Today’s southern soiree all started with a hydrangea, a childhood memory, and the bride’s favorite flower. From there, A Charleston Bride was able to perfectly plan a classic southern wedding using the hydrangea’s beautiful blues and incorporate them throughout the day, including a custom monogram for the Mr. and Mrs. Simply Sarah Photography worked her magic and captured it all from the darling dress details to every man (and woman’s) best friend, the couples golden retriever! Take a peek and check out all Kiawah Island Sanctuary Resort has to offer!
From the Bride…
How did you and West get engaged and how long was your engagement?
West and I got engaged in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day weekend in 2018. Dublin has been one of my favorite places for years so West did a great job choosing the location! Within a few hours of arriving in the city, we went for a walk to St. Stephen’s Green, a beautiful park in the center of the city, and West found a gazebo that was secluded from the crowds to pop the question. Two of our best friends were with us for the weekend so were able to capture the moment for us and help us celebrate that weekend. Our engagement was a little over a year. I thought April was the perfect month to get married so a March proposal gave us plenty of time to get all of the pieces together.
Tell me about the beautiful wedding you planned and where you drew inspiration from?
We really owe the credit here to A Charleston Bride and could not have been happier with the way their vision turned out. Ever since my family started going to Kiawah it felt like the perfect location for a wedding reception and with West’s family ties to Charleston and a church downtown it made the venue decisions easy. For color scheme and flowers, the inspiration for me started with hydrangeas. I love the flowers after having them in my yard growing up and the color felt like a great shade for an April wedding. I have pretty traditional tastes and A Charleston Bride did a great job incorporating those and pulling ideas from their prior experience that we would love, like a custom monogram for our invitations.
What was your favorite memory or moments from the wedding day?
I am still dreaming of the wedding and it’s so hard to choose a favorite moment! I had underestimated how amazing it would be to have such great friends and family all in one place and honestly loved just being with everyone. The moment that stands out the most would have to be the last song of the reception. We chose the song ahead of time since we knew would get everyone excited and we were not disappointed. Everyone was on the dance floor singing together and dancing and it was the perfect end of an incredible day.
The style of pictures is what drew us to Simply Sarah in the first place and we loved the use of light and softness to the photos. Sarah and her team clearly knew what to do and also kept an approachable and personal touch (being good with our golden retriever was an added bonus). I would definitely recommend an engagement photo session to meet Sarah ahead of the wedding. We love our engagement photos and it helped me feel more comfortable on the wedding day having already made that first connection.
Photography: Elizabeth Lanier Photography | Event Planning: A Charleston Bride | Flowers: Stephanie Gibbs Events | Wedding Dress: Stephanie Allin | Cake: ABCD Cakes | Invitations: Studio R | Shoes: Ferragamo | Hair and Makeup: Wild Ivory Beauty | Band: Liquid Pleasure | Wedding Venue: Kiawah Island Sanctuary Resort | Linen Rental: BBJ La Tavola