Ryanna and Sage - EngagedSNE

June 20, 2015

If their proposal isn’t enough to convince you how special these two are, their favors sure will. How many couples can say that their love inspired a new brew?

By Kaitlyn Murray

How and when did the two of you meet?

Ryanna: We met almost exactly four years before our wedding day, on June 17^th, 2011 at Waterfront Grill in Plymouth, Mass. Sage graduated from high school with one of my best friends. She invited me to go with her to a mini high school reunion that we were having and that’s when I met Sage. We had a lot of the same interests and ended up chatting all night.

You had such a fun proposal! What gave you the idea, Sage?

(Editor’s Note: Sage filmed the entire mystery proposal in segments and put the videos up on his YouTube page, check them out here!)

Sage: I originally had come across the Japanese puzzle box by accident and thought it would be cool to put the ring inside of it because Ryanna is a big fan of puzzles. Then it kind of grew from there. I had seen some videos in the past of people creating scavenger hunt proposals, so I thought this might be a cool way to do it and make it even more special for her (which I’m glad I did because it took her less than fifteen minutes to open up the puzzle box! I thought it would at least take a day or two!) Each puzzle I created kind of gave way to an idea to the next one and then I decided I would bring it full circle and lead her to the Waterfront Grill where I would propose.

Ryanna, did you have any idea what was really going on?

Ryanna: I had a feeling that there was going to be a proposal involved from the very beginning, but was not 100%. When I came to the last clue that lead us to the Waterfront Grill on December 28, I thought to myself, “This better be a proposal…” HAHA!

Why did you go with Whispering Pines for your venue?

Ryanna: Sage had come across some photos of a couple of weddings on Facebook that took place there and really liked the feel of the location, so we looked into it. We had wanted a destination wedding, but that was not feasible due to family members who were unable to travel, so we felt like this was a good compromise because we could stay at the venue for the entire weekend. Plus, we both love to camp, so we loved the idea of being able to end each night with a campfire surrounded by all of our close friends and family.

You guys got some pretty cool shots out on the kayaks the morning of. Was that planned?

Sage: We took them out just on a whim. Me and the groomsmen had a lot of free time in the morning [the day of the wedding] so we decided to take a lap around the pond.

What’s in the mason jars? Looks yummy!

Ryanna: I had set up a mimosa bar with an assortment of juices in the room where the girls were getting ready. While I was out having my first-look photos with Sage, the girls made mimosas with grape juice to match the colors of the wedding for us to have during our group photos.

I LOVE the pictures of Sage and the guys playing cards (reminds me of these pictures a bit), how did that come about?

Sage: I was searching online for groomsmen photo ideas and saw a few poker table shots. I knew that table was at the venue and thought it might make a cool shot. As I searched more online, I found a photo of another Whispering Pines wedding that had done it, which looked awesome, so I knew we had to try it.

Whose idea was it to have the bridesmaids take and wear the groomsmen’s socks at the reception?

Ryanna: This idea was concocted by the bridesmaids while we were out having a few formal pictures. We were not aware this was going on until right before we were introduced. We thought it was a great idea!

The beer bottles are such a great idea! What inspired you to make them?

The beer and bottles were actually a surprise from our best man. He works for a local brewery called Independent Fermentations in Plymouth, and they brewed a beer special for our wedding. It is Saison style beer brewed with Rye and Sage in honor of our names. It was called RySageon for the wedding, but is now sold locally as Rye and Sage Saison.

Are there any stand out moments from that day?

Ryanna: My favorite moment was dancing to the very last slow song of the evening, “You and Tequila” by Kenny Chesney. I felt we finally had a moment to ourselves where there was a little less attention on us because this song had no special designation in the reception. However, this song has very special meaning to us, which is apparent in our engagement.

Sage: Same for me. The DJ played it after our planned last song so we were not expecting it.

Now that it’s almost been a year, what’s been your favorite part about being married?

Ryanna: We have really enjoyed planning out future together. We recently bought a home in New Hampshire and are expecting our first child in November, but neither of these experiences have been without obstacles. It has been amazing having each other to share these experiences with and lean on when times get tough.

All images by: Heather Chick Photography