Written By Melissa Reardon
Photographs By Lucy Cuneo
A transplant from Virginia, Weston “Wes” McAfee vividly remembers the first time he saw his future bride-to-be. Charleston native Dana Elaine...
We so want to be friends with these two Charleston high-school sweethearts. Ask when they met and Jackie will tell you it was went they were 15 years old, she was in braces, and neither could drive legally. Many years of dating later, Max invited her to his parents’ house on Sullivan’s Island for a bike ride to their favorite spot on Breach Inlet. “I was wearing a sweater, leggings, my beloved Birkenstocks, and no makeup or nail polish,” says a very comfy if not camera-ready Jackie. They parked and headed to their favorite spot, and that’s when Jackie’s ring-dar went off. “I noticed a woman with a big camera walking behind us,” she says. “I acted calm but was desperately searching for a trash can because I wanted to get rid of the snack I was eating—I am always eating.” They got to “their spot” and Max dropped to one knee, gave her a little box from Croghan’s Jewel Box, asked for her to marry him, and then gave her a heartfelt letter. “My mind was going a million miles a minute and I was finally able to say, ‘Yes’,” she says. Then, Jackie says, a different photographer got up from the towel he had been sitting on to snap shots of them—turns out the woman with the big camera was just hitting the beach (and apparently annoying the groom-to-be for crashing the moment). The shenanigans continued as the weeks led to their wedding weekend. She eschewed heels for TOMS when her bridal portraits left her crippled with blisters. He slipped on the dance floor at their rehearsal dinner, tore his ACL tendon, and ended up waiting for his beloved at the end of the ceremony aisle at Daniel Island Club in a huge brace. Now. See what we mean? And isn’t it awesome to get the back stories behind these picture perfect Big Days? (And P.S. Getting married this year and still looking for a venue? Contact Daniel Island Club as they have some prime dates for 2019 still available. Trust us, that’s plain planning gold!)
Florals: Seasonal Stems | Photographer: Caroline Ro | Venue, Catering, Bar, and Cake: Daniel Island Club | Rentals: Snyder Events | Linens: La Tavola | Band: Root Doctors, EastCoast Entertainment
