Romance On the Creek

Spring 2014

WRITER CREDIT:

PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT:

Romance On the Creek | Two Lowcountry natives choose a spot close to home—real close, in fact—to say "I do."

The Cotton Dock at Boone Hall Plantation Out of Hand Baked Boone Hall Plantation Boone Hall bouquets Daniel Island White Co diy gown Plane Jane WED

CLASSIC SURROUNDINGS: Boone Hall Plantation’s stately exterior served as the perfect backdrop for this vintage-inspired wedding.

HAIR TO TELL YOU: “It was the vision of my wedding,” says Mary Jo of her hair bauble. The wedding’s style came together around the accessory, which, like her Jenny Packham dress, was from White on Daniel Island. Alex added a suave touch to his ensemble with a Robert Talbott Seven Fold tie from Gwynn’s of Mount Pleasant.

GARDEN PARTY: The bridal party carried bouquets from Out of Hand.

STRONG TIES: Alex and his groomsmen wore suits from Men’s Warehouse.

BONDED: A family friend made the wooden cross that marked the ceremony altar.

ORDER OF EVENTS: Hello & Co. created an emerald green floral motif for the fan-shaped ceremony programs.

SWEET THING: The couple’s daughter watched intently as her parents wed on the banks of Horlbeck Creek.

MARCH ON: Charles Carmody—director of Charleston Music Hall and a friend of the couple’s—and Bennett MacNath led a parade from the ceremony site to the reception.

Virgil Bunao Photography

GARDEN PARTY: Swaths of hung fabric defined the open-air cocktail area.

HANGING AROUND: Friend-turned-planner Julie Righetti hung French market buckets stocked with clusters of like blooms—tulips, alstroemeria, and spray roses—along the Cotton Dock’s exterior walls.

Virgil Bunao Photography

FLORABUNDANCE: “I wanted a lot of flowers, but I wanted all the flowers to have meaning. I used the Victorian flower dictionary and my coral, creams, and lilac colors to carefully choose all the flowers in my bouquet and in the centerpieces,” says Mary Jo.

EASY DOES IT: Single blooms in simple glass jars offered easy décor inside the Cotton Dock.

Virgil Bunao Photography

SWEETHEARTS: Mary Jo, Alex, and their daughter, Georgi, shared a table dressed with crocheted lace, pale pink napkins, and gold-rimmed tableware from Event DRS.

NEW HEIGHTS: Julie adorned the Cotton Dock’s wooden rafters with flowers from A Victorian Flower Dictionary, which gives each bloom a unique meaning. Peach-hued peonies symbolize a happy marriage while yellow roses are for contentment. The ferns and Spanish moss served as a nod to the Lowcountry.

Virgil Bunao Photography

TAKING NAMES: Guests posed with props like novelty glasses and chalkboard conversation bubbles and had their pictures made.

Virgil Bunao Photography

INDOOR, OUTDOOR: Comfortable lounge furniture let guests enjoy the night sky on a warm Southern night.

TABLE TALK: Simple tables got a vintage makeover with lace that Mary Jo handpicked and specially ordered for the day. Topped off with single stems, the tablescape offered a pretty but not overpowering place for guests to dine and mingle.

Virgil Bunao Photography

SIMPLE TOUCHES: The location’s rustic beauty was aglow with myriad candles. The hearth was filled with a gentry of tall flowers, while white-framed mirrors hung above the mantel.

FAMILY PORTRAIT: “This wedding was as much for her as for us,” says Mary Jo of wedding Alex with their daughter, Georgi, as her maid-of-honor.

LIGHT UP THE NIGHT: Attendees wrote messages and well wishes on paper lanterns before lighting them and sending them into the night from the dock. “It was the most beautiful sight,” says Mary Jo, “all the lights scattered across the sky.”

Virgil Bunao Photography

Photographs by:

Virgil Bunao Photography

Mary Jo Stone & Alexander Herlocker

May 27, 2013

The Cotton Dock at Boone Hall Plantation

Mary Jo Stone and Alexander (Alex) Herlocker became fast friends after meeting in the seventh grade. But it wasn’t until they reconnected their senior year of high school—he attended Academic Magnet, and she was at Bishop England—that they began dating. Three years later, Alex set a candlelit dinner on the back deck of their creekside Mount Pleasant home and proposed. Mary Jo’s answer was as obvious as their ideal venue. “I looked across the water to Boone Hall’s Cotton Dock, and thought, that is where I’m getting married,” says Mary Jo.

It was a decision rooted in family tradition. The bride grew up on the same waterway that wends by the plantation, and her mother wed her stepfather there 12 years ago to the day the younger couple would exchange vows. For planning and design—Mary Jo and Alex were both in the thick of finishing their nursing degrees—the bride turned to friend Julie Righetti, a talent with interior design and faux finishing. Together, the two played off of Mary Jo’s soft, vintage aesthetic and love of spring colors.

When the day came (the same month both the bride and groom graduated and earned their nursing licenses), the couple was overjoyed. After a ceremony under the oaks and a party at the Cotton Dock, Mary Jo and Alex joined family, including their three-year-old daughter, Georgi, and friends to release paper lanterns into the sky. “It was a representation of all of our guests, the family and friends that had lifted us up in our lives,” says Mary Jo.

Vendor List

Baked Goods: Whole Foods, www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Bouquets: Out of Hand; www.theartofcreating.com/shopoutofhand

Bridal Gown: Jenny Packham from White on Daniel Island, www.whiteondi.com

Bridal Hair Accessory: White on Daniel Island, www.whiteondi.com

Cake: Elaine Mincey—Cakes of Distinction, www.elainesevents.com

Ceremony Music: Gregory Guay, www.gregoryguaymusic.com

Event Design, Coordination, & Florals: Julie Righetti

Groom’s and Groomsmen’s Suits: Men’s Warehouse, www.menswearhouse.com

Groom’s Tie: Gwynn’s of Mount Pleasant, www.gwynns.com

Invitations: DIY & Nepalese Paper, www.nepalesepaper.com

Photographer: Virgil Bunao Photography, www.virgilbunao.com

Procession Music: Charles Carmody & Bennett MacNath

Programs: Hello & Co., www.helloandco.com

Rentals: Event DRS, www.eventdrscharleston.com

Reception Music: Plane Jane, www.otherbrotherent.com/plane_jane.htm

Venue: The Cotton Dock at Boone Hall Plantation, www.boonehallplantation.com

The Wedding Row

April 29 2019

Bachelorette Session | Isle of Palms

If you’ve ever walked down King Street on a Saturday evening, you know Charleston’s the “It City” for bachelorette parties. So when North Carolina native and bride-to-be Cristen decided to hold her...

April 26 2019

Kaitlin & Allan | The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island

The latest Charleston Weddings magazine features the journey of Kaitlin and her hubby Allan, who defied the odds and overcame a traumatic brain injury to join his bride at the altar on their Big Day...

April 25 2019

Morgan & Chase | Hibernian Hall

When Morgan and her family attended Folly Gras 2015 (a Mardi Gras celebration held annually on Folly Beach), she had no inclination she’d meet her future husband. But when she caught up with her best...

April 24 2019

Vendor Spotlight | Mercantile & Mash

Few things get us through a hump day better than fantasizing about fantastic food and lip-smacking libations. So we thought it was a good time to reach out to Graham Ervin, director of sales at The...

April 23 2019

Hannah & Jonathan | Oldfield

We profiled Hannah and Jonathan’s super lovely wedding in the spring issue of Charleston Weddings, but we weren’t able to include all they had to say, and we had a ton of bonus images to share with...

April 22 2019

Tabletop Styled Shoot | Merchants Hall

Samantha Anderson Events teamed up with Lyndi and Jason Photography to turn a no-fun subject—your wedding budget—on its head. The trick? Samantha dressed three tables at three different price points...

April 19 2019

Blake & Charles | The Gadsden House

Blake, a wedding planner for Pure Luxe Bride, recently had the chance to plan her own Big Day. She and now-husband Charles met in an accounting class at College of Charleston, and a few years later...

April 18 2019

Elizabeth & James | Engagement Session

Here’s a rare wedding bird these days: A Charleston-raised couple prepping to say “I do” here in their own backyard. As Elizabeth and James keep on with the planning, here’s a little about the...

Feature

Charleston Gets Simply Elegant

Light touches at this Gadsden House equal a beautiful Big Day

Feature

Family Ties

Heirloom elements and family favorites come together for a spectacularly sweet—and Southern—wedding

Feature

Top It Off

Feast your eyes on this treasure chest of jewels ranging from ultra-fine to utterly fashionable. Whether you’re dressing for your wedding or any of the myriad events leading up to it, these pieces add polish—and panache