Big Doings



WRITER CREDIT: 
PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT: 
Big Doings | A pair of crafty engineers plan a DIY wedding for the ages... and a bride scores a start-up business in the process

Kathryn Kerrigan & Andrew Sawyer
May 24, 2014
Legare Waring House

 

What do you get when you mix two engineers, a two-year engagement, and a Lowcountry venue that’s as gorgeous as it gets? Kathryn and Andrew’s heartfelt and handcrafted Big Day—a DIY affair that Pinterest boards are made of.

 

“I’ve always been crafty, so getting to do a bazillion crafts was the best,” says the bride, who, with the help from her groom, sawed, sanded, stained, and sewed her way to both a beautiful wedding and a brand new business.

 

“After our wedding was over, it felt like my favorite hobby had been taken from me,” says Kathryn, who since opened Paper and Pine Co. to sell her creations to other brides. And as for the wedding? Personal vows, stunning florals, and creative bars (beer bottles floated over the craft beer area while glass bubbles hung above a champagne station) made for a merry time.
 

Top Tips
Words from the wise...
• Avoid a time crunch. Crafting was tackled in the four months prior to the wedding. “Two extra months would have relieved stress and allowed us to squeeze in a few more items,” Kathryn says.
• Put 35 percent of your initial budget aside for taxes, gratuity, and miscellaneous expenses.
• Tap into your skills. Engineer Kathryn used AutoCAD—a program she uses for work—to design the marquee sign.
• Enlist your loved ones. Kathryn’s family assembled all the paper goods and helped communicate with vendors.
 

Vendor List:

Wedding design, décor, event signage, programs, menus: Paper and Pine Co. (Etsy), www.Etsy.com/Shop/PaperandPineCo

Day-of coordination, catering, bar service: Café Catering, www.CafeCateringAndEvents.com

Location: Legare Waring House, www.LegareWaringHouse.com

Florals: Branch Design Studio, www.BranchDesignStudio.com

Photography: Juliet Elizabeth, www.JulietElizabeth.com

Cinematography: Lowcountry Wedding Films, www.LowcountryWeddingFilms.com

Chairs: Snyder Events, www.SnyderEvents.com

Mirrored bar, bar shelving, linens, tables, lighting: EventHaus, www.EventHausRentals.com

Cakes: DeClare Cakes, www.DeClareCakes.com

Bride’s gown: Marisa Bridals, www.MarisaBridals.com

Hair: Paper Dolls, www.MyCharlestonWeddingHair.com

Makeup: Pamela Lesch, www.PamelaLeschMakeup.com

Bridesmaid dresses: Watters (available locally through Bella Bridesmaids), www.BellaBridesmaids.com

Menswear: Express, www.Express.com

Transportation: Lowcountry Valet & Shuttle Co., www.LowcountryValet.com

Music: Two Three Ways, www.OtherBrotherEnt.com/Two_3_Ways

The Wedding Row

January 17 2019
We couldn’t come up with a better love story than Taylor and Jonathan’s if we tried. They met while she was in dental school and he was completing his medical residency. (She’s a dentist, he’s a...

January 16 2019
Who doesn’t have a soft spot for college sweethearts? Liz and John met their sophomore year at Providence College in Rhode Island, not knowing that nine years later John would propose on the very...

January 14 2019
Oh my gosh is he a good guy! After meeting at work (at the Daniel Island Club), Ginny says she didn’t even know she was on her first date with Daniel when he offered to spend an afternoon helping her...

January 11 2019
OK. So these two New Yorkers are kind of a big deal (she’s a VP at a hedge fund group and former account head at the Olgivy agency with an MBA and he’s a marketing director at a Big Apple firm and...

January 10 2019
We want to be invited to *that* New Year’s Eve party! We’re talking about the one where Mount Pleasant native Bree met Mobile, Alabama-born Josh, and the two hit it off enough for us to be talking...

January 9 2019
Lanier and Luke met in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, during a Friendsgiving supper one November along with some 30 pals. That run-in led to a friendship that turned into a romance and by 2017, the two were...

January 8 2019
O.M.G. You are so going to love these two! For starters, they tricked—yes, tricked—their families into a shared Thanksgiving vacation in Charleston that turned into a surprise wedding for them and...

January 7 2019
We hate to do this to you, but we have to tell you some things about bride Sarah Grace that might very well intimidate you (like it did us). Yes, yes, yes, she and her sweetheart Martin (aka “Bug”)...