Elegant Charleston Wedding at Gibbes Museum of Art
If I could relocate to anywhere in the United States, it would be Charleston. I adore its perfect mix of Southern charm and chic city life, and this wedding captured that vibe to a T. With beautiful florals by Branch Design Studio, and a couple who look like they had one fabulous time at their celebration. Amelia + Dan snapped up every moment and I'll be living vicariously through this gallery for the rest of today.
From The Bride... Our story is perhaps a quintessential Washington, D.C. love story. Although we had been living in D.C. for many years, and had some friends in common, our paths did not cross until the fall of 2008. We had great conversations and felt a spark the night we met, but I became consumed with working on the Presidential campaign and we did not see each other again until an inauguration party in January. We went on our first date the following month, and the rest is history…
A shared appreciation for travel led to our decision to do a destination wedding away from our base of Washington, D.C. Charleston immediately came to mind, because I spent several childhood vacations at Kiawah. We selected the Gibbes Museum early on, with its gorgeous blank canvas of a courtyard and interior art galleries. Both of us are detail-oriented and experienced in events, and were very hands-on throughout the process of creating our dream event, with the assistance of Sweetgrass Social.
I had not given much thought to my wedding dress until I started shopping for one, but quickly discovered I wanted something unique, which posed a bit of a challenge in a sea of traditional dresses. After trying on some Vera Wang gowns, the saleswoman showed me the Mira dress. They only happened to have the dress for an upcoming runway show and had not even received their sample, but it fit close to perfectly and I knew instantly that it was the one. It was the last dress I tried on.
As soon as we saw the incredible wedding photography of Amelia + Dan, we knew we wanted them to capture our wedding. They have an ability to render moments and details in an artistic and beautiful manner, and are unobtrusive in their style of shooting. They also are a lovely couple and true pleasure to work with. The bouquets and floral arrangements, created by Branch Design Studio, were thoughtfully decided upon given the significance of flowers and gardening for us as a couple. The color palette for the wedding was ultimately inspired by the flowers, blush, light sage, and ivory, along with gold and charcoal. We worked closely with family friend and stationer extraordinaire, Rachael Blessinger of R Studio, on all stationary for the wedding weekend. I drew by hand and painted with watercolor a map that we enclosed with the invitation.
We chose the Unitarian Church on Archdale for the ceremony due to our respect and appreciation for Unitarianism, and the gorgeous architectural details. After the ceremony, guests took pedicabs or strolled along Gateway Walk, the garden path beside the Church, to reach the Gibbes Museum, where servers greeted guests with Airmail cocktails, and an assortment of hors d'oeuvres.
We danced our first dance to Sade, Kiss of Life, and rarely left the dance floor for the remainder of the evening and were constantly surrounded by guests enjoying the fun dancefloor vibe. We chose a smaller two-tiered wedding cake, made of yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. The Bride loves to bake and has a serious sweet tooth, and the Groom grew up among bakers, so the couple also chose an assortment of mini-desserts.
One DIY detail entailed a Polaroid camera area for guests in lieu of a photo booth (we used the Fujifilm Instax Mini 8). By the end of the evening, guests had taken almost one hundred polaroids for the couple, and took the same number of shots for themselves. Guests also enjoyed late night passers of Southern Fried Chicken and Waffle Sliders and Parmesan Truffle Fries, before a sparkler-filled sendoff for the happy couple, and more dancing at the after-party location, Leaf Café, a short walk or pedicab away from the Gibbes Museum.
There was a shared feeling of joy and festiveness in the air, and many guests commented on how moved they felt by the wedding, that it was the “best wedding they had ever been to!” and that it looked like it was “out of a magazine.” It was the happiest day for the couple, and the euphoria of being surrounded by loved ones, and joining in matrimony their lives and their families,’ lasted for weeks. Pulling off this wedding was a labor of love for the couple and their families. We are so grateful for our parents’ support.
A shared appreciation for travel led to our decision to do a destination wedding away from our base of Washington, D.C. Charleston immediately came to mind, because I spent several childhood vacations at Kiawah. We selected the Gibbes Museum early on, with its gorgeous blank canvas of a courtyard and interior art galleries. Both of us are detail-oriented and experienced in events, and were very hands-on throughout the process of creating our dream event, with the assistance of Sweetgrass Social.
I had not given much thought to my wedding dress until I started shopping for one, but quickly discovered I wanted something unique, which posed a bit of a challenge in a sea of traditional dresses. After trying on some Vera Wang gowns, the saleswoman showed me the Mira dress. They only happened to have the dress for an upcoming runway show and had not even received their sample, but it fit close to perfectly and I knew instantly that it was the one. It was the last dress I tried on.
As soon as we saw the incredible wedding photography of Amelia + Dan, we knew we wanted them to capture our wedding. They have an ability to render moments and details in an artistic and beautiful manner, and are unobtrusive in their style of shooting. They also are a lovely couple and true pleasure to work with. The bouquets and floral arrangements, created by Branch Design Studio, were thoughtfully decided upon given the significance of flowers and gardening for us as a couple. The color palette for the wedding was ultimately inspired by the flowers, blush, light sage, and ivory, along with gold and charcoal. We worked closely with family friend and stationer extraordinaire, Rachael Blessinger of R Studio, on all stationary for the wedding weekend. I drew by hand and painted with watercolor a map that we enclosed with the invitation.
We chose the Unitarian Church on Archdale for the ceremony due to our respect and appreciation for Unitarianism, and the gorgeous architectural details. After the ceremony, guests took pedicabs or strolled along Gateway Walk, the garden path beside the Church, to reach the Gibbes Museum, where servers greeted guests with Airmail cocktails, and an assortment of hors d'oeuvres.
We danced our first dance to Sade, Kiss of Life, and rarely left the dance floor for the remainder of the evening and were constantly surrounded by guests enjoying the fun dancefloor vibe. We chose a smaller two-tiered wedding cake, made of yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. The Bride loves to bake and has a serious sweet tooth, and the Groom grew up among bakers, so the couple also chose an assortment of mini-desserts.
One DIY detail entailed a Polaroid camera area for guests in lieu of a photo booth (we used the Fujifilm Instax Mini 8). By the end of the evening, guests had taken almost one hundred polaroids for the couple, and took the same number of shots for themselves. Guests also enjoyed late night passers of Southern Fried Chicken and Waffle Sliders and Parmesan Truffle Fries, before a sparkler-filled sendoff for the happy couple, and more dancing at the after-party location, Leaf Café, a short walk or pedicab away from the Gibbes Museum.
There was a shared feeling of joy and festiveness in the air, and many guests commented on how moved they felt by the wedding, that it was the “best wedding they had ever been to!” and that it looked like it was “out of a magazine.” It was the happiest day for the couple, and the euphoria of being surrounded by loved ones, and joining in matrimony their lives and their families,’ lasted for weeks. Pulling off this wedding was a labor of love for the couple and their families. We are so grateful for our parents’ support.