Elevate Your Taste



PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT: 

Whether you pore over recipes with Grandma Jane to sort out how that family favorite can stretch to feed 150 or you dish out a baker’s dozen of Benjamins for a store-bought confection, cake is a major focal point of this major milestone. But given how much thought goes into the treat itself, how can it be that the pedestals, plates, and platters used to showcase the sweet thing itself tend to fall on the ho-hum side?



Enter Charleston wood turning artist Ashley Harwood (yes, that’s her real name). While she’s known about town for Turning Native (www.AshleyHarwood.net), her booth at the Charleston Farmer’s Market that’s stocked with turned wood bowls, jewelry, and ornaments, this past spring she made her first foray into the wedding world when she partnered with Charleston Crepe Company (843/573-3458; www.CharlestonCrepeCompany.com) and crafted a series of slender walnut cake stands of staggered sizes to display their stacked goodies.

Now offering the stands (all custom-made and priced accordingly) directly to couples, Ashley says that her pieces live on long after the Big Day has passed. Their sleek silhouettes suit contemporary and traditional cakes and settings alike, and when dismantled­—they screw into each other and stand alone, too—can be integrated into your newlywed home décor to showcase artwork, curiosities, and, of course, treats, too.

The Wedding Row

October 11 2018
Check out these all-time best engagement rings from our vaults Does your SO need a little hint-hint, nudge-nudge in the engagement ring department? Have no fear, because we’ve rounded up our top...

October 10 2018
During the summer of her junior year at College of Charleston, Lauren studied abroad with a pair of fellow Cougars who kept telling her she had to meet their friend Dante when they all got back home...

October 9 2018
One Monday night, at an East Carolina University bar in Greenville, North Carolina, Pirates Nina and Brett bonded over, as she sheepishly jokes, their love of a good deal on beer. But there was...

October 8 2018
The Wedding Row: Start us at the beginning. How did you two meet? Kate: Edward and I met through work in 2014. We were both living in Washington D.C. and Edward needed some software configured on his...

October 5 2018
We love a groom who goes above and beyond for his bride-to-be, and JP did just that when he scooted down to Charleston from Charlotte, North Carolina, and back again in the same day to ask his...

October 4 2018
For shutterbug Kate Timbers, the 200-year-old The Unitarian Church in Charleston is the perfect location for romantic portraits, timeless ceremonies, and more. With the church’s pastel-blue arched...

October 3 2018
We love a pair who embrace big, bold statements and big, bold flavors with all the mannerly trappings in their Big Days. Enter Amanda and Preston, who not only hosted a posh wedding at The River...

October 2 2018
Some of the best romances we know of are rom-coms, and Amanda and Will’s story is no exception. While Will tried to stage the world’s dreamiest proposal, complete with a romantic dinner,...