Whimsical Style and Happy Hues at This Beaufort Inn Wedding

Lauren Megerdichian
September 14, 2023
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Whimsical

[section title=”The Planning”]

[field title=”Wedding Colors”]Deep pink, bright pink, yellows, sage green, olive green, cream, white, and pops of deep blue and purple were selected as the primary colors of Lindsey & Ian’s Beaufort wedding color palette. [/field]

[field title=”Design / Vibe / Vision”]Inspired by the lush natural surroundings of the Lowcountry of South Carolina and the couple’s love for bright, whimsical color, this Beaufort Inn garden party wedding was all things joyful and botanical! The bride, Lindsey, working with the team at Hamilton Events, brought to life a wedding weekend vision filled with romantic garden-inspired elements, pops of bold colors, patterned Stradley Davidson and BBJ La Tavola linens, and a hint of Lowcountry oysters to top it all off. Guests were invited to their Beaufort Inn wedding weekend with a playful, custom-illustrated invitation ‘map’ by artist Virginia Brown, featuring their venues, pets, boat, and their favorite spots around downtown Beaufort. The jacquard fabric of Lindsey’s Anne Barge wedding dress was used as the inspiration for much of their upscale garden reception design. The delicate botanical motif of the fabric was woven into their linens, florals, and custom wedding cake fondant overlay. In an ode to the vibrant pink of The Beaufort Inn’s exterior, Lindsey worked with the design team at Sylvania Florist to concoct a floral design filled with bright blooms and lush Lowcountry greenery and mosses. Hints of bright pinks, blues, marigold, sage, and purples were gently woven into their wedding’s design, from bouquets, to reception tent compotes, to patterned linens, and all the way down to their customized drink coozies, there was no shortage of vibrant color for their South Carolina wedding day! The bride desired to create a reception space that encouraged their guests to mingle, creating an organic flow throughout the nooks and crannies that the property had to offer. Ivory market umbrellas and standing pub tables in the tabby garden and courtyard of The Beaufort Inn were used to produce a gathering effect for guests to enjoy. Staying true to their South Carolina roots, Lindsey and Ian had crafted a custom-made bar made of oyster shells, and integrated local Spanish moss in their stunning potted floral tent entryway. Guests were seated in bamboo chairs under a draped white tent filled with sage green taper candles and colorful compotes. As the sun set over Beaufort’s waterfront, the couple & their guests made their way to the open-air dance floor to boogie away to classic songs, played by the local Hilton Head band The Nice Guys, whose stage setup featured a climbing jasmine garden arch to frame their 4-piece band. [/field]

[field title=”Proposal Story”]From the Bride, “I met Ian in June 2015 at The Village Idiot Pizza in Columbia, SC. I’d been home back in South Carolina for a few months after graduating from Villanova University, and it was Ian’s very first night in Columbia after five years of serving in the Marine Corps, stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. We were both starting at the University of South Carolina for our next chapter. I just happened to be out in Columbia that night for trivia with one of my dearest friends, who is now my Maid of Honor. She’d met a guy (now, our Best Man!) and they’d gone on one date together, so she decided to invite him to join us out for trivia that evening. He all but dragged a very, very reluctant Ian out for the night, and I’m so thankful he did. Six years, a mortgage, three cats, and a dog later, we got engaged on December 29, 2021 at Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis on a chilly -16 F day while in town visiting with Ian’s family!”[/field]

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[board_carousel title=”Getting Ready”]

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[board_carousel title=”Bridal Portraits”]

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[board_carousel title=”Flat Lays”]

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[section title=”The Fashion”]

[field title=”Wedding Gown”]From the Bride, “I’ve always had my heart set on an A-line skirt for my wedding dress, and so I prioritized looking at designers who felt both classic and contemporary to me. There were three designers I especially liked, including Anne Barge. But once I saw the jacquard fabric on the Coraline style from Annie Barge and tried it on, I absolutely knew it was the one. The square neckline and front-slit skirt with pockets were the modern touches that sealed the deal. My mother equally fell in love with the jacquard fabric of my dress, and found a ball gown in navy silk jacquard for her dress that day. It was so special to have her dress be a subtle nod to my wedding dress and our overall floral-filled theme!”[/field]

[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]From the Bride, “I adored the iconic pink exterior paint of The Beaufort Inn, and initially, wanted to really lean into the venue’s hue with our theming and color scheme. I was originally set on being bold and having statement linens in bright floral pinks, but I ended up changing my mind during the design process, and decided to find a complimentary green and tan patterned linen instead to help highlight the bright florals we chose for the floral design. So to still keep my bold pinks as part of our overall design, I had each bridesmaid choose their dress from a large selection I compiled of bright pinks and florals. My bridesmaids chose distinct, floor length gowns from Kay Unger, The Dessy Group, Show Me Your Mumu, and Birdy Grey that let each of their personalities shine through while leaning into our overall botanical aesthetic.”[/field]

[field title=”Groomsman Attire”]From the Bride, “Ian’s step-sister had selected a similar tuxedo from the same Vera Wang Black line for her wedding, and we loved them so much we knew this was the designer to go with! Ian had wanted to stick with a traditional tuxedo for his side of the wedding party, as he’s always liked the traditional black tuxedo look.”[/field]

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[board_carousel title=”Ceremony”]

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[board_carousel title=”Cocktail Hour”]

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[section title=”The Details”]

[field title=”Food & Drink”]From the Bride, “In keeping with our design of creating spaces for our guests to mingle in, we started out the food service with a charcuterie table spread by the ladies at Corks on The Vine for cocktail hour in the courtyard of The Beaufort Inn. For drinks, we really wanted to serve both food & drink from local South Carolina vendors. Providing a variety of drinks was one of my top priorities to cater to all our guests. We absolutely love craft beer, especially on draft, and often find ourselves at a local brewery on weekends with friends. I went on a hunt for ways to serve draft beer, and stumbled across the Chug-a-Lug Wagon. Their ‘Chuglette’ cart was so fun – we couldn’t pass up on having a unique bar setup! In addition to providing a local Charleston Westbrook White Thai on draft, the Chug-a-Lug team served our two signature cocktails on tap – a Peach Julep for Ian, and a Tropical Margarita for me! For the main dinner service, we brought in Shealy’s BBQ from my hometown of Batesburg-Leesville, SC. Shealy’s was a childhood staple for me growing up. It’s well-known throughout the Southeast, and with so many guests coming from Wisconsin and Minnesota on Ian’s side of the family, we wanted to provide a true South Carolina dinner.” [/field]

[field title=”Florals & Decor”]From the Bride, “From the very start of designing our wedding weekend, we wanted to create a floral design that was whimsical, botanical, and overflowing. We worked with Sylvania Florist out of Savannah, and she brought to life this exact vision. For our main reception tent, Sylvania created a stunning entryway welcome on the front side of the tent. They brought in various sized blooming potted flowers to welcome guests, and wove locally harvested Spanish moss into the pots and blooms to tie in our Lowcountry theming. We had vibrant florals throughout the main reception spaces, mixing tall and low centerpieces with eclectic votives and bud vases. I knew I wanted to be bold and bright with the bouquets for myself and my bridesmaids, and Sylvania certainly delivered! My bridal bouquet was filled with bright pink roses, marigold-colored ranunculus, blush garden roses, purple snapdragon, whimsical light pink campanulas, and large white and yellow peony blooms. For the bridesmaids’ bouquets, we chose purple, pink, and yellow snapdragon and campanulas to subtly complement the pink Beaufort Inn theming.”[/field]

[field title=”Wedding Cake”]From the Bride, “The talented Ashley Brown Cake Design made us a gorgeous three-tiered wedding cake to share, in addition to a customized groom’s cake made to match Ian’s boat. The exterior of the cake was covered in an ivory white fondant and etched with a similar floral motif that was found in the jacquard fabric of my Anne Barge wedding dress. We wanted to pull a little color into the cake as well, so Ashley was able to craft fondant flowers that played off the yellow, creamsicle, and pink color scheme of our reception blooms! We couldn’t narrow it down to just one cake flavor, so Ashley was able to make both carrot cake and hummingbird cake for our wedding cake interior with vanilla buttercream frosting. We make hummingbird cake each year for my birthday, so it was an easy choice to include it in our wedding.” [/field]

[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”]From the Bride, “Ian and I are fans of 1970-80’s rock and it was so hard to choose just one song for our first dance. We kept changing our minds, and still hadn’t chosen a song for our first dance two months before our weddings. On the drive to Beaufort for one of our last planning walk-throughs, “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac came on the radio, and we knew immediately we had our song. We picked every song played for cocktail hour and the reception, choosing Yacht Rock and ‘90s summer hits with wedding crowd pleasers sprinkled in. All of our parents love live music, so it was fun to see how tickled they were with the live music from The Nice Guys Band out of Hilton Head! My mom loves the song “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies and it was played on repeat in the kitchen growing up, so it was an easy choice for our cake-cutting song.”[/field]

[field title=”Special Detail #1″]From the Bride, “Ian spent five years stationed in Beaufort during his time in the Marine Corps, so it’s always held a very special place in his heart. We knew we wanted to get married in South Carolina, and the Lowcountry seemed like it would be so much fun for our guests, especially for Ian’s family and friends from Wisconsin and Minnesota. One of our biggest hopes out of our wedding weekend was to spend the day after our wedding hanging out with our guests and family. Once we realized how easy it would be to have everyone join us for a boat day from the Beaufort Inn and nearby marina, we knew Beaufort was the perfect place for our celebration!”[/field]

[field title=”Special Detail #2″]From the Bride, “When we were designing our wedding with Hamilton Events, I envisioned an upscale, Lowcountry backyard garden party for our reception spaces. I loved the idea of subtly incorporating oysters into the decor as a nod to the southern coastline we were on. I had my heart set on an oyster bar after seeing one featured online, but could not find one after searching high and low. Ian’s step-dad has an unbelievable talent for building anything you can dream up, and kindly heard me out when I described my idea for an oyster bar. Not only did he build the oyster-covered bar, but he even handpainted the extra shells for our guest’s gift bags!”[/field]

[field title=”Special Detail #3″]From the Bride, “Ever since watching the movie Steel Magnolias, I’ve been obsessed with having an over-the-top Groom’s Cake, and was blown away by the talented Ashley Brown Cake Design. Our Save the Date design featured a hand-illustrated map of Beaufort with our boat and pets included, so replicating that idea in cake-form was too good to be true. I wanted to surprise Ian with his groom’s cake design, and he was so excited to see some of his favorite things included on the cake boat, including our sweet pets. That very same boat we had left parked in the Marina just a few blocks from The Beaufort Inn, and we were able to sneak down there to take a few golden hour portraits on the docks and on our boat before our wedding reception really kicked into full gear!”[/field]

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[board_carousel title=”Reception”]

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