Loading...

This Charleston Wedding at William Aiken House was Filled with Italian Flair

December 12, 2018 | Junebug Weddings

We’re traveling to Southern Italy without even needing to leave the U.S. thanks to Lisa and Jeremy’s stunning South Carolina wedding at William Aiken House! Because the bride’s family is from Italy, the couple incorporated a classic Italian feel and wedding traditions into their big day with whimsical flowers and olive branches designed by Stephanie Gibbs Events, an al fresco dinner party with a distinctly European-rustic feel, and tradition favors for their guests. Lisa took our breaths away in her lace-topped Sassi Holford gown and romantic updo, and her girls made laid-back elegance look effortless in neutral Jenny Yoo dresses. The hopeless romantics in us were swept away by every Italian-inspired detail that A Charleston Bride and their entire dream team helped the couple create for their special day, and Sean Money + Elizabeth Fay could not have captured it all more brilliantly!

The Couple:

Lisa and Jeremy

The Wedding:

William Aiken House, Charleston, South Carolina

Our wedding vibe was primarily inspired by Southern Italy where my (bride) parents are from. We wanted to bring Italy and our traditions to Charleston. Having an al fresco dinner under a beautiful lite trellis mixed with loose, colorful flowers, and olive branches, giving the traditional wedding favors (five almonds given as wedding favors to symbolize five wishes for the bride and groom: health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity) as well as dancing the traditional Tarantella, did just that.

Magical, fun-filled, dynamic duo are only some words that come to mind when I talk about my photographers Sean Money and Elizabeth Fay. They have become such great friends that the day of the wedding just seemed to be a big party that they just so happened to have their cameras on them. Sean and Elizabeth truly captured the fun, crazy facial expressions our wedding day brought to us as well as unplanned moments such as trying to feed a taco to Jeremy on our way to take pictures and spilling it on both his tuxedo and my dress. Trying to recreate the champagne tower toast my parents (bride) had 37 years ago on their wedding day and accidentally knocking over the glasses – don’t worry, second times a charm. Moments we will never forget and friendships that will truly last forever.

The best wedding planning advice I have for other couples is, if you can, have some sort of welcome reception or pick a place to meet for after dinner drinks with everyone the night before the wedding. It was so nice for us to catch up with out of town guests and family we haven’t seen in a while the night before and spend the day of the wedding just enjoying the day and not missing out on any moments.

It is impossible to pick one moment that was more memorable than the next but an unplanned moment right before dessert definitely sticks out! Our photographers and videographer stole sparklers for our sparkler exit and told us to follow them. We lit the sparklers and danced, ran around in circles, were spelling words in the air, jumping on each other’s backs – a moment of us getting to enjoy being husband and wife. The photos and videos of these ended up capturing some of my favorite shots!

The Wedding Team:

Photography – Sean Money + Elizabeth Fay
Event Planning – A Charleston Bride
Venue – William Aiken House
Floral Design – Stephanie Gibbs Events
Catering and Cake – Patrick Properties Hospitality Group
DJ – Darby Events
Videography – Life in Rewind
Stationery – Studio R Design
Calligraphy – Sweet Magnolia Paper
Hair and Makeup Artist – Paper Dolls
Wedding Dress – Sassi Holford via Ladies of Lineage
Bridal Accessories – Ladies of Lineage
Bridesmaids’ Apparel – Jenny Yoo via Bella Bridesmaids
Groom’s Apparel – Hickey Freeman via Nordstrom
Groomsmen’s Apparel – Men’s Wearhouse
Rentals – Snyder and Ooh! Events
Lighting – Technical Event Company

 

Congratulations to Lisa and Jeremy, and a big thanks to Junebug members Sean Money + Elizabeth Fay for sharing this beautiful wedding at William Aiken House! Love the romantic style of Italian weddings as much as we do? This modern Italian garden wedding at Villa La Vedetta is enchanting AF!

Sponsors
Email [email protected] to advertise on Junebug Weddings

We Can’t Get Over the Enchanting Glamour of This Latvian Greenhouse Wedding at Siltumnica

December 11, 2018 | Junebug Weddings

With their ceremony nestled amid a birch grove and their reception in a greenhouse, Marita and Allan’s late-summer wedding at Siltumnica was as natural as it was glamorous. The bride walked down the grassy aisle to the sound of harps and violins, her glamorous Žanna Klimenko gown and long veil flowing in the wind all the way. After their “I dos,” the couple then made their way into the countryside for portraits with Elina Upmane Photography that looked as if they were stills from a Hollywood classic. We love how the couple integrated touches of glam, vintage decor but kept the overall feel of both the outdoor space and the greenhouse as natural, whimsical, and magical as possible. And the dusty pink and gold hues LayerCake used in the floral design and paper goods made the whole design feel luxuriously romantic.

The Couple:

Marita and Allan

The Wedding:

Siltumnica, Valmiera, Latvia

The most memorable part of the day was the ceremony! It was in the middle of a birch grove and we had a harp and violins playing in the background while I walked toward my husband to be. Emotions took over and happy tears were running down my cheeks. This was the moment we had been dreaming about for so long and, finally, it was happening! And it was just perfect.

We wanted our wedding to be as natural as possible and romantic at the same time. It was easy to choose the vibe as we both wanted the same thing. For us, the most important element was the venue. We wanted nature to be a big part of it and we actually found our venue by accident — but it turned out to be just perfect. It’s a greenhouse in the countryside with lots of flowers and grapes hanging from the rooftop. It was mystical, beautiful, and magical.

For our gifts to each other, I prerecorded a video and had gold-plated, personalized cufflinks made with our date and initials. I am not good at speeches — because I always cry — which is why I made a video where I told him how I feel and how wonderful it was to have found each other. Allan gave me a pearl bracelet!

The Wedding Team:

Photography – Elina Upmane Photography
Venue – Siltumnica
Floral Design, Stationery, and Event Co-Planning – LayerCake
Catering – Mesty
Cake – Garden Cakes
Officiant – Mesty
Videography – Motionframe
Wedding Dress – Žanna Klimenko
Bridal Accessories – Betsey Johnson
Groom’s Apparel – J.Lindeberg and Acne Studios
Rings – GLAMIRA

 

Congratulations to Marita and Allan, and a special thanks to Elina Upmane Photography for sharing this incredible wedding at Siltumnica with Junebug! Looking for more glamorous wedding inspiration? You’ll love this moody glam wedding among the redwoods at The Island Farm California!

Sponsors
Email [email protected] to advertise on Junebug Weddings

This Couple Wrote a Mission Statement for Their Leonard Lake Reserve Wedding and We Think You Should Too

December 10, 2018 | Junebug Weddings

“We want to gather friends and family to celebrate our love, revive connections, and create lasting memories in the forest with all of our favorite people.” That was Emily and Pete’s mission, and that’s exactly what they accomplished with their incredibly fun Leonard Lake Reserve wedding! Seriously, once you see these photos that Isaiah + Taylor Photography captured, you’ll wonder if any couple has ever had more fun on their wedding day. Emily and Pete’s entire wedding weekend had a distinctly bohemian and care-free feel that was incredibly dreamy given the forest setting. And the fact that they and their family and friends DIY-ed nearly every detail made it all the sweeter! This couple stayed true to their mission statement and, in doing so, created a picturesque bohemian wedding in the woods complete with teepees, textural place settings, fantasy-inspired table names, and picnic tables illuminated by cafe lights.

The Couple:

Emily and Pete

The Wedding:

Leonard Lake Reserve, Redwood Valley, California

For both of us, it was important not to get lost in the chaos of planning a wedding. We wanted the whole process to be fun and relaxed. We tried to stay focused on what was most important to us and why we were getting married, so we decided to create a “mission statement” to come back to when things got stressful or one of us was caught up about details that weren’t really important.

Three moments come to mind as my favorites from the day. The first was getting ready with my bridesmaids. It was so fun to be with them all! A couple of my bridesmaids had never met so it was fun to bring friends from different parts of my life together. I don’t think I have ever laughed as much as I did with them.

The second most memorable part of the day was jumping in a quad and driving up to our first look location. Our first look spot was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We were surrounded by huge trees that are hundreds of years old and it felt magical. Our photographers were amazing and let us take a few minutes of just us time before the rest of the day. I will never forget those moments we had together among the beautiful giant trees.

My third favorite memory was jumping in the lake in the morning with all the girls before getting ready, and skinny dipping late in the night after dancing for hours.

I actually wrote most of the ceremony. John (the family friend who married us) did his own intro and closing remarks as well as adding personal touches. I wrote the rest of the ceremony and picked out readings for a couple of close friends to do. Pete and I also did a whiskey drinking ceremony. We bought a small whiskey barrel and each picked out our own whiskey and then mixed them and toasted our new lives together. We tried to keep it short and sweet, and our ceremony was about 20 minutes.

I would definitely recommend creating a mission statement. It was really helpful for us to remind each other of what was really the most important to us. Not the flowers, or the place settings but each other, our friends and family, and being outside. It is so easy to get swept away by the details and I think it was so important to us to have a good time planning the wedding and keep the stress away. Another thing we did that I loved was setting a time of pause into the ceremony, so we could take a moment to take everything in.

We wanted our wedding to portray us and our life. Our styles fall under the bohemian umbrella, and we decided to just take our style/look to the forest and make a wedding out of it. We wanted the vibe and look to reflect us as a couple. So, for dinner, we had pizza and beer as our wedding dinner (our favorite) and kept the fancier food for the rehearsal night. We also brought rugs and decorations from our home.

The Wedding Team:

Photography – Isaiah + Taylor Photography
Day-Of Coordination – Karin Kamb
Venue – Leonard Lake Reserve
Floral Design – Mendocino Floral Design
Catering – Wine Country Artisans
Cake – Moustache Baked Goods
DJ and Live Music – Celebration DJ
Stationery – Minted
Bride’s Hair Styling – Haley Brooks of Hello Darling
Bridesmaids’ Hair Styling – Rachel Carter of Ellements Salon
Wedding Dress – Hayley Paige
Bridal Accessories – Wild Balance
Bridesmaids’ Apparel – Revelry
Groom’s Apparel – Studio Suits
Rings – Alexis Russell
Rentals – Archive Rentals

 

Our biggest congratulations to Emily and Pete, and a special thanks to Isaiah + Taylor Photography for sharing this incredible Leonard Lake Reserve wedding with Junebug! Looking for more woodsy wedding inspiration? We think you need to see this Lord of the Rings meets Wes Anderson wedding of every nerd’s dreams!

Sponsors
Email [email protected] to advertise on Junebug Weddings
← Older Entries
Newer Entries →