Easy Breezy



WRITER CREDIT: 
PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT: 

May 17, 2025 / Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens

Despite both growing up and attending the same schools in Richmond, Virginia, Anna Catherine Frazier and Ross Meade didn’t truly get to know each other until their paths crossed the summer after college. The two spent a lot of time together in the months to follow, but with Ross bound for a postgrad job in Atlanta, they didn’t pursue more than a friendship—at first. By the next summer, Anna had moved to Charleston, and when Ross came to visit her one weekend, they decided to take the plunge. Several years later, Ross pulled off Anna’s dream proposal on the beach at Sullivan’s Island with their English cream golden retriever, Winnie, right at their side.

As a wedding planner with Tara Guérard Soirée, Anna was well-positioned to begin plotting their May nuptials, set against the ethereal, lived-in elegance of Boone Hall. Though the bride had worked many events at the venue, she knew that Erica Missel of Soeur Events (sister company to Soirée) would ensure the big day felt uniquely theirs.

Indeed, following a charming ceremony on the front lawn, every detail of the couple’s Cotton Dock reception was personal and downright dreamy. Beachy-chic decor—including rattan furnishings, punchy printed fabrics, hanging wicker lights, and cane accents—transformed the venue. But it still felt easy breezy, just as Anna had hoped. “I didn’t want it to be this over-the-top, stuffy event,” she says. “I learned from Tara that the secret to a great party comes down to these essentials: good food and drinks (and never a line), a great band playing (three hours, nonstop!), ambient lighting, and a great flow.”

Top Tips

  • Bring in live music.
    As the newlyweds were being announced for the first time, Spiritually Yours gospel choir emerged from Boone Hall’s gardens to surprise guests with an a capella recessional. Later, the bold, brassy horns of TPG Band led partygoers from dinner into dancing. 
  • Set a sweet spread.
    The couple prefers other treats to cake, so they opted for a stunning dessert table filled with their favorite sweets and fruits—and, for tradition’s sake, a small tiered cake from Publix. 
  • Take time together.
    Ross and Anna chose to read their vows privately on the beach the morning of their wedding. “It set the intention for the day and helped us refocus and block out all the noise,” she says.

 

Vendors

  • Venue: Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens
  • Planning, Design, & Linens: Soeur Events
  • Photography: Anne Rhett Photography
  • Florist: On a Limb Florals
  • Catering: Cru Catering
  • Bar Service: Spike by Snyder
  • Entertainment: Kiral Artists (ceremony), Spiritually Yours (gospel choir), TPG Band (reception)
  • Rentals: Snyder Events, Tara Guérard Soirée
  • Stationery & Signage: The Lettered Olive
  • Sound & Lighting: Production Design Associates 
  • Videography: Taylor Jordan Photography
  • Bridal Attire: Tony Ward Couture (gown), Kleinfeld Bridal (boutique), Emily Kotarski (reception dress), Steve Madden (reception shoes)
  • Beauty: Patrick Navarro (hair), Kelly Rhodes Frank of Charleston Bridal Collab (makeup)
  • Stylist: Cacky’s Bride Aid 
  • Groom’s Attire: Grady Ervin & Co. (tuxedo), Jos A. Bank (dinner jacket & shoes) Brackish (bow tie)
  • Groomsmen’s Attire: Men’s Wearhouse, Jack & Miles (tie)

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”)...