghan Robinson moved from her home in Washington, D.C. to St. Louis in order to be closer to her grandfather. Within her first month in the city, a friend asked Meghan to attend a group dinner, where she ended up sitting next to Randy Birkenmeier, an engineer born and raised in the St. Louis area. “She had called on people from a couple different circles,” Meghan says of the dinner. “It was really just a hodgepodge group, but Randy and I enjoyed each other’s company.”

At the time, Randy was starting to look for a new house in order to minimize his commute to work, and Meghan, being new to the area, decided to join him on the first day of his hunt. “She thought it would just be one or two homes,” Randy says, “but it ended up being seven—really a whole day.” The house hunting turned into happy hour, which turned into dinner and an after-dinner drink: “A long first date,” Randy says, laughing.

Proposal: Two years later, in July of 2015, Meghan and Randy planned a night at the Missouri Botanical Garden for the Japanese Lantern Festival. “He led me to an area that’s a little courtyard close to the main pavilion as we were on our way back,” Meghan says. “It was just us, but in a really beautiful place—which is an amazing balance to strike.”

Ceremony & Reception: On October 8 of 2016, Meghan and Randy tied the knot at the Missouri History Museum. “We both wanted a venue that wasn’t just a place where people have events but was a place outside of that, too," Meghan says. The goal of the décor was to elevate the natural beauty of the museum itself, in a way that was elegant and timeless. “I’m a details gal,” Meghan says, “but we didn’t go over the top. I want to be able to look back 10 years from now and still think the style was reflective of our personalities.”

The Details:

Venue: Missouri History Museum

Photography: Carretto Studio

Wedding coordinator: Flourish Events & Concierge

Catering: Butler's Pantry

Cake: Lubeley's Bakery

Flowers: Bloomin' Buckets

Band: Downtime Band

Hair and makeup: Caitie Stark

Dress: Morilee Blu from The Ultimate Bride

Shoes: Shoes of Prey

Rings: Elleard Heffern Fine Jewelers