Earthy Elegance

Spring 2013

WRITER CREDIT:

PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT:

Earthy Elegance | Margaret Winnicki & Jeffrey Stark, April 21, 2012, Legare Waring House

Charleston Wedding Legare Waring House Folly Beach Weddings Daniel Island White Yoj Events fabulous frocks WildFlour Pastry

Earthy Elegance

SIP AND SEE: Upon guests’ arrival to the ceremony site, servers presented glasses of Champagne enlivened with St. Germaine elderflower liqueur and blueberries.

BIG IMPACT: To mimic the florals in a masculine way, the boutonnieres featured either blue muscari or scabiosa pods, along with Dusty Miller to soften the bundle’s flow onto the jacket, all wrapped in brown satin ribbon and gray and white Divine Twine.

HANGING AROUND: In the spirit of allowing the setting to stand at the forefront, Margaret and florist Whitney Randall limited the ceremony flowers to a handful of tastefully filled vases tied to aisle-side chairs.

NOTEWORTHY: The Classical Charleston string trio rearranged modern selections such as Coldplay’s “Yellow” and Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars” for the ceremony and cocktail hour. Margaret walked down the aisle to “Forever” by Ben Harper, and the recessional heralded The Beatles’ “In My Life.”

AGENT ORANGE: Branch Design Studio mingled chocolate cymbidium orchids with driftwood and moss for a woodsy effect.

STICK TO IT: Preceding the family-style dinner, Café Catering passed around hors d’oeuvres, including these rum-glazed shrimp on sugar cane skewers.

KNOW YOUR PLACE: Each pinned to a single sprig of blue muscari, place cards bearing the wedding’s signature watermark design dangled from a Spanish moss-covered board.

NATURAL BEAUTY: The dramatic allée at Legare Waring wooed Margaret and Jeffrey, who chose to seat guests deep into the oak-lined avenue for their ceremony in order to create a feeling of intimacy and seclusion.

NUMBERS GAME: In order to bring a bit of themselves into the event, Margaret and Jeffrey chose to number their tables with intriguing personal stats, such as 23 (the day they met), 6 (their shared December birthday), and 79 (the number of guests that travelled over 500 miles to be at the wedding). They even infused a bit of humor into the sums, seating their wildest friends at table 14 (the number of months they “lived in sin”).

SHADE LOVING: Yoj Events' Candice Hilse took care not to be overly matchy, especially with the blue table linens. "Color feels richer in a varying tonal palette," she says.

SERVED WITH CARE: Childhood friend of the bride and graphic designer Stefanie Wardrep created thank-you letters from the bride and groom to greet guests at their tables.

POWER OF THE FLOWER: While the bride carried primarily white blooms, the bridesmaids’ bouquets burst forth with peonies, hydrangeas, sweet peas, and blue muscari.

GENERATION NEXT: Custom throw pillows carried the color scheme into the lounge where photographs of long-married family members hung as screens.

FLORAL NOTES: Crisp white flowers tucked into silver vessels dressed up the setting.

ARRESTING DEVELOPMENT: Chocolate cymbidium orchids and scabiosa pods added subtle warmth to arrangements of peonies, blue muscari, sweet peas, Dusty Miller, silver brunia, ranunculus.

FEELING BLUE: For cocktail hour, Yoj Events designer Candice Hilse topped highboy tables with smoky blue linens and dressed them with carefully edited blooms in bud vases and mercury glass cylinders. “Pillar candles provided the perfect romantic light for sunset,” she says.

BRANCHING OUT: Guests signed pieces of an oak tree puzzle.

BALANCING ACT: “He wanted logistics; she wanted beauty,” explains planner Candice Hilse. “Margaret and Jeffrey are their own little right brain/left brain.” But the couple did agree on one thing. “We really wanted to show off the city we’ve come to call home,” he says.

SIDLE UP: As the sun dipped low, candlelight glowed throughout the venue, from the bar to the nearby fountain.

ALL AGLOW: A newly constructed patio in front of Legare Waring House installed one month prior to the wedding necessitated a change in the event’s initial layout. In the end, the party flowed from the oak avenue to cocktail hour on the new patio, which the planner outfitted with highboy tables and white café umbrellas.

LIGHT BRIGHT: Bare Edison bulbs and swathes of fabric gently draped down from the center of the tent, which boasted a lush canopy layered with moss, branches, and orchids.

TREAT TOWER: The hosts opted for a cascading tray of individual desserts—Mexican chocolate mousse, Margaret’s favorite homemade Oreo cookies, strawberry cream cups, and blueberry crumb cake—created by WildFlour Pastry chef Lauren Mitterer. “We wanted our friends and family to be dancing, drinking, and visiting, not standing around to watch us cut a cake,” says the bride.

DANCE WITH ME: So guests could feel involved with the party, the design team situated the dance floor in the middle of the tent, “where everyone could watch or participate,” says Margaret, who found the idea for the crowning floral installation on Pinterest.

February 2013

Real-Life Weddings

Receptions

Photographs by:

Juliet Elizabeth

When Margaret Winnicki and Jeffrey Stark met at Folly Beach’s Surf Bar, the Lowcountry transplants made a date for the following weekend. Eighteen months later (after Jeffrey had dropped to one knee), the couple reached out to Candice Hilse of Yoj Events to deliver an elegant alfresco fête showcasing Charleston’s natural charms. With the bride’s input, Candice selected a steel blue, gray, and copper palette that played into the organic feel of the Legare Waring House’s oak-lined grounds, as did florals of Spanish moss, branches, and orchids. “The understated décor allowed the house and grounds to stand out,” says Margaret, “and let our guests understand why we fell in love with Charleston.”

Vendor List

Baker: WildFlour Pastry; www.wildflourcharleston.com
Bridal attire: Allure, White on Daniel Island; www.whiteondi.com
Bridesmaid’s attire: Thread, Fabulous Frocks; www.fabulousfrocks.com
Caterer: Café Catering; www.charlestonscafe.com
Ceremony and reception location: Legare Waring House; www.legarewaringhouse.com
Designer: Candice Hilse, Yoj Events; www.yojevents.com
Florist: Branch Design Studio; www.branchdesignstudio.com
Groom’s attire: Canali, Berlin’s for Men; www.berlinsclothing.com
Groomsmen’s attire: Joseph Abboud, Men’s Wearhouse; www.menswearhouse.com
Music: DJ Bryan Mahanes, Other Brother Entertainment; string trio, Classical Charleston; www.otherbrotherentertainment.com, www.classicalcharleston.com
Photographer: Juliet Jones Photography; www.julietelizabeth.com
Stationery: Stefanie Wardrep, stefanie.lister@gmail.com
Transportation: Absolutely Charleston; www.absolutelycharleston.com

The Wedding Row

January 4 2019

Virginia & Stephen | Magnolia Plantation & Gardens

Now, we’ve run our fair share of gorgeous weddings at Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, but we swear we think this wins the award for most gorgeous to date. It makes sense, though, considering...

January 3 2019

Top 10 Most Liked Instagram Posts of 2018

January 2 2019

Vera & Brien | The Gadsden House

On the heels of New Year’s we needed a classic wedding with black-tie panache to carry us through the rest of this holiday-wind-down week. Enter Vera and Brien’s dreamy day, lovingly designed by A...

December 31 2018

Annie & Matt | Boone Hall Plantation

We searched high and low for a wedding to close out the New Year, and what better pick than Annie and Matt, whose ceremony ended with the officiant (the bride’s brother-in-law, or in this case, we’re...

December 28 2018

Vendor of the Month: Bow Tied Weddings {Sponsored Post}

Here’s a little discussed fact: A great DJ can make (or break) a wedding. And the difference between a first dance that has everyone sighing and posting (instead of cringing) and a party that...

December 27 2018

Kristina & Michael | Engagement Session

Here’s the thing: Charleston’s in the tropics, more or less. And here in the jungle, it rains from time to time, which can put a damper on a portrait sesh out and about if you don’t plan well. The...

December 26 2018

Jesse & Will | Old Village Post House Inn

Ok, people. Yes, you’re gonna love Jesse and Will’s wedding photos (al fresco reception in the Old Village? Yes, please!). But their proposal story? It might even beat the pretty out for best in show...

December 21 2018

Lindsey & José | Middleton Place

Lindsey and José didn’t start off on the right foot (he didn’t do a double-take when he first met her at Boston College, so she gave him the same indifferent treatment, and sparks didn’t fly for...

Feature

Pull It Together

Got a lot of ideas to tie into one day? Here’s how Southern Protocol is making things stylish and tidy for one lucky couple

Feature

Stunning Stones

Leave run-of-the mill rings behind and opt for bold gems, surprising shapes, and new hues

Feature

Flower Child

A colorful bride from Los Angeles shares how she broke out of the blush-hued, monochromatic box with a little help from Mother Nature

Feature

Jumping (the Broom) for Joy

Christi Ascue & Sean Kershaw; April 11, 2009, Boone Hall Plantation

Feature

Basket Case

Hand-dyed and hand-stitched here in town, these fabric catchalls would make your flower girl’s day

Feature

Royal Treatment

Greek traditions and violet hues set the tone for a regal affair kicked off with a pair of crowns

Feature

'Tis the Season

With a ceremony in her childhood church, a reception (for 350!) at the beach club where she grew up, a groom who’s her best friend, this winter wedding was all this bride could hope for

Feature

Princess Bride

Whether she’s a blushing bride or pint-sized flower girl, Daddy’s little girls love to play dress up for the Big Day.

Feature

Getaway Gurus

These Charleston-based women are to bachelorette weekends what planners are to your Big Day

Feature

Lowcountry Sparkle

Feature

Miami Heat

A Sunshine State couple brings the heat to their al fresco wedding at Magnolia Plantation & Gardens

Feature

Keep It Classy!

Have the perfect bachelorette weekend in Charleston

Feature

Gossip, Girl!

From new dress shops to chic stuff for your mom (and mom-in-law), and lipstick that’s so pretty you’ll pucker right up, here’s the latest in wedding style headlines

Feature

Five Tips for a Smokin’ Lingerie Shoot

Book a boudoir session into your wedding weekend photography package and define sexy for yourself

Feature

Grass Roots

<p> Jessica Alig & Tim McIntosh, May 28, 2011, French Protestant (Huguenot) Church & The Confederate Home</p>

Feature

Wander the Wedding Quarter

From sweets to save-the-dates, the shops on Cannon and Spring streets are wedding-central

Feature

Lady Antebellum

Feature

'Tis the Season

With a ceremony in her childhood church, a reception (for 350!) at the beach club where she grew up, a groom who’s her best friend, this winter wedding was all this bride could hope for