A Vibrant Colored Summer Wedding on Sea Island
The wedding design and inspiration was a combination of a classic beachy summer gathering and a sophisticated dinner party. There is nothing I love more than hosting a fun dinner party. And my mom, who took the lead on the design, is known for hosting a fabulous party with stunning tablescapes. We wanted to combine all of these elements to host a reception that was equal parts fun and beautiful. My mom and I both love color and decided on late summer vibrant flowers in pinks, oranges, and yellows, but we also wanted to honor the classic “Sea Island green” with lots of greenery and palms. We worked with Inslee to design the paper artwork and accents for the weekend, and she perfectly incorporated the vibrant floral hues and palms. A local florist on the island, vine garden market, used our piles and piles of inspiration to design floral arrangements and the tent of our dreams. We also incorporated woven baskets throughout the printed materials and the reception design, which included dozens of hanging basket lanterns on the tent ceiling. Kellie Ryan Designs was so helpful organizing my mom and I throughout the design and planning process and managing all of the wedding day logistics. She kept us on track when our imaginations ran wild, was always calm, and was so pleasant to work with! Danny and I wanted to enjoy our (very large) families and groups of friends, allowing everyone to experience Sea Island for the magical place that it is. I enjoyed every minute of the reception but mostly looking around and seeing all of our favorite people from all parts of life in our favorite place. It is hard to describe the feeling, but one that I know probably won’t happen again. I tried to pause and look around and take it all in as often as possible. But we were so lucky that our incredible photographer, Liz Banfield, captured it all beautifully for us to remember.
We were in Southampton with my family for a weekend in July and my parents and all of my siblings were in town for the weekend. Danny knew how hard it was to get my family all in one place with one sister leaving to study abroad a few weeks later. He worked with my mom and sisters to craft a plan - after playing golf in the morning with my brother as a distraction they met the rest of my family on the beach for an afternoon of lounging and hanging out. I was oblivious, napping and reading all afternoon. Finally, late in the afternoon, after he asked (a few too many times) to go on a beach walk, I finally agreed, suspecting something might be up. We walked down the beach away from the bustle of Cooper's Beach, and he got down on one knee on a quiet stretch of the beach. Little did I know that he and my sister had recruited some onlookers to follow us and take pictures from afar. We had a moment to enjoy ourselves and Facetime Danny's family and then walked back to celebrate on the beach with my family. Some of my cousins were on the beach nearby and walked by right after we began celebrating, which was such a serendipitous addition to the special day.
I ended up working with the team at Markarian to customize my dress. My mom, sisters, and I went to a number of bridal boutiques and stores throughout NYC and our hometown of Raleigh. I live in New York City, and I loved the idea of working with a local NYC designer. Ultimately, the dress I chose was a variation of the first dress I tried on during my first dress appointment at Markarian. I knew August in South Georgia was going to be HOT, so I didn’t want anything too big or heavy - I wanted to embrace the beachy vibe. I didn’t want to wear anything I had seen before while still wanting the dress to be timeless and elegant. I ended up piecing together two different dresses I tried on at the Markarian showroom, and they worked with me to create the classic, streamlined, yet unique dress I had dreamed of. We had to use a lot of imagination when ordering the dress, and the first time I tried on the actual dress was at my first fitting. I was so nervous for that first fitting, hoping that the dress would look the way I had imagined – and it ended up being so much more! Before I had even found my dress, my mom came across Monvieve veils, and we became obsessed. Once I decided on my dress and the simple fabric, I knew I wanted a touch of lace on the veil, so I worked with the designer at Monvieve to combine a beautiful French lace from Caudry, fully cut and sewn by hand in the Monvieve factory in Italy I knew I wanted a blusher to walk down the aisle with my dad – I have always loved the traditional look and because Danny and I would not see each other until the moment I walked down the aisle. I knew the veil would play a big part of that moment. It was cathedral length and flowed perfectly in the wind after the ceremony during our photos and cocktail hour. For jewelry, I borrowed my paternal grandmother’s pearl and diamond earrings from my aunt for the wedding day and wore an Aquamarine ring given to me by my maternal grandmother as my “something blue.” My cousin who is also a jewelry designer, Diana Mitchell Designs, reset the ring into a more modern setting. I also wore a gold and diamond bracelet that Danny dropped off at my parents' house on the morning of the wedding. As much as I adored my wedding gown, I loved changing into a second dancing dress by Simkhai. I loved how it floated when I danced - which Liz caught perfectly on film. When I found this dress, I was excited because it was simple enough not to take away from my wedding gown, but the streamers added an unexpected flare. I chose to wear white for the whole weekend. For the rehearsal dinner, I wore a maxi by Elie Saab.
We opted not to do a salad or appetizer course because we had a long cocktail hour full of heavy hors d'oeuvres (coastal classics including shrimp and grits and a raw bar). We knew people would be ready to get the party started by dinner time! When everyone sat down, there were breadbaskets on the tables filled with famous Sea Island mini corn muffins. The dinner was a surf & turf combination of a petite beef filet with bordelaise sauce and a Chilean sea bass with lemon beurre blanc. For late-night snacks, we served pimento grilled cheese sandwiches. After dancing all night to the Atlanta Showstoppers, we handed out trays of Chick-fil-A sandwiches right before making our final exit for the night. Danny is from Michigan and his family has deep Michigan roots. Although our wedding was taking place in Georgia, I wanted to give a nod to his Michigan upbringing. He loves Labatt Blue beer, a Detroit favorite but generally hard to find in the South. We were able to special order the beer through Ocean Forest and surprised Danny with it being the “signature drink” at the wedding.
My mom has a special knack for florals and fauna. She was the creative lead on all things relating to the floral design (along with just about everything else!). She hung a basket on my chair at the reception filled with greenery and colorful flowers. It was such a special thoughtful touch and as soon as I sat down I knew she was the one who had made that happen.
Our wedding cake was made by the Sea Island pastry chef. We described the basket and flower theme from our wedding and she decorated all four tiers with a basket weave icing adorned with fresh flowers in our bright color scheme. We had two flavors. The first was infused with Limoncello and included a creamy lemon filling (my favorite!). We also served a vanilla Genoise cake with coconut buttercream (Danny's favorite!).
Atlanta Showstoppers are known for ending the night by playing "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough" and calling the bride and groom on stage for the last song. This was a highlight because we were able to look from the stage above at all of our loved ones enjoying the last minutes of the reception.
We loved the illustrations created for our printed materials by Inslee, which included the basket and flowers motif as well as a fishing rod and golf club, nods to Danny's favorite pastimes. We wanted to use them in other personalized details as well. Our florist Kelly Revels from vine garden market had the idea to put the palm illustration, originally used in our envelope liner, blown up in size and placed as a large mural on the front of the bar. Kelly worked directly with the artist, Inslee Farris, to create these custom panels. We also used Inslee's illustrations to customize matches, glassware, and napkins.
Late into the reception, we handed out custom golf hats designed by the creative team at Gfore with a "logo" of our initials, A and D, embroidered on the front. Everyone wore them on the dance floor.
