One of our final events of the fall was for a pair of locals who are oh, so hip and cool! Allison is part of the super talented graphic design firm Studio R Designs and we have treasured her creativity that she has given to many of our brides for the past few years. She always seems to be able to come up with fresh, modern design that is both classic and original. We love her!

She and her wonderful fiance Ben worked with us to plan both their November wedding at Lowndes Grove and Rehearsal dinner at the Carolina Yacht Club... you know… the place with the gorgeous views right on the edge of the Battery on East Bay Street?! With a larger-than-most guest count for the pre-wedding celebration (about 150 guests), we knew that we had to create a feel in the large room that was intimate and cozy.

We kept the linens simple solid navy and white poly from Snyder Event Rentals and the flowers streamlined (deconstructed arrangements from SYG Designs) but went bold on the lighting by TEC in installing lanterns over every singe table. This really brought the high ceilings down and helped us create the cozy feel of the night.

Allison designed all of the BEAUTIFUL printing (I think she described it as “french nautical”) and brought her own french nautical touches for the night as well… including the sea glass balls used on the dessert table and for every guest’s place card. I LOVED these beautiful touches!

It was a great night. My husband and I are friends of the couple and so we were able to actually attend as guests, too! And even though I was nearly 38 weeks pregnant, I still had a blast and relished being a guest… what fun! I ate delicious food, mingles with fun friends, I laughed, I cried (during both of the fathers’ speeches- what great dads these two have!)… it was a blast.

Juliet Jones came out to take photos- it was wonderful that we had someone to document the beautiful space as well as all of the fun moments. Make sure to at least consider hiring your photographer for your rehearsal dinner, too! I know after seeing these photos you’ll see why we always recommend it:

First, the invite… really set the tone for “french nautical,” don’t you think??

Love the beers in the old boat!

Here are Allison and Ben. Gosh, they just could not look more joyful about getting married, I just adore their smiles here and how they stayed on their faces the entire night!

The bride and her dad…

Everyone loving their place card favors!

Allison’s gorgeous mom… seriously, is she really her mom??

Ben’s dad, the host of the party along with his sweet mom, gave the most wonderful toast I think I have ever heard at a rehearsal dinner. It was genuine, heartfelt, poignant but concise. It had me crying that’s for sure! Ben and Allison could not have better parents to celebrate with and I think we ALL saw this that night.

Of course, there was room for some laughter with all the friends toast… Allison, I loved to find out that you stop every single morning at the same gas station to get your 1/2 coke, 1/2 diet coke mix. How quirky and funny!

And then there was the dancing… this little pregnant chica didn’t hit the dance floor as much as I usually do, but the Travis Allison Band had the rest of the guests dancing until the stroke of midnight and beyond. The perfect way to end a most celebratory night!

Stay tuned… wedding details to come next!!