Bright Ideas



WRITER CREDIT: 
PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT: 
Bright Ideas | Amber Crowe & Kevin Kelley; September 22, 2006, The William Aiken House

“Nothing about my personality is understated,” laughs Amber Crowe as she explains the approach behind her nuptials to Kevin Kelley, where bold color and unchecked whimsy reigned supreme. “I knew I didn’t want anything traditional except the white dress,” says the New Bern, North Carolina, resident. To help materialize the one-of-a-kind event, Amber sought out the talents of Gathering Floral + Event Design’s Heather Barrie-Ahern. With the bride’s direction to steer clear of subtle and her chosen color scheme of bright orange, lime green, and hot pink, Heather transformed The William Aiken House into a spectacle of audacious swaths of fabric, splashy centerpieces and florals, and coordinating design elements. Every detail of the evening—from the table linens to the cake—conspired to render exactly the vivid, dynamic atmosphere Amber had hoped for. “The ambience was fantastic. Heather knew I wanted fun, colorful, and unique, but since I live in North Carolina, I really had to give her the reins. She took my guidelines and ran with them perfectly,” she says. But the best part for Amber? Winning over her skeptical groom. “At first Kevin wasn’t on board at all with the bright colors and whimsical motifs, so him being so impressed and happy with the end results was such a reward.”

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...