It may be winter outside, but today I’m sharing this chic summer Charleston destination wedding from Riverland Studios. I absolutely love the lush florals and the sweet Southern details!
Brad and I live in Pittsburgh, Pa. When he first discussed the idea of having a destination wedding in Charleston, I was a little reluctant. I thought a destination wedding would be very stressful being far away. He always vacationed in Kiawha growing up and loved it. Once I traveled to Charleston with him, I instantly fell in love with it. We decided to have an intimate wedding with just our close family members. During our 5 day trip we toured 21 different venues, and met with several different vendors. We knew after visiting the Creek Club at I’On it was the perfect place for us. The inviting wraparound porch and gorgeous gardens and weeping willow tree created such a beautiful environment we knew our guests would love. We are both very close with our families so it was important to us to have a wedding that our guests that were traveling from a distance would have the time of their lives.
My mom gave me away. Brad and I both had 6 bridesmaids and 6 groomsmen. My bridesmaids each carried lace parasols and their dresses were designed by Natalie Rose Land, my matron of honor’s sister who works as a designer in New York City. Our groomsmen wore Vera Wang suits and had boutonnieres made of calla lilies and burlap. Our ceremony was conducted outside by Dr. Clarke under the beautiful weeping willow among our family members. The weather was perfect.
I was so lucky to find Caroline from Riverland Studios to capture our day. I looked at several different portfolios of different photographers. Caroline’s conceptual artistic style was candid and natural and her photos had the perfect exposure. I loved how she was able to capture the beauty the day and I was intrigued by her composition as well. And she was absolutely adorable.
We chose a rustic, southern theme for our wedding using apple green, cream and dusty rose. We loved the burlap and lace mason jars we found to decorate and accented the trees with lanterns. I decided to use my former background in design to create signs for the tables. Since we both love trying new restaurants, each table was named a different restaurant in Charleston. Coast, High Cotton, The Fat Hen, Slightly North of Broad, etc. For our favors we purchased Charleston palmetto roses from a local vendor and included a tag with the history of the rose going back to the civil war.
Having excellent food and including some Southern signature dishes was most important to Brad. For cocktail hour our guests had appetizers such a lobster mac and cheese and duck confit on tostada and bruschetta and had a signature cocktail lemonade and sweet tea vodka. For dinners we served Shecrab soup, stuffed lobster, filet mignon and pecan crusted chicken. Our wedding cake was made of carrot cake, red velvet cake and vanilla cake with carmel filling. We decided we loved the gorgeous willow tree with the spanish moss around SC so decided to have our cake decorated with one.
Our guests enjoyed dancing and enjoying the beautiful summer evening on the porch and taking strolls along the lit pier that went out to the water. Some of the kids searched for crabs and brought them back in the boxes we provided for cookies. Leaving the reception, our guest lit sparklers to say goodbye.
Photography | Riverland Studios | Venue and Planning | The Creek Club at I’On | Florist | Branch | Cake | DeClare Cakes | Hair | Ash and Co. Bridal Hair and Make up | Bridesmaid Dresses | Natalie Rose Land
