All-Around Classic



PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT: 
All-Around Classic | Elizabeth Merck & Douglas Lake; April 29, 2006, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church & Hibernian Society Hall

Holy City native Elizabeth Merck, a student at the New York School of Interior Design, and Douglas Lake, an MBA student at Columbia University, met as teens when they were both in boarding school near Douglas’ home. “I basically grew up in his parent’s kitchen,” says Elizabeth. As adults, the pair had been to their share of contemporary nuptials, but Elizabeth knew that old-time romance would rule their own big event. “I wanted our wedding to be simple and traditionally Southern, with lots of flowers everywhere,” she says. “And I wanted the day to feel like it could have happened at any time, any year.” Thus Elizabeth and Douglas chose Hibernian Society Hall for the reception. “It’s such a historic and beautiful place,” explains Elizabeth, who worked with planner Kristin Newman to create an elegant night of dining and dancing. A simple, all-white color-scheme allowed the copious amounts of French tulips, orchids, and calla lilies to dominate the scene. “We really didn’t worry about trends,” says Elizabeth of the timeless look she, her sweetheart, and the evening wore. “We just did what we wanted and everything fell into place.”

The Wedding Row

April 17 2019
Kyleigh met Nick when she was in Cardiff, Wales, getting her master’s degree. (Her friend had convinced her to give Tinder a shot, and her “first, last, and only Tinder date,” she says, was the born-...

April 16 2019
We don’t know about you, but these past few days of shorts weather have had us daydreaming about summer. Brandy McGhie, owner of local luxury event planning company Classic Planning & Design Co...

April 15 2019
Tricia and Brandon were in the same fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary here in Charleston, but their love story didn’t begin until a college football game 14 years later. The South Carolina...

April 12 2019
Designer Lela Rose has a saying we can all toast to: “Nothing says chic like matching your drink to your dress.” Fashion stylist Lindsey Nowak took that as a challenge, linked arms with Reagan Barnes...

April 11 2019
Taylor and Sam may be from Virginia and live in Waco, Texas, but the Palmetto State holds a special place in their hearts. They met at the University of South Carolina when Sam, a freshman fraternity...

April 10 2019
Thank goodness for Joe Quick—the mutual friend who lived up to his name and set up Avery and Henry when all three were in high school in Atlanta. After his pleas for them to meet went unheeded, he...

April 9 2019
Gillian and Phil met while studying abroad in Ireland. But because they attended different schools stateside (he was at the University of South Carolina, she was at The State University of New York...

April 8 2019
Here’s how Emmy and Josh explain how they became an item: “Josh had been courting Emmy for quite some, and on one evening in June at Dillon’s pub in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, he decided...