It’s a well know fact that we here at the SMP offices LOVE (and I mean, L-O-V-E) ourselves a good pink moment, so it should come as no surprise that Kathryn & Hayes’ wedding is our cup of tea. Add in the massively talented Michelle Boyd Photography behind the lens and you’ve got yourself on gorgeous gallery. See it all in The Vault!
From the Bride… We wanted it to be a big celebration for all of the people that helped to raise us and befriended us throughout our lives. We wanted to have a great party that felt timeless & felt like us. While I absolutely love Pinterest, it is easy to get wrapped up in a lot of trendy extras that just are not necessary & become easily dated. Our focus was to make sure we did all of the “biggies” right. The biggies included a great band, the best photographer on the planet, garden-inspired florals, a modern southern cuisine, unbeatable service & beautiful planning & styling by Jessica Rourke. Our wedding planner later coined our day as “timeless elegance,” which perfectly captures the southern affair we had always dreamed of.
I always, always dreamed of a beautiful Spring wedding. The season radiates joy through its’ beautiful new blooms & longer days of light. I sent Jessica some inspirational images that I loved and she took that & came up with a palette I had hoped for! The palette was spring-inspired with neutrals, natural greens, hues of peachy pink & a pop of a charcoal gray. In terms of styling, we wanted to enhance the already beautiful club with garden-inspired florals to give it a more relaxed feel. We wanted everyone to feel at ease, so they could let loose and have fun. The floral design played a huge role in that. We steered away from the usual BIG floral arrangements and opted for lots of greenery & natural garland swag instead.
Also, I love the look of long tables in a ballroom. However, because we had a big wedding & more of a cocktail/heavy hor d’oeuvres style reception, it didn’t make sense to have them. Since it was a big party, we wanted people to be milling throughout the club/club’s balcony and not be seated for too long. So, we decided to have elevated long tables and tall chiavari chairs instead, which allowed guests to sit if they wanted to, but kept the flow of the party we were hoping for. I think the combination of the elevated long tables, natural greenery, rented bar with florals, the mantel floral design, custom monogramed napkins & printed linen bar signs were truly show-stopping. Jessica and Fern studio exceeded our expectations and it was breathtaking!
We wanted to include as many family elements as we could. We incorporated elements from both of our families throughout the day that made it all feel so loving and special. I wore my Mom’s diamond earrings and an Ashcraft family ring (my something blue!) given to me while we were engaged. My mother-in-law has a beautiful rose garden, so we incorporated some of the roses in my bouquet as well as on some of the cocktail tables. In my husband’s family, there is a family brooch that every bride since the 1800s has worn. Since my dress didn’t call for any jewelry, we decided to put the brooch on the bouquet and it was stunning. Also, my parents gave us the two crystal champagne glasses that we drank out of after the cake cutting as a wedding gift. I think one of my favorite details are the gifts that we gave our parents. I thought about this for a long, long time. They have given up so much to raise us into the people we are today & their gift couldn’t be less than. We got one set of parents a silver compote and the other a small silver platter with the words, “O give thanks unto the Lord” with our initials and wedding date on the back. This small piece of scripture says so much, without saying much at all. We asked Michelle, our photographer to photograph these details in some of the styled shots and I absolutely love them!
My favorite moment was during our ceremony at Myers Park Presbyterian Church. My mom carries a CD in her car that our church in Lexington, SC made years ago. On the CD, our church choir director sings the duet, “The Prayer.” Every time we heard it in the car, my mom, sister and I would all get teary-eyed. We had the choir director recreate the duet with the same guy during the ceremony on the piano. When she sang (she truly has the voice of an angel), it was like my whole life flashed before my eyes and all the tears came streaming down. It was something we had dreamed and thought of for so long and there we were in that moment. It was actually happening.. I was marrying the absolute love of my life. It was indescribable the amount of joy and love that I felt in those few minutes. It is something I will never forget. The next day, on the flight to our honeymoon, I wept tears of pure joy replaying that moment over and over, hoping that I never forget it.
The gown… oh man, that is a biggie. I had a vision for what that would look like. We went to Charleston, SC over labor day weekend last year. It took us three days to find the exact one. I would find dresses that were beautiful, but then would try to piece things together to make them exactly what I wanted. You know the phrase.. “Your Mom is always right.” Welp, in this case, that couldn’t have been truer. I was in-between two dresses and could not make up my mind. My Mom said, well Kathryn, the perfect one has to be out there that has everything you are looking for. So, we went back to White on Daniel Island to try on one of those dresses again and in the meantime, found the “ONE” that had everything I had been looking for. And, to top it all off, my grandmother went with us on the last day, so that made it really special. I think if you really wait on the perfect one, you have no doubts or second-thoughts. I would have chosen that dress a thousand times over.
The cake.. I LOVE wedding cake. Due to the space of the club, we wanted to make sure the scale of the cake was right. Jessica found a picture that inspired our cake. It has two soft blush layers with white hydrangeas that added a modern, yet soft touch.
Late night snack.. it is totally key to a fun party. Hayes has a mad love for anything from his home state of North Carolina. Bojangles, a local fast-food chain, makes a mean (& greasy) chicken biscuit. Around 10pm, we passed around Bojangles chicken biscuits and hummers on silver platters. The hummers are basically like adult milkshakes and delish! We had them at the club’s Christmas party and both said we had to serve them at the wedding.
Petal bags.. Since the club did not allow sparklers, we decided to use rose petals for the grand exit. Jessica designed these beautiful petal bags for the guests to grab on their way out. They said “Au Revoir!” on them, which I loved, since we took a trip to France while dating & went to St. Barths on our honeymoon that my husband planned & surprised me with.
Getaway car.. One of our family friends has a bentley (we were really lucky!), so he and another friend were our drivers for the night. It was so nice to have some “us” time right after the ceremony. I would suggest riding separate from the wedding party just to really enjoy each other and to get some peace and quiet!
Bridesmaids gifts.. In addition to robes and anthro earrings, I found these super fun, glitter T. Swift Keds. I ended up getting them for all of the girls to wear while we were getting ready, as well as to change into for some late-night dancing. My mom, mother-in-law and myself (I opted for the white glitter Kate Spade Keds which are adorable!) ended up getting a pair too! It was just fun to have some party shoes to get the night going.
If you decide to get a wedding planner or coordinator, really observer his/her demeanor. Jessica was cool as a cucumber and it honestly changed the whole dynamic of the day. Because she was so calm, we were just loving life & enjoying time with friends while getting ready. We were ahead of schedule (which almost never happens!), so I got to look in every room at every detail that we had planned for months and months! I even remembered looking at every linen that we had picked out, which I was even surprised by.
When choosing a photographer, Michelle said to me, if you look at a photographer’s work and really envision yourself in those photographs, then that’s your girl/guy! That was the case with Michelle’s work. I kept telling Jessica I wanted a photographer that had a light and airy feeling to his or her work. She picked up on the fact that I wanted a film photographer. Film gives the photos a timeless look that adds so much life & natural beauty. I talked on the phone with Michelle and immediately felt a connection. We are not used to getting photographed, so it can be a very awkward thing. She gave us enough direction and confidence to feel at ease & we will cherish the photos she captured for the rest of our lives.
Photography: Michelle Boyd Photography | Floral Design: Fern Studio | Cake: Charlotte Country Club | Stationery: Lydia Robins Hendrix Studio | Reception Venue: Charlotte Country Club | Catering: Charlotte Country Club | Hair + Makeup: Mikel Rumsey | Wedding Venue: Meyers Park Presbyterian Church | Event Planner + Stylist + Coordinator: Jessica Rourke | Linens: BBJ La Tavola | Reception Band: Karat Gold | Rentals: Party Reflections