Weddings Elegantly Designed » hydrangea

An Intimate Wedding at The William Aiken House

ashley — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:30:09 +0000

There’s just something swoon worthy about a small wedding with close family & friends to celebrate a new beginning. Chelsea & John were married downtown Charleston at the William Aiken House & their intimate wedding was full of personal details to set the tone for this romantic & chic wedding.

Vendors

Lighting- TEC

Florist- Sara York Grimshaw

Mason Jar Desserts- Wildflour Pastry

Photographer- Joshua Drake

Rentals- Snyder Event Rentals

Kiften & Will tie the knot in the garden…

ashley — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:00:46 +0000

Kiften and Will… gosh, I love these two. And their families. And their style. And their laid-back attitudes. I pretty much love everything about this power couple!

Kiften and Will are both in medicine at MUSC and with their hectic schedules, it left little time for planning. What was great about this couple was that they knew EXACTLY what they wanted- or, rather, exactly what they DIDN’T want. What they didn’t want was the stuffy, formal feel of some weddings they had been to in the past. What they did want was a fun al fresco dinner filled with lawn games, delicious drinks, easy southern food and plenty o’ dancing.

They fell in love with the Legare-Waring House and we managed to find of theme of “…in the garden.” We hoped to be able to achieve a casual elegance by imagining a home-spun soiree in the garden of a grand estate, and I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what we got.

With the amazing talent of our lighting friends at TEC, the floral expertise of SYG Designs, rentals by Snyder and photography by our friend Josh Drake, this is what came about from our garden vision…

(welcome packets were hand-stamped muslin bags filled with benne wafers and cheese zingers, made locally by the Olde Colony Bakery, and parkling water- below- refreshed guests before the ceremony)

The STUNNING bride Kiften:

Bridesmaids and the bride having fun before the wedding:

Can’t say the groomsmen weren’t having fun, either

The Avenue of Oaks ceremony!

Custom burlap runners on the seated tables + farmhouse tables = rustic chic

How ’bout that lighting! Go, TEC!

It’s not a wedding without dancing…

Love, love, love! Congrats, Kiften and Will!

My Best Friend’s Wedding

Hannah — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 01:44:27 +0000

Tax Day 2011 (AKA, April 15th) marked the wedding day of one of my best friends in the world. Actually, two of my best friends… Ed and Claire both! Thankfully it in no way was similar to the movie; rather, it was filled with LOTS of happy family, great food, tasty drinks, charming details and, overall, enveloped in a mood of celebration.

Their wedding was at the always-dreamy Lowndes Grove Plantation and another dear friend, Josh Drake, took the photos for the evening.

I’m not sure if it’s just because I love her so much, but Claire JUST may have been one of the most beautiful brides who has ever walked down an aisle…

(gorgeous flowers by SYG Designs)

The ceremony rocked (that’s me, matron of honor second away from the bride in a gorgeous Carol Hannah dress!)

The reception was absolutely stunning, too…

No, I don’t think these two were having ANY fun…

And I think this photo pretty much sums up JUST HOW pumped Ed was to marry this beautiful lady:

Congrats, Dr. and Mrs. O’Bryan! I love you both with all my heart!

Mandy and David

Hannah — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 19:14:43 +0000

Mandy and David were married at the Daniel Island Club in September and it was one of those wedding weekends in which our entire staff didn’t even feel like we were working at all! It was all so fun and relaxed and our vendors were such friends that it *almost* felt like we were guests ourselves.

The groom was cracking us all up and the bride was so laid back that I don’t think that even if anything DID go wrong she would have been thrown off…

And of course, working with the Daniel Island Club, Juliet Elizabeth Photography, Allure Salon, Old South Barber Spa, Studio R Designs, and Snyder Event Rentals made for an easy and relaxed weekend as well.

Take a look at all the fun times!

Cherokee Plantation, Night 2

Hannah — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:37:57 +0000

Night two of Cherokee Plantation’s 300 year celebration was another night not to be missed! Members invited their closest family and friends to attend a night of cocktails, dinner and dancing on the beautiful front and back lawns of the historic plantation house.

The night was just perfect… beautiful weather, a cool breeze, fun music and dancing and delicious food by Tidewater Catering.

The Plantation itself if just stunning and sure wasn’t a bad place to be spending the weekend, even if to be the ones behind the scenes putting on the party … the staff is so gracious, the members so wonderful and the ambience truly one of a kind.

Thanks so much for letting us be a part of this beautiful weekend, Cherokee Plantation!

Whitney and Daniel on The Wedding Row!

Hannah — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:01:32 +0000

Whoohoo, how gratifying to see photos of a wedding so quickly after the event… especially the wedding of Whitney and Daniel at The William Aiken House.

Marni took the photos for us and she just always blows us away with both the photos that capture all the candid emotion of the people and also all the beautiful details of the setting… thanks for passing these along, Marni!

And head on over to The Wedding Row to read about all the fun details… I always love her collages from the blog and they really bring the details to life.

Here’s a peak of the lovely October affair…

Congrats, Whitney and Daniel!

Flowers: Sara Grimshaw Designs

Cake: Jim Smeal

Venue: William Aiken House

Photographer: Marni Pictures

Catering: FISH

Ashley and Will

Hannah — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:02:29 +0000

Ashley is a dear friend of mine and is was SO MUCH FUN to help her with her June 2010 wedding at the Cathedral and Mills House!

What I loved is that Ashley completely trusted our vision for the colors, feel, etc. She would say, “I just can’t see it in my head at all, but I trust you!”

It all started around a gorgeous teal-toned bridesmaids dress that she chose. She really loved fresh, summery colors but wanted to make sure it all meshed well together. We brought in pale pinks, apricots, greens, pale blues and creams and I think the results were beautiful.

Here’s a peak of some of the photos that the lovely and talented Kate Thorton snapped for us that day…

Congrats to you both and I can’t wait to hang out with Mr. and Mrs. Jeter!

Bridal Portraits on your Wedding Day

Hannah — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:27:32 +0000

Taking bridal portraits is certainly an exciting wedding rite of passage, but let’s be honest: these days who really has the time for that? With most of our brides being a plane flight away from Charleston and in busy careers, many are opting to take their “portraits” on the actual wedding day.

Looking at these GORGEOUS photos of one of my favorite brides, Tara, by the super-talented Virgil Bunao of CVI Photography, I’d say wedding day bridal portraits can be a smashing success:

And here’s with her sweet new husband… what a wedding!

WED featured on The Wedding Row!

Hannah — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:16:09 +0000

Thank you so much to the gorgeous new wedding blog The Wedding Row for featuring one of our lovely couples from this fall… Annie and Storm.

Check out their kind words here!

Kate and Ben

Hannah — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:31:09 +0000

Oh, my… this wedding. One of our FAVORITES for many reasons…

Does everyone remember “Hurricane Hanna”- the alleged hurricane that was coming through the lowcountry in September 2008 threatening to destroy all of our carefully planned events?

This bride and groom would have none of that. Kate, a boutique owner (see her adorable shop here) and her groom Ben, a Navy SEAL, were scheduled to go overseas the very next week. So the show had to go on!

Thankfully the winds gave away to an absolutely STUNNING wedding full of thoughtful details and charm. And did we mention how fun it was? From the bride and groom’s first dance to “Super Freak” (a surprise to all the guests) to the Polaroid photo set up complete with dress up props galore, we were all kept entertained.

Photos by Marni Pictures

Flowers by Dahlia Designs

Rentals by Snyder

Lighting by Todd St. Onge

Wedding Cake by The Cake Stand

SEAL cake by Jim Smeal

Dress by Maddison Row