Meaghen & Brett | The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island



The Wedding Row: So, tell us how it all began.

 Meaghen: We met at Fisher College back in 2005. It was my second semester and Brett had just transferred in. He frequented the house parties my girlfriends and I threw, and even supplied the kegs for us! We were both dating other people for most of our eight year friendship.

 TWR: Eight years, wowza! How long did you all date?

 Meaghen: I LOVE this story. It took three years, which felt like a millennia. I moved in with Brett in August of 2012. (Keep in mind that we were just friends at the time.) I needed a place to live and he insisted I move into his spare room for as long as I needed. We were roommates until he “escaped” the friend zone. I did NOT see “us” coming. When Christmas rolled around, Brett slid a card to me at dinner and when I opened it, there was a paper airplane inside. Little did I know that the paper was in fact a flight itinerary to our first couple’s trip to Miami. 

 TWR: Five stars for Brett. We bet the proposal was something special.

 Meaghen: He took me back to Miami where we had our first trip, and when I walked up to our cabana, there were orchids and rose petals everywhere, and when I say everywhere, I mean everywhere. I noticed there was a photographer so I turned to ask Brett to ask what was going on, and there he was, on one knee, holding the most gorgeous ring a girl could dream of.

 TWR: What brought you down south to the Lowcountry for your nuptials? Which, by the way, are AMAZING.

 Meaghen: We knew we wanted a destination wedding and Charleston was the first place we visited. As it being our first trip wedding destination searching, we weren’t aware that you needed an appointment to tour a venue. Oops! We decided to make the most of the trip and went to Kiawah only to fall in love with the lush greenery just on the drive over. The Sanctuary left us with butterflies. None of the venues we toured in Miami or California compared to what we saw in Charleston.

 TWR: Now, what we’ve been waiting for. Tell us about your dog.

 Meaghen: Tuck is such a sweetie. He was originally only going to be there for emotional support, but considering that we travel with him pretty frequently, it seemed like an obvious choice to have him in our wedding party. Tuck also followed the black tie dress code … TUCKs-edo and all.

 TWR: We spy lots of palm leaves. What was the theme you were going for?

 Meaghen: I’m enthralled by the foliage of the islands and Charleston. I wanted the natural essence of Kiawah enhanced and accented with touches of white. The concept was simple and clean, with a lot of green.

 TWR: What were the funniest moments of your Big Day?

 Meaghen: Brett’s gorgeous custom suit didn’t have a button on the pants. Being a guy, he had failed to try them on until the morning of the wedding. We laugh about it now.  And the night before my wedding my MOH and I stayed the night together in a hotel suite . . . except the room was mistakenly set up for a romantic wedding night. There were rose petals everywhere and champagne chilling in a bucket. We thought it was hysterical (and obviously didn’t let it go to waste!)

Planning & Design: Ooh! Events | Venue: Grand Lawn — The Sanctuary|Photographer: Tim Willoughby|Videographer: George Zorbas|Floral: Out of the Garden | Catering: The Sanctuary Hotel at Kiawah Resort|Bar: The Sanctuary Hotel at Kiawah Resort|Cake and Dessert Bar: The Sanctuary Hotel at Kiawah Resort|Entertainment: The Big Beyond — Sam Hill Entertainment|Hair: Lindsey Johnson|Makeup: Blair Mathis

The Wedding Row

May 9 2019
Morning, lovelies! Boy, do we have one for you today. But before we get into all the goodness, let’s get acquainted with the stars of the show … A meet-cute at a mutual friend’s birthday...

May 8 2019
Some brides just have such a knack for talking about their Big Day that we have to let you hear their own words on the matter. So it is with Angelia, who wed her now-husband Bobby at Old Wide Awake...

May 7 2019
We’ve heard our fair share of wedding day blooper stories here at The Wedding Row, but this may be the first time we’ve heard of the bride’s wedding band falling through the cracks of a rooftop deck...

May 7 2019
Amanda got an early gift the year Zach walked into her pre-birthday celebration with a couple of their mutual friends. The two Wilmington, North Carolina, dwellers hit it off immediately, and nearly...

May 3 2019
Spring is in full swing here in the Lowcountry—in fact, it feels more like summer outside—so we’re celebrating this first Friday in May by sharing an appropriately colorful shoot. Event planning...

May 2 2019
It’s not often that we get to talk about farm life here at The Wedding Row, so we’re especially excited to share the story behind today’s engagement shoot. Emma and Blake, who live in Nebraska but...

May 1 2019
When Mike swiped right on Ryan on OkCupid, he inadvertently created their future wedding hashtag: #MikeSwipedRy. And thank goodness these two found each other, because their wedding just goes to show...

April 30 2019
Good morning, Wedding Row-ers! Pour yourself a big cup of coffee (or is it Tea-day Tuesday?) and get ready to dive into one seriously gorgeous post, if we do say so ourselves. Cayleigh Hopkins of The...