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...
North Carolina natives Taylor and Bennett met when the two were sophomores at N.C. State. Five years after they had become an item, they were in Manhattan where, says Bennett, “The ring was burning a hole in my pocket!” As the skies opened up, the pair took a cab to Tavern on the Green in Central Park, and Bennett sweated through every block they passed, trying to come up with a Plan B proposal to his Plan A (an open-air ask before dinner). “I thought I was going to have to propose in the back of a New York City yellow cab,” he tells us, “but as we neared the park there was a small break in the rain.” He hustled Taylor along to Shakespeare’s Garden, where he says he thinks she caught on thanks to the photographer Bennett had hired. The woman, decked out in a yellow poncho was waving and waving at the couple when they appeared. “I guess she didn’t understand the whole ‘Hide in the bushes’ thing,” says Bennett. “I then got down on one knee and asked Taylor if she liked the ring, and then if she would marry me. She said ‘Yes’ to both.” After that most auspicious beginning, the two planned a destination wedding in Charleston, one that kicked off with a rehearsal dinner at Cannon Green planned by Gregory Blake Sams Events. Take a peek here, and check out the spring issue of Charleston Weddings to see their “Beverly Hills-styled” wedding day…it hits newsstands in mid-March. (Oh! And be sure to visit the bride’s stationary shop—@shopsurcie!)
Event Design: Gregory Blake Sams Events | Florals: The Wildwood Flower Designs | Photography: Virgil Bunao | Videography: Cinema 843 | Venue: Cannon Green | Linen: La Tavola | Projector: Technical Event Company | Piano: Fox Music House | Groom’s Cake: Ashley Bakery
