You’ll Fall in Love With the Elevated Elegance and Timeless Style of This Charleston Affair!

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In your own words, how did you and Forrest meet and fall in love?

Forrest and I met right in Charleston shortly after we graduated from college. We were both working part time for one of the carriage tour companies there! Forrest was a tour guide at the time (and also a cook at Peninsula Grill) and I was new to the area. I started out working in the retail shop and later helping with marketing and social media. Forrest taught me so much about the history and culture of the city, and I fell in love with both him and Charleston! After a year there, I went to grad school at Clemson and we did two years of long distance. When I graduated, I was offered a job in California with a software company, and Forrest was sweet enough to move with me. We were there for just over four years before we got married and moved back to our favorite city—Charleston!

 

How did he propose?

Forrest surprised me with tickets to the Rodgers and Hammerstein broadway production of Cinderella in California for my birthday. He had planned a whole day of wine tasting with friends, dinner at our favorite restaurant, and then the show. After the show, he suggested we walk through a nearby park that was decorated for Christmas. After strolling around for a while, he was anxious and wanted to leave. The park was having a festival that night and it was very crowded - with carnival rides, food vendors, and the whole nine yards. I was in heels, so I didn't mind heading home, but I thought he was acting weird! When we got back to our apartment, he said he had one final surprise and got down on one knee in the living room. I was completely surprised! Afterwards, he admitted he had planned to propose in the park, but it wasn't the picturesque setting he had researched online! I never imagined he would propose in our living room—out of the thousands of gorgeous places in California! But in the end, it was perfect. It was just the two of us and we laughed and cried, and when we looked at the clock, it was right at midnight. We called and woke up my parents who were on the east coast—so 3 a. M. For them. But they were so excited they didn't mind. My dad had been waiting up all night to get the call. He was the only one who knew the plan.

 

Describe your bridal style.

I would describe my bridal style as classic. My parents were married in the 80's, and they made some very questionable fashion choices! We would always look at their wedding photos and get such a kick out of the big hair and puffy sleeves. I decided that I wanted to be able to look back on my wedding photos thirty years later and feel like they represented Forrest and I without being so specific to the trends of 2020. I wanted a timeless look that I would be proud of for years to come.

 

Tell us about your dress!

This was my favorite part of wedding planning! However, I am a very indecisive person, so it took me several appointments to find the one. We were living in California at the time, but I wanted something that would fit into the feel of our classic Charleston wedding. I had at least five bridal appointments. I had narrowed my choices down to Monique Lhuillier or Carolina Herrera as far as the style that resonated most with me. I actually tried on my dress—the Carolina Herrera Aubrey dress—at one store in San Francisco when I was browsing with one of my best friends. But the store was crowded and we felt rushed, and my mom wasn't there. It just didn't feel right. Later, when my mom was in town, I found the same dress at Jin Wang Bride in San Francisco. Shout out to Jin for the absolutely best bridal experience. When I put the dress on for the second time, I knew it was the one. As soon as they added a veil, we all cried. Jin helped customize the dress perfectly to me. We ordered it in a silk mikado fabric, lowered the back, made the bow a bit smaller and added buttons down the train. I was torn on whether or not to wear the bow. I didn't want anything too trendy, but with everything else being so classic and traditional, I decided to keep the bow for a little "wow factor." On my wedding day, I didn't want to take the dress off. My matron of honor finally made me change clothes at 2:00 a. M.

 

Where did Forrest get ready?

Forrest got ready on South Battery near White Point Gardens - a very quintessential area of Charleston. The house had a gorgeous courtyard. The groomsmen stayed there and got ready together the morning of the wedding.

 

Tell us about the second line and how that is related to where you grew up!

I'm from Louisiana, and we have a tradition of doing "second lines" at weddings and funerals as a celebration of life. It's a big part of our culture, and if you ever visit New Orleans on a Saturday in the spring or fall, you are likely to witness a second line in the French Quarter! The second line is all about the music. The brass band is the "first line" and the wedding party is the "second line." The band plays celebratory jazz music and leads the wedding party and guests in a march through the streets. The bride and groom carry parasols and the guests wave handkerchiefs in the air. We knew we wanted to incorporate this tradition in our wedding even though we weren't in Louisiana. We were so lucky to find Emerald Empire—a band based out of Charleston that was familiar with second lines. They did an AMAZING job. We opted to use the second line as a way to take guests from our ceremony to our reception instead of booking transportation. The walk was a few blocks away, and there is no prettier scenery than the streets of Charleston's South of Broad neighborhood. This was one of the most special parts of the day. We concluded the ceremony and we were ready to celebrate. When we took to the streets with lively music and our whole wedding crowd, people began stopping on the sidewalks and coming out on their balconies to join the celebration. Halfway through the walk I just burst into happy tears. It was one of those moments that you dream about for so long and the joy of the moment really sank in. We were so lucky to be in our favorite city, surrounded by people who love us, dancing through the streets to celebrate our marriage. It's a moment we will never forget! We also monogrammed the handkerchiefs and used those as a favor for our guests.

 

What was the inspiration for the gorgeous entrance to the reception?

Forrest is a history buff, and was previously a tour guide in Charleston when we met. When he found out we could book Society Hall for our wedding, he was set on the idea, given the history of the building and it’s connection to The French Huguenot Church, where we were having our ceremony. It also didn’t hurt that the entrance to the Hall is featured in one of his favorite films—The Patriot. The Hall is so beautiful by itself and is located on one of the prettiest streets in Charleston. It really didn't need much to feel grand and elegant, but our florist—Lauren with Tupelo Honey—knocked it out of the park. We wanted to add a little something to the exterior to give it that wedding feel and to give our guests the sense that they had arrived to the reception as we came in from the second line. My mom also hand-painted a welcome sign for us with our wedding monogram, which was such a special touch.

 

Tell us about Forrest's catering company.

Forrest is a chef and worked in fine dining in Charleston and then in California for several years. He is a true Southern man—interested in hunting, fishing and food. When the pandemic set in and changed the landscape of fine dining, he had an opportunity to switch gears and focus on true farm-to-table food, which he had always been passionate about. We have a family friend, Jeremy Storey, who has a boutique, local farm on Johns Island, SC, raising free-range chickens and heritage pork—but he has a background in cooking and restaurant management in Chicago. Jeremy had recently expanded his business to marry both farming and cuisine. He built an on-site market where he could sell local products from the farm as well as carry products from other local vendors, and he began catering events as well. He asked Forrest to join the team to lead culinary operations, and we ended up moving back to Charleston for him to accept the position. We had already booked Jeremy to cater our wedding, but by the time the day came around after having to postpone due to COVID-19, Forrest was actually working there. So it ended up that Forrest was able to help design the menu and make a lot of the food for our wedding, alongside Jeremy. Forrest is so passionate about food and he was thrilled with the opportunity to cook for all of his family and friends, and to have that be such a special part of our wedding day. With our last name being Hogsette, we’ve embraced all the pig jokes! We decided to do a whole-hog roast, which Forrest was so excited about it (and it was delicious!).

 

Anything special you want to highlight?

With the pandemic, the wedding planning process was such a whirlwind. Our lives and our plan ended up completely changing during the time we were engaged. It was stressful, but we owe so much to our family, friends, and incredible vendors who helped us through all the twists and turns. The pandemic wrecked a lot of things, but it also put things into perspective for us and helped us to focus on the fact that we were starting a marriage versus just planning a party. At the end of the day, we were surrounded by the best people and had such a special wedding. We even had people around the world who tuned in to watch a livestream of our ceremony (thanks AV Connections!) because they couldn't be there in person. It wasn't what we pictured, but it was perfect. I think that really speaks to what marriage is all about, and that's the part that I like to pass on to other brides. In the world of social media, it can be easy to get caught up in every little detail, but what really matters is that you're getting married to your life partner. We feel so grateful for how everything worked out and have so much love in our hearts for everyone who made it possible!