Keep It Cool | Put the “country” in Lowcountry with a laid-back reception—skeet shoot-out included!—like this one at the bride’s Yonges Island childhood home
A Charleston Bride is known for creating stunning weddings loaded with luxe details and copious blooms, events that regularly find their way to the pages of Southern Weddings and on Style Me Pretty, The Knot, Ruffled, Brides, Elizabeth Anne Designs, and more. But when owner Melissa Barton wed Kevin Williams last fall, the two went under the radar for their private Big Day in November and country casual for their public celebration in December. We visited with Melissa to hear how an A-list planner puts on her own marriage celebration and why she swapped finery for refined rustic when it was her turn.
Charleston Weddings: Let’s start with the proposal. How did that play out?
Melissa Barton Williams: Kevin told me we were going to the Friday dress parade at his alma mater, The Citadel. When we got there, there was no parade, but he had a photographer meet us and she caught some perfect shots.
CW: Tell us about your actual ceremony.
MBW: It was perfection! We were at the Governor Thomas Bennett House with our children (we have a son and daughter each), parents, and immediate family. I wore a white jumpsuit and carried a bouquet that the girls at the office had picked. Charleston Virtuosi played as my son walked me down the aisle. After the ceremony, everyone’s favorite drinks were brought to them then we went out for dinner.
CW: How did you decide on the relaxed style of the December reception?
MBW: Kevin’s from Greenwood, South Carolina, so he’s a country boy at heart, and I grew up on Yonges Island. We always knew we wanted an oyster roast in my parents’ backyard at my childhood home with barbecue, bluegrass, and skeet shooting. This sort of celebration is great for anyone’s rehearsal dinner, second marriage (like us), or anniversary.
CW: How did skeet shooting factor in?
MBW: We shoot skeet out there a lot, and all of our neighbors are family so all were onboard. We did it early in the day, before too many drinks were consumed and my brother and father ran the thrower while Kevin managed the guns. I wouldn’t do it with a large group; for clients, I’d say hire a professional to organize it so no one gets hurt.
CW: Can you talk about the planning side?
MBW: I did it all in about five weeks, and left the office gals out of it so they could come as guests. I saw the rosemary topiaries as I was walking out of Whole Foods Market and loved how they were wrapped in burlap and were a little nod to the upcoming holiday. I’ve used hay bale seating for a rehearsal dinner before and loved it. The barrels were there to complement our bourbon tasting station (a surprise for Kevin as he loves bourbon), where we had large-cut ice cubes—the guys were going nuts about those.
CW: Any lessons learned to share?
MBW: We saved on cost by having beer and wine at a self-serve bar rather than hiring a bartending service. That can be risky in terms of liability, but we got event insurance for the day as we were comfortable knowing these were some of our very best friends and close family. Also? Having it at my parents’ place lent much more of a relaxed feeling than had we rented a location.
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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”)...
Rose gold is all the rage today, and rental houses and jewelers alike stock it in myriad forms. Here’s how to wield the trend like a true pro and let it warm up a cool weather wedding without overpowering it
Summer never looked so sweet as on this Mount Pleasant couple's wedding day, which was dressed in pale blush florals, gold accents, glittery linens, and warm lighting
Two foodies—he’s worked at Oceana, The Obstinate Daughter, and Wild Olive and she’s penning her first cookbook—tie the knot on All Hallows’ Eve at the bride’s family home on Sullivan’s Island
