Michael Bunch

Michael Bunch is my older brother, and therefore he was my first friend.  Michael is 10 years older than me so he put me and Cody up to a lot of things when we were younger, usually things he thought were funny. 

 Don’t get me wrong I had a lot of fun with those sticks he cut and let me and Cody fight it out Ninja Turtle style and with my cardboard box armor he made so he and my cousin, Chris, could throw dirt clods at me. I had the time of my life! He let us do stuff that mom and dad wouldn't and we usually didn't get in trouble unless Cody would tell on us.  

Some of my fonder memories of when we are older are going camping and Mike trying to kick a raccoon that was in our camp and shooting bottle rockets on New Year’s Eve at Lindsey and Nathan’s house.  Mike taught me a lot of things through the years like how to take things back at Wal-Mart without a receipt and how to get correct change at Taco Bell.  And Megan is lucky to be getting a brother-in-law like him; it’s always good to have a heating and air guy in the family!

Kayla Coward

First of all, I want to say thank the good Lord above for Kayla Coward!!

Our first encounter was completely random, which should have been a clue as to how the rest of our friendship was going to be. I was finishing up at ICC, Kayla was finishing up at EMCC, and we were all getting ready to transfer to the W in the fall. The W has a big scholarship program and a big day to apply for the big scholarship. Lucky for us, that big day happened to fall during the time that we were both going on Spring Break mission trips, so the people at the W graciously allow us to come interview early. When I interviewed, Kayla Coward was sitting in the same room and before I knew it we were chatting it up about going to Alaska and San Francisco. Next thing I know, we were both living in the Wavorly Apartment Complex in Columbus.

I cannot count the number of times that she has busted into my apartment and asked what was for lunch, the number of times that I have had to tell her to shut up during Grey's Anatomy, or how often she has made fun of my lack of cooking skills and my inability to peel a potato. Kayla was literally the only person that I met at the W that I am still friends with. Considering the pickings there, I consider myself lucky. :)

After spending a year at the W, I transferred to State. One would think that that would have dampened our friendship, but it didn't. Of course we didn't eat lunch together anymore, but anybody that knows Kayla Coward know what she doesn't meet a stranger, so she just made friends with everyone in Starkville! I swear that she knows more people in Starkville than I do!

We have had our fair share of time spent on the road too. Be it on the way to Florida with Judy Faye calling every 5 minutes, on the way to Atlanta with Judy Faye still calling every 5 minutes, or heck.. driving around Noxapater with Judy Faye still calling every 5 minutes. Seriously though, if I had to recommend any one of my friends to be a taxi driver in New York City or to win the Daytona 500, she's the one. Girl can drive.

I didn't think twice about asking Kayla to be a bridesmaid. She's been with me through a lot of life's seasons and she's going to be one of those friends that buys smocked outfits and hairbows for the little Bunch children. Annnnnnnnnnnd she named me Mego. :)

Adam Frederick

Adam Frederick or as we call him most of the time "Fred", has been my bud from way back. We have been friends since elementary school and were roommates at Ole Miss. Sometimes he can be hard to get a hold of, but he will always be there when it counts. He is our groups "coach." He is always ready for a good time. You know if you see this guy dressed in a sweater vest, red and blue pom pom in his back pocket, and mustard in his beard, its going to be a great day in Vaught- Hemingway Stadium.

Any of the epic stories or memories I have usually involve Adam, from him taking the microphone from Elvis at Karaoke and singing a Miley Cyris song to our trips to Panama City and Biloxi, Adam is usually the source of entertainment. He is also a great guy to go to get a biscuit with in the morning. I probably would not be marrying Megan if not for his encouragement and coaching up. He was also voted "Most Swag" of all my friends, by a third party.

Jessica Porter

Out of the six girls that I chose as my bridesmaids, I have known Jessica for the least amount of time. I first encountered Jessica when I started at Mississippi State in the August of 2009. My very first Bulldog activity was the famous BASIC training weekend at the BSU, where Jessica and just so happened to be in the same purple group. We were both transfer kids, me from the W and her from MCC. Both baby fish in the big ocean of Stark Vegas. Lucky for us,

the fun didn't end with the weekend because the purple group lasted all semester!

I'm pretty sure that it was the joy of making fun of Helen Keller that launched our friendship. Whether it was "what was Helen Keller's favorite color? Corduroy." or "How did Helen Keller meet her husband? On a blind date," we usually spent more time laughing in Bible study than we did reading The Word. I should probably take a moment to apologize to Tara, Reed, and the Good Lord. But hey, they wanted us to make friends, right?

Jessica was my much-needed adventure buddy while I was in Starkville. We have done everything from ring our cowbells at Davis Wade Stadium, geocached our way around Starkville, to post-it note, ummmmmmmmm.., some of our friends' apartment. Some of my favorite memories from State involve making an Alabama left in a square with Porter in the MSU Horse Barn. Lord help us with our square dancing skills. We've dated roommates, and then broke up with roommates (btw Jessica, you should have told me earlier that that I was being an idiot). One summer I messaged her and asked if she was up for driving to Monroeville, Alabama to celebrate the anniversary of "To Kill a Mockingbird." Of course she was, so Mallory, Brittney,

and I swung by Meridian and picked her up for a day of driving around South Alabama. Twas a fun day!

After our first year at State, Jessica moved in with AK and Anna and became my neighbor! It was there that we framed her for stealing a Bully bike. :) Then, she went off to grad school in that rotten city across the state line. The fun didn't end there because I still get random books with pencil drawings of animals and text messages, most of which include pictures, of some of lifes funniest moments. It is Jessica Porter whom I credit for allowing me to realize just how many weird people there are in Starkville, Tuscaloosa, Meridian, and Shannon, and that those people many have just been placed there for us to get a chuckle out of.

I picked Jessica to be a bridesmaid because she's probably one of the most mischievous people that I know. And I figure that she'll do one heck of a job decorating our get-away car. Don't let me down. :)

Cody Bunch

Cody is my breakfast hating younger brother. He is also my best man.

Even though we don’t live together anymore we still see each other a lot because we bother work together so we also ride to work together. Cody has been there through all the bumps in life.

We aren’t a lot alike, I like sports, Cody hates sports, I like hanging out with people, Cody like his solitude, I like coffee, Cody likes juice (so much so that was his nickname for a while).

Several of my friends don’t have brothers, Cody is like everybody’s little buddy. We all respect him and know he is a smart guy, but I love seeing Adam Frederick (one of the other groomsmen aggravate him about something or try to talk him into doing something stupid.

He is also one of the biggest Led Zeppelin fans I know.

Meet the Wedding Party

The very first thing on our list of things to do was to pick the wedding party. Every one that we picked means a great deal to both Ben and I, so we both wanted to take the time to tell the rest of the world why it is that we picked them.

Here goes..

He Popped the Question

I haven't had a chance to sit down and write how he did it because I have been running around like a beheaded chicken for the past two months, but thanks to a bad case of laryngitis and a few days off work, today is the day that you read all about it. It really was romantic. :)

As you all know, in November State sealed the deal to become bowl eligible with a win against Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. #hailstate The fact that I sweet-talked him into going is pretty remarkable, but I guess that the love of SEC football won out over the sheer hatred for cowbells and Ben agreed to go to Nashville for the Music City Bowl. I'm sure that that little rascal already had proposal plans up his sleeve though.

Let me just stop right here and say that I have been suspicious about a ring for some time now. I mean, I've known him since my mom drug us over to Mrs. Marcia's and we played with Ben and Cody's hamsters and looked at their Star Wars collection. We've been dating for, give or take a little, a year and a half. At first I was thinking, "Maybe he'll have something planned for after graduation." Graduation came.. no ring. Then I thought, "Maybe he's planning something special for Christmas." Christmas came and went.. no ring. What really got me going was the few weeks before we left for Nashville. He obviously lost his mind for a few seconds, because he would grab my hands at opportune times and shoot me those dreamy brown eyes and say, "Megan... would you make me the happiest man alive and go get me a Coke?" One day he even got a gigantic plastic ring from TI and slipped in on my finger when we were saying our goodbyes. I'm not kidding.

The Bulldogs won the bowl game on the 30th and we decided to spend the extra night in Nashville for New Years Eve. After all, Lynard Skynard was performing a free concert on Broadway and you know that I love Broadway in Nashville. We had spent New Years Eve day just gally vanting around Nashville at the Parthenon, piddlin' at the mall, and dragging Ben into JoAnn's giant superstore.

There isn't really a whole lot that I keep from Ben, especially if something is on my mind.. so I just asked him if he was going to propose that that. It did seem like the perfect time, after all. New Years Eve. We were alone. It was time!! That boy was as cool as a cucumber! He told me that we would have to buy a ring before he could do that and that he hadn't even talked to my dad. I didn't know it then, but I do now. He's a convincing lier. I believed him and didn't suspect a thing!

So, we went out for a nice dinner and then headed for downtown Nashville. It was perfect.. we hit up a few of the honky tonks on Broadway and then headed to the pedestrian bridge that goes over the Cumberland River. I swear that I didn't even think about how romantic it was going to be there. I thought that we were just getting out of the crowd and going to take some pictures that I could post on Facebook and Instagram.

So, we're on the bridge and I suggest that we find somebody to take a picture of both of us because up until then we had just been acting retarded and making Filipino poses so that we could make fun of Cristal Bunch when we got home. :) Ben's eyes lit up and he said "yeah! Let me go see if I can get this fella to take our picture!" While he was off talking to the strangers, I was just clicking away pictures of the Nashville skyline.. not suspecting a thing. So, the sketchy-looking stranger with arms that were all tatted-up and a beer in his hand comes over to take a picture . He takes it, shows it to us, and Ben says, "why don't you take another one for kicks?" Before I know it, that boy was down on one knee with a ring in his hand. He was asking me to marry him!! Because of all of the Coke incidents and the giant fake ring, my first thought was naturally, "Is this real?!? Because if it's not, Ben Bunch is the biggest d bag in the entire planet!!" Like always, I asked him what was on my mind and he confirmed that it was, in fact, a real ring, and slipped it on my finger.

There was an awkward period with the tattoo fella and his girlfriend after that. I was wanting to scream and kiss, but they were just kind of looking at us. I mean, how do you thank someone for that? I think that I finally shook their hand or something and then we didn't know what to do. Can't act normal after something like that. So, we decided to leave the Downtown scene and head to none other than the classy Waffle House to call my family and act like giddy little kids. I called Mama and Daddy, but they already know. He lied about that part too. We decided to wait till we got home to tell Mrs. Marcia and Mr. Paul. I don't think that I've ever seen someone so excited. She hasn't stopped talking about it since. :)

The big day is July 14!