Earthy Elegance

Spring 2013

WRITER CREDIT:

PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT:

Earthy Elegance | Margaret Winnicki & Jeffrey Stark, April 21, 2012, Legare Waring House

Charleston Wedding Legare Waring House Folly Beach Weddings Daniel Island White Yoj Events fabulous frocks WildFlour Pastry

Earthy Elegance

SIP AND SEE: Upon guests’ arrival to the ceremony site, servers presented glasses of Champagne enlivened with St. Germaine elderflower liqueur and blueberries.

BIG IMPACT: To mimic the florals in a masculine way, the boutonnieres featured either blue muscari or scabiosa pods, along with Dusty Miller to soften the bundle’s flow onto the jacket, all wrapped in brown satin ribbon and gray and white Divine Twine.

HANGING AROUND: In the spirit of allowing the setting to stand at the forefront, Margaret and florist Whitney Randall limited the ceremony flowers to a handful of tastefully filled vases tied to aisle-side chairs.

NOTEWORTHY: The Classical Charleston string trio rearranged modern selections such as Coldplay’s “Yellow” and Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars” for the ceremony and cocktail hour. Margaret walked down the aisle to “Forever” by Ben Harper, and the recessional heralded The Beatles’ “In My Life.”

AGENT ORANGE: Branch Design Studio mingled chocolate cymbidium orchids with driftwood and moss for a woodsy effect.

STICK TO IT: Preceding the family-style dinner, Café Catering passed around hors d’oeuvres, including these rum-glazed shrimp on sugar cane skewers.

KNOW YOUR PLACE: Each pinned to a single sprig of blue muscari, place cards bearing the wedding’s signature watermark design dangled from a Spanish moss-covered board.

NATURAL BEAUTY: The dramatic allée at Legare Waring wooed Margaret and Jeffrey, who chose to seat guests deep into the oak-lined avenue for their ceremony in order to create a feeling of intimacy and seclusion.

NUMBERS GAME: In order to bring a bit of themselves into the event, Margaret and Jeffrey chose to number their tables with intriguing personal stats, such as 23 (the day they met), 6 (their shared December birthday), and 79 (the number of guests that travelled over 500 miles to be at the wedding). They even infused a bit of humor into the sums, seating their wildest friends at table 14 (the number of months they “lived in sin”).

SHADE LOVING: Yoj Events' Candice Hilse took care not to be overly matchy, especially with the blue table linens. "Color feels richer in a varying tonal palette," she says.

SERVED WITH CARE: Childhood friend of the bride and graphic designer Stefanie Wardrep created thank-you letters from the bride and groom to greet guests at their tables.

POWER OF THE FLOWER: While the bride carried primarily white blooms, the bridesmaids’ bouquets burst forth with peonies, hydrangeas, sweet peas, and blue muscari.

GENERATION NEXT: Custom throw pillows carried the color scheme into the lounge where photographs of long-married family members hung as screens.

FLORAL NOTES: Crisp white flowers tucked into silver vessels dressed up the setting.

ARRESTING DEVELOPMENT: Chocolate cymbidium orchids and scabiosa pods added subtle warmth to arrangements of peonies, blue muscari, sweet peas, Dusty Miller, silver brunia, ranunculus.

FEELING BLUE: For cocktail hour, Yoj Events designer Candice Hilse topped highboy tables with smoky blue linens and dressed them with carefully edited blooms in bud vases and mercury glass cylinders. “Pillar candles provided the perfect romantic light for sunset,” she says.

BRANCHING OUT: Guests signed pieces of an oak tree puzzle.

BALANCING ACT: “He wanted logistics; she wanted beauty,” explains planner Candice Hilse. “Margaret and Jeffrey are their own little right brain/left brain.” But the couple did agree on one thing. “We really wanted to show off the city we’ve come to call home,” he says.

SIDLE UP: As the sun dipped low, candlelight glowed throughout the venue, from the bar to the nearby fountain.

ALL AGLOW: A newly constructed patio in front of Legare Waring House installed one month prior to the wedding necessitated a change in the event’s initial layout. In the end, the party flowed from the oak avenue to cocktail hour on the new patio, which the planner outfitted with highboy tables and white café umbrellas.

LIGHT BRIGHT: Bare Edison bulbs and swathes of fabric gently draped down from the center of the tent, which boasted a lush canopy layered with moss, branches, and orchids.

TREAT TOWER: The hosts opted for a cascading tray of individual desserts—Mexican chocolate mousse, Margaret’s favorite homemade Oreo cookies, strawberry cream cups, and blueberry crumb cake—created by WildFlour Pastry chef Lauren Mitterer. “We wanted our friends and family to be dancing, drinking, and visiting, not standing around to watch us cut a cake,” says the bride.

DANCE WITH ME: So guests could feel involved with the party, the design team situated the dance floor in the middle of the tent, “where everyone could watch or participate,” says Margaret, who found the idea for the crowning floral installation on Pinterest.

February 2013

Real-Life Weddings

Receptions

Photographs by:

Juliet Elizabeth

When Margaret Winnicki and Jeffrey Stark met at Folly Beach’s Surf Bar, the Lowcountry transplants made a date for the following weekend. Eighteen months later (after Jeffrey had dropped to one knee), the couple reached out to Candice Hilse of Yoj Events to deliver an elegant alfresco fête showcasing Charleston’s natural charms. With the bride’s input, Candice selected a steel blue, gray, and copper palette that played into the organic feel of the Legare Waring House’s oak-lined grounds, as did florals of Spanish moss, branches, and orchids. “The understated décor allowed the house and grounds to stand out,” says Margaret, “and let our guests understand why we fell in love with Charleston.”

Vendor List

Baker: WildFlour Pastry; www.wildflourcharleston.com
Bridal attire: Allure, White on Daniel Island; www.whiteondi.com
Bridesmaid’s attire: Thread, Fabulous Frocks; www.fabulousfrocks.com
Caterer: Café Catering; www.charlestonscafe.com
Ceremony and reception location: Legare Waring House; www.legarewaringhouse.com
Designer: Candice Hilse, Yoj Events; www.yojevents.com
Florist: Branch Design Studio; www.branchdesignstudio.com
Groom’s attire: Canali, Berlin’s for Men; www.berlinsclothing.com
Groomsmen’s attire: Joseph Abboud, Men’s Wearhouse; www.menswearhouse.com
Music: DJ Bryan Mahanes, Other Brother Entertainment; string trio, Classical Charleston; www.otherbrotherentertainment.com, www.classicalcharleston.com
Photographer: Juliet Jones Photography; www.julietelizabeth.com
Stationery: Stefanie Wardrep, stefanie.lister@gmail.com
Transportation: Absolutely Charleston; www.absolutelycharleston.com

The Wedding Row

May 21 2019

Daysy & Russ | The Cedar Room

Happy Tuesday, to all you folks out there as wedding-obsessed as we are here at TWR office. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the coffee is flowing, and we have a delightful post for you...

May 20 2019

Lauren & Ben | Engagement Session

We share engagement sessions every so often and while they are always beautiful, none have stuck out in our mind as much as this one below. Lauren and Ben met their photographer, Charlie Martin, at a...

May 17 2019

Lucy & Trip | Runnymede Plantation

Thank goodness it’s Friday! And because of that, because we made it through another long week, we are going to treat you all to a wedding that is fantastically fun. Trip and Lucy’s Big...

May 16 2019

April’s Top Instagram Posts

Is there anyone else out there counting down the days until summer officially begins? Well, we still have more than a month to go so before we all get ahead of ourselves, let instead start with...

May 15 2019

Jenny & Michael | The Governor Thomas Bennett House

While most gals respond to a proposal with a happy dance and an excited “Yes!”, Jenny said something else when her beau of three years, Michael, knelt down on Valentine’s Day. But before we get to...

May 14 2019

Stephanie & Mike | Legare Waring House

Stephanie and Michael’s relationship was a love match from the very start. How now, you ask? The duo, who hail from the suburbs of Atlanta, met during one of Stephanie’s tennis practices while she...

May 13 2019

Elizabeth & Will | Engagement Session

When Elizabeth’s brother brought his best friend and college roommate, Will, to their family beach house over spring break one year, he couldn’t have known that he was about to make a big, HUGE...

May 10 2019

Ryan & Devan | Wingate Plantation

Before we heard Ryan and Devan’s story, we’d have told you there’s nothing especially romantic about March Madness … but now we may have changed our minds. These two met at The Alley, a bar-slash-...

Feature

Silver Plated

Kimberly Milhaupt & Scott Delgado; January 2, 2010, Kiawah Island Resort

Feature

Photo-Ready Day

Benjamin Timpson & Tiffany Lippincott, May 7, 2011, Folly Beach

Feature

Just Peachy

Alyson Knight & Jacob Biles, July 23, 2011, First Scots Presbyterian Church & the Historic Rice Mill Building

Feature

Your Day, Your Way

One of the Lowcountry’s most iconic venues might be known for massive weddings, but see how they are throwing open their storied gates for microweddings and elopements

Feature

How to Set Your Lowcountry Wedding Budget & Save

Follow these five simple steps to learn where to put your Big Day dollars…and how to stretch them

Feature

Grass Roots

Jessica Alig & Tim McIntosh, May 28, 2011, French Protestant (Huguenot) Church & The Confederate Home

Feature

Make Room for Your Man

Let your groom's personality shine on your wedding

Feature

Lowcountry Glam

So you love a good manicure and a turkey hunt? Wonderful! You’ve just found your fantasy wedding

Feature

Rocks of Ages

Intricate settings marry sparkling stones for stunning engagement rings

Feature

A Perfect Start

A friendship leads to a very romantic day at Runnymede Plantation

Feature

Blush & Bashful

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