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...
Madeline Hartman and Wyatt Mills share an old-fashioned love story. Two years after meeting through friends while students at the University of South Carolina (her) and Greenville Technical College (him), Wyatt mustered the courage to ask out Madeline. Five years and two long-distance stints later, he dropped to one knee in the same spot where the pair enjoyed their first date, Greenville’s Falls Park.
While Columbia had served as home base for much of the couple’s courtship, there was no question Charleston would host their February nuptials. A Mount Pleasant native, Madeline felt drawn to the restored Admiral’s House on the former Charleston Navy Base, where her grandfather had once been stationed. She and Wyatt could easily picture guests strolling, Champagne in hand, from the chapel to the nearby venue. “We wanted people to walk up to the reception and be in awe of the entire property, like we were the first time we saw it,” she says.
Wanting a traditional Lowcountry wedding, the couple envisioned a timeless look with a classic white, black, and green color scheme. To help with planning, they enlisted Grove Designs’ Emily Parham, who “put our simple vision into something stunning,” says Madeline. The process did include some last-minute pivoting when, three weeks before the big day, the venue needed to lay new turf. But the reimagined reception layout turned out to be perfect, as the sprawling Admiral’s House lawn came alive underneath hanging Spanish moss and strands of string lights that illuminated cozy couches and a gorgeous green wraparound bar.
While tradition informed many of the duo’s wedding decisions, the reception felt far from stodgy thanks to fun, personal touches. Stunned by the first dress she tried on, the bride chose a gown from Anne Barge’s Blue Willow Bride in a subtle pink color “so incredible that it never crossed my mind to go with white.” And Madeline didn’t reveal the striking choice to anyone except her mother and planner until she walked down the aisle. Guests were also treated to interactive entertainment with live portraits by a watercolor painter, a cigar bar manned by a professional roller, and a modern spin on the vintage photo booth. The couple also opted for mini cupcakes over traditional tiers so as not to interrupt the dance party for cake cutting. Fueled by bite-size desserts and espresso martinis, friends and family cut a rug on the checkerboard dance floor late into the evening before sending the couple off in a classic 1940s Rolls Royce.
