There is so much classic beauty in this Charleston destination wedding captured by Catherine Ann Photography! The couple chose their color palette, blue and orange, based on their alma maters, but the combination couldn’t be more Southernly sweet. The blue and white chinoiserie china were the perfect touch to bring in some Charleston sophistication. We love how the bride had her mother and grandmother’s gowns on display to add some heirloom charm.
I have always loved Charleston and my parents moved to the area in the last few years. Andy’s family is in Illinois, mine are mostly East Coast, and we live in San Diego. To ensure most of our families could make it, we decided an East Coast wedding would make the most sense. Andy visited Charleston with me and loved it as well, so we thought it would be a great location and then we would have my parents to help plan. Once we decided on that we quickly decided we wanted something quintessential Charleston and our colors would include orange and blue as a nod to our alma maters. I went to the University of Virginia and Andy went to the University of Illinois.
I loved having my late grandmother’s Marine Corps cameo on my bouquet as a tribute to her. As a Marine Corps wife, mother, and grandmother, she loved the Marine Corps and although she never met Andy, I know she would have loved him and would be so proud of his service. We had my grandmother’s and mother’s wedding dresses on dress forms on display in the parlor with photos of them on their wedding day. It was such a unique touch.
We incorporated the Marine Corps tradition of a sword arch, which included 8 of Andy’s close friends from his different stages in the Marine Corps. We also cut the cake with Andy’s Marine Corps sword. Instead of a bouquet toss we had an anniversary dance. Andy’s grandparents won being married for 68 years and his Grandma was so surprised when I presented her with my bouquet.
I was looking at venues online and got so excited when I saw the William Aiken House. It had everything we wanted: a historic downtown location, outdoor spaces for the ceremony and reception, and a southern garden feel. My mom visited it for us and we decided to book it without ever seeing it in person. We wanted lots of greenery and white with pops of navy and variations of orange. My must haves were anemones because of their dark navy centers and peonies because they are my favorite. The flowers really helped us achieve the garden feel. We didn’t really have favors. Instead, our escort cards were oranges with the names printed on the “leaves” and as guests entered the reception area they were greeted with champagne that had rock candy sticks with personalized flags in them.
My mom did all of the signs, table numbers, escort cards and more with the help of her Silhouette. She was busy but it was a huge help! We brought in some alma mater rivalry with Virginia vs. Illinois cornhole boards that kept with our color scheme and we had each group of our school alumni take a photo with a school banner while yelling the fight song to see which group could outdo the other.
The dance floor was also very memorable. Andy’s shoes started to disintegrate, he literally danced his shoes off! The bottom of my dress was black from his shoes, but we thought it was so funny. Then my dad yelling “dead bug” during “Shout” (Animal House fans will know this) and seeing my dad, brother, and new husband all in full dress uniform on their backs with their arms and legs in the air. I will never forget that!
Photography | Catherine Ann Photography | Venue | The William Aiken House | Planning, Florals, and Rentals | Ooh! Events | Tent | Snyder Event Rentals | Lighting | Joe Bunn DJ Company | DJ | DJ Juan | Cake | The William Aiken House | Dress | Eddy K from Bridals by Jodi | Hair | Canvas Hair | Makeup | Ooh Beautiful | Shoes | Badgley Mischka | Bridesmaid Dresses | Amazon | Veil | David’s Bridal | Clutch | Mermade Label | Transportation | Coastal Limousines and Charleston Rickshaw | String Musicians | Classical Charleston | Submitted via Matchology
