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...
Annie Smith & Davis Warlick
September 6, 2014
Hibernian Hall
Some couples are plain fun. One sign? The first (or close to the first) vendor booked for their wedding is their party band. So it went for Annie and Davis, who returned to their beloved Charleston (where both had vacationed for ages) to exchange vows and celebrate in grand style.
But before the fun-loving duo got to the dance-off portion in their love story, a few other chapters came first. After having met in 2008 at a friend’s wedding, they dated long-distance with Annie in the Big Apple and Davis in Charlotte, North Carolina. In time, the two moved to Santa Monica, California, for work (he’s in sales; she’s been in nearly every facet of events, from planning to stationery and staffing) and settled in, evolving into an inseparable couple and becoming parents of a beloved pup, Dempsey. Two years in, Davis received a transfer back to the Tar Heel State and knew he had to cook up a plan to pop the question.
After packing the moving truck and cleverly having all their apartment utilities shut off, he suggested they head to their favorite beachfront hotel for their last night on the West Coast. “I had no idea he had been planning this for weeks,” she says, “or that he had already booked the best room in the hotel, one overlooking the Santa Monica Pier.” They drove the truck over, checked in, and hit the porch for a sunset cocktail where Davis dropped to one knee and proposed.
The next three days were spent driving cross-country with Annie rattling off wedding details and reveling, she says, in Davis’ undivided attention. By the time they’d made it to the East Coast, she knew she wanted to enlist Tara Guérard as a planner (she had styled Davis’ sister’s wedding, and as one in the event industry, Annie had been a huge—huge—fan of Soirée for years) and that they wanted to host the wedding in the Lowcountry. Another must? Hiring Simply Irresistible as their band.
“Besides getting married,” explains Annie, “the second most important thing was for our guests to have the best time possible. We wanted to make it a night they’d never forget.” They booked all their requisites (including the band) and were stunned with a 90 percent invitation acceptance rate (most out-of-town weddings average 60 to 70 percent). What started out as a “smaller” wedding had ballooned into a nearly 400-person blowout at Hibernian Hall. The couple balanced things out with an intimate Friday rehearsal dinner (“Making Waves”), and then hosted a self-described “huge” wedding on Saturday. “It was the best of both worlds,” says Annie. “And we still have people raving about how much fun they had.”
Vendor List:
Wedding design, florals, linens, dance floor: Tara Guérard Soirée, www.TaraGuerardSoiree.com
Locations: (ceremony) First (Scots) Presbyterian Church, www.first-scots.org; (reception) Hibernian Hall, www.NPS.gov
Photography: Corbin Gurkin Photography, www.CorbinGurkin.com
Rentals: Snyder Events, www.SnyderEvents.com
Catering: Cru Catering, www.CruCatering.com
Cake: Wedding Cakes by Jim Smeal, www.WeddingCakesByJimSmeal.com
Bar service, wine: Spike by Snyder, www.SnyderEvents.com/Bar-Service
Stationery, signage: Lettered Olive, www.TheLetteredOlive.com
Bride’s gown: Issa, www.IssaLondon.com
Bride’s dresser: Cacky’s Bride+Aid, www.CackysBrideAid.com
Hair: Kristy Cuthbert, Studio Alpha, www.SolaSalonStudios.com
Makeup: Kori Mahoney, Cos Bar, www.CosBar.com
Menswear: Tom James, www.TomJames.com
Getaway vehicle: Lowcountry Valet & Shuttle Co., www.LowcountryValet.com
Music: (ceremony, trumpet) Susan Messersmith, www.TrumpetSusan.com; (ceremony, bagpiper) Bill Nuttall, The Carolina Bagpiper, www.TheCarolinaBagpiper.com; (reception) Simply Irresistible, http://www.simplyirresistibleBand.com
