An Engagement Session on MU Campus | Becca + Justin
I dare you find someone as sweet and as kind as Ms. Becca. I first met her a few years ago back when I was still a Jazzercise Instructor (I’ll get there again someday…). She was one of those faces in my class who was a little ray of sunshine; it was always going to be a wonderful class with Becca present. I often spent time after class getting to know Becca, and one day she told me that when she and Justin got engaged, she was going to hire me to help her plan their wedding.
Justin and Becca are incredibly compassionate people. They love deeply, and I know that their marriage will be tremendous blessing. We’ve had a lot of fun getting to know these two better over the last several months, and we’re excited to celebrate their wedding day at a place very special to them: the Lodge of Four Seasons, a destination hotel located at the Lake of the Ozarks.
To learn more about Becca and Justin and hear a bit more about their planning experience, be sure to keep reading.
Many thanks to our super vendor friend, Toni Wieberg Photography, for sharing these images with our team!
Tell me about how you and justin met.
We always talk about how timing truly mattered when it came to us even becoming a couple. My sister and brother-in-law tried to set Justin and me up back in 2016; I was about to graduate college and continue my education, gaining my Master's. Sarah had gone on and on about how sweet Justin was and that he was! However, the timing was not on our side because I heard he was "moving" to Alaska (which was only for the summer) led me to believe he was not my person and that it would not work out. It is funny because we both kind of stopped talking to each other, and I feel like timing played a big part in that.
Fast forward to 2018, I was in a relationship and moved to Nebraska, it was not a good relationship, and it always brought me back to the thought of Justin and how I passed up on such a good guy. It was not long after that I realized I was in the wrong relationship, and we ended things, which led me to reach out to Justin and ask if we could hang out when we would both finally be in the same room actually to meet. We finally met at my sister and brother-in-law's wedding, and we hit it off. Justin's awkward "Hey how's it going" led to the next night of laughing, drinking, and dancing the night away. The funny thing is that we had decided to sign their guest book together, which we then wrote Justin hearts Becca. I guess that is true because, in May of 2019, I moved back to Missouri (Columbia), and Justin asked me to be his girlfriend; the rest is history, and we have been inseparable since!
Who proposed? Tell me about it!
Justin proposed on March 12, 2021, a night I will never forget. Justin and I talked about how our relationship was getting stronger, more serious, and moving forward. I would always ask Justin if we could look at engagement rings, and I would always get the not yet. Timing finely was right when I asked in February of 2021 to look at rings yet again. Justin agreed, and we went to Buchroeders, where I fell in love with a pear ring. Surprisingly, it was one of the first rings Justin agreed that he loved too! He bought it and told me though we had bought the ring together, it was now his time to surprise me when he would ask me to marry him. He did just that; he worked so hard to create the perfect night for us! I had a feeling it was coming considering he told me to dress nice and look nice and be ready to go by 6:30 that night. I started putting it together when he had me be ready for the reservation two hours beforehand! My mom and sister tried to tell me they did not think it was happening, but rather we were going out for drinks before dinner. We got downtown, and Justin thought I had caught on when his mom's Explorer was parked right where we needed to get out; lucky for him, I was still trying to figure out what we were doing downtown that I did not see his mom's car. We got out, and the rain had altered Justin's plans a little; we went under the arch by the school of journalism on Mizzou's campus. Justin had his brother, future sister-in-law, and mom put candles under the arch with a bottle of champagne waiting for us. He also had his brother capture it all on video and his sister-in-law taking pictures when he got down on one knee. The funny thing is, right before he got down on one knee, he said to me, "Isn't this funny that this is all set up like this," which made me believe we were ruining someone else's proposal; thankfully, we weren't! We then celebrated our engagement at CC's Broiler and had the best time celebrating our engagement! The next day, we went to see our venue, and it felt like the greatest weekend ever!
How did you pick the lodge of four seasons as your wedding venue?
We decided that the Lodge of Four Seasons would be the perfect wedding venue because it held a special place in our hearts. We went to the Lodge last June when we had spent several months apart due to the pandemic. We decided we needed to have a weekend getaway at the lake. We had the best time, and the Lodge felt perfect and made us fall more in love with each other. I knew then that if the time came that the Lodge would be where Justin and I should get married. Justin told me on the way home that he knew he wanted to spend forever with me after that weekend and had fallen more in love with me when we were on a boat and rain started pouring, and I did not complain once! The lake and Lodge hold a special place in our hearts, and we are excited it gets to be where we have our big day!
How did you find all of your vendors?
I found all of my vendors through Plan it Terra! I would be lost right now without Terra's suggestions for vendors and would not have the best people creating our big day! Terra has an amazing list of vendors and has found the perfect vendors that fit us as a couple and our personalities!
So far, what aspect of planning has been the most enjoyable?
The aspect of planning the wedding that has been the most enjoyable has been getting to meet vendors that Terra suggests and getting to still have a say in the process of who we think and connect with. I have loved getting to say my ideas and thoughts and knowing that vendors I am connected with will create them! I also love that I can go to Terra for any thought that has consumed my mind and that she will have an answer or suggestion to ease my mind!
Do you have any advice for recently engaged couples?
My advice for recently engaged couples to help them stay stress-free throughout the planning process is to get a wedding planner! It may seem excessive or unneeded, but I would be lost without the Plan it Terra crew and would be panicking, stressing out, and worried about how this wedding will turn out! Hiring a wedding planner doesn't take away from you and your ideas, but rather thought out and heard more. If you want your wedding planning to be stress-free and fun for you, your fiance, and your family, then you should think about hiring a wedding planner, especially the Plan it Terra team!
What are you most excited about for the day of the wedding?
What I am most excited about for the day of the wedding is getting to marry my best friend and celebrate our love with our friends and family. Each aspect of our day has special meaning to us growing as a couple, and I am ready to start the next part of my life becoming Mrs. Phillips and creating a life and family with Justin as my husband. I'm excited to have our day created perfectly for our personalities and get to spend the day having fun and gaining memories that will last a lifetime.
what are three words to describe the feel of your upcoming wedding?
Romantic/Loving, Genuine, and Timeless
What made you decide to hire a planner?
I can always remember thinking about how I would need a planner for my wedding when the time came. However, it happened to work out that when I started going to Jazzercise that my sister said I would love this particular instructor named Terra. It just so happens my sister was right, and I loved going to Terra's classes because she motivated me not only in workouts but as well as showing my passion for work and the things we love doing. Terra's passion for wedding planning was shown and talked about in her classes, and I knew from that moment I would need Terra to plan my wedding. I then started following Terra on her social media pages, and the topics she would bring up about wanting couples to be stress-free and enjoy their big day made me want to hire a wedding planner even more. However, I knew I could not just hire any wedding planner, I needed someone with a fun, creative, and loving personality, and Terra fits all of those! Terra has such a passion for making dream weddings come true, and I could not think of a better person to plan my wedding. When you see people who are passionate about what they do, you know they will do whatever it takes to get the job done, and I know my wedding will be amazing because of Terra, the amazing vendors she knows, and her lovely team that put their love, hard work, and passion into creating beautiful weddings!
Hey, I’m Terra!
Born and raised in Missouri, I’m a grateful wife and dog mom to my rescue pups, Hildi & Lola. I’m a true believer in the pursuit of bold dreams, learning from mistakes, and staying curious.
I'm a girl that lives in her Chacos during the summer, and I'm typically always wearing lipstick. Yes, red is my preference! When I'm not helping engaged couples plan weddings, you'll find me on stage teaching Jazzercise classes. Needless to say, creating engaging experiences that leave people feeling good afterwards is my passion. Seriously!
I’ve created this blog and my wedding packages to empower you to plan an awesome wedding day and put all of the stress and obligations straight into the dumpster! Now that sounds like a party.
