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

October 23 2018

Geno & Jess | Palmetto Bluff

If how they saved their wedding foretells how they’ll live their marriage, we have every confidence in Jess and Geno. (And yoo-hoo to you other hurricane season brides, listen up extra close.) The...

October 22 2018

Kathryn & Hunter | Private Venue

The Wedding Row: Tell us about how you two met. Kathryn: Hunter and I met through mutual friends in the fall of 2011 at a bar called Town Hall in Washington D.C. It was the “Clemson bar”...

October 19 2018

A Lowcountry Love Affair Grand Reception | Magnolia Plantation & Gardens

With couples getting anointed “Mr. and Mrs.” every weekend in the myriad nooks and crannies of Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, the site’s seen more than its fair share of wedding day décor. And as...

October 18 2018

Becca & Tanner | The Creek Club at I’On

Becca and Tanner started dating when she was at Sweetbriar College and he was at Hampden Sidney College. Seven years after they started dating, they were happily ensconced in Charleston while he...

October 17 2018

Madison & Paul | The Cedar Room

TWR: Where did you meet? Madison: At work. A role in my job “allowed” me to go to Paul’s desk every day. Four months of professional interaction and happy hours led to us dating. TWR: When did you...

October 16 2018

Molly & Corbin | Engagement Session

If you’re a bride-to-be whose addicted to happily ever after stories; if you’re a romantic looking for some fuel to add to your hope tank; or if you have a friend who falls into that category (and...

October 15 2018

Katie & Mike | The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island

Katie and Mike met through work (she was the chief of staff for the Republican National Congress and he was her predecessor), so it made sense that his proposal was touched by politics as well,...

October 12 2018

Vendor of the Month: Wimberly Fair Designs

Wimberly Fair not only has one of the coolest names (yep, it’s her real moniker) in the wedding world, she’s also one of Charleston’s biggest, most whimsical talents. Today she shares about the...