Rich in Love | Two foodies—he’s worked at Oceana, The Obstinate Daughter, and Wild Olive and she’s penning her first cookbook—tie the knot on All Hallows’ Eve at the bride’s family home on Sullivan’s Island
Stella Maris Roman Catholic Church & Family Residence on Sullian’s Island
Victoria Frank and Carmine Peluso’s tale is the stuff rom-coms are made of. In 2009, when the then-New York City residents and French Culinary Institute students paired up for a class on cooking onions, they mixed about as well as oil and water. “Carmine was super bossy,” laughs Victoria. “I thought to myself, ‘What a know-it-all.’” Little did she know, he had the exact same impression of her.
Still, a few months later, they ended up on a dinner date that culminated in a midnight walk across Manhattan. “I was dying for that good-night kiss,” recalls Victoria, who got her wish. “After, it started to snow, and I knew right then and there it would be my last first kiss.”
With such cinematic stops and starts, the bar was set high for Carmine’s eventual proposal. When the time came, both had been living in the Lowcountry, and he asked Victoria to meet up for a stroll along the beach at Sullivan’s Island, starting at her parent’s house. When Victoria arrived, she came across a path of rose petals and followed them to the porch where he’d laid out an immense feast complete with terrific wine, a seaside view, and a killer sunset. He dropped to one knee and, laughs Victoria, “I cried so hard I’m pretty sure the folks on the beach thought he was breaking up with me.”
Though their courtship may sound like a Katherine Heigl flick (or, better yet, read like a novel by the bride’s mom, Dorothea Benton Frank), Victoria brought everything back to the classics for her nuptials. A Shakespeare buff (and College of Charleston theater grad), she had long imagined a Midsummer Night’s Dream-styled wedding, and called upon Cory Winn Lambert of Sage Innovations to translate that idea into an autumn fête. The result was a lush baroque affair in which florals of peach, eggplant, and berry hues abounded; golden cutlery sparkled against golden linens; and foodie elements like herbs and whole fruits nodded to the season—and the newlyweds’ professions.
Indeed, cuisine reigned on the Big Day. “Our guests were eating the entire time,” Victoria boasts. That morning, the bridal party (who’d had a sleepover at the family beach house) loaded up on Mama Frank’s pancakes. And that evening, as an ode to Carmine’s Italian upbringing, Cru Catering served antipasti plates, charcuterie boards, carbonara, and handmade gnocchi with perfection.
As the night drew to a close, Victoria and Carmine took one last bite of their opulent, gilded cake and started dreaming of wine and cheese dates on their Parisian honeymoon. Cue the credits, and fade to black.
Indeed, cuisine reigned on the Big Day. “Our guests were eating the entire time,” Victoria boasts. That morning, the bridal party (who’d had a sleepover at the family beach house) loaded up on Mama Frank’s pancakes. And that evening, as an ode to Carmine’s Italian upbringing, Cru Catering served antipasti plates, charcuterie boards, carbonara, and handmade gnocchi with perfection.
As the night drew to a close, Victoria and Carmine took one last bite of their opulent, gilded cake and started dreaming of wine and cheese dates on their Parisian honeymoon. Cue the credits, and fade to black.
It’s hump day, and to help you get through the rest of the week—you. can. do. it.—we’re bringing you all the pretty (and then some) from Brynne and Alex’s Big Day at The Gibbes Museum of Art. Though...
We had a brief hurricane hiatus (ugh, Dorian), but we’re back in full action and bringing you the backyard summer soirée of your dreams. So, grab your drink and kick up your heels for this A-plus...
Cue the “awwws” because we’ve got an endearing engagement shoot filled with love, nose boops, and … potatoes. Yep, that’s what Keely was seasoning one random Friday evening when Poole got down on one...
We’re kicking off this four-day week with an ever-so glamorous wedding filled with southern hospitality, sequins, and more florals than a girl could ever dream of. Seriously. Erin and Andrew met one...
Alrighty everyone, we’re kicking off this Friday on a fabulous note. There is so much goodness wrapped up in this waterside wedding and you will be amazed at every last detail. We certainly were....
The day that Lee, Andrew, and their adorable son, Camon, all became one was for sure a day to remember. Check out the elegantly rustic greenery hanging above the space at The Cedar Room that the very...
My, oh my. This Charleston engagement shoot has our wedding-loving hearts bursting at the seams. Historic downtown buildings, two elegantly blue-hued wardrobes, the breezy Folly Beach air, AND two...
![Victoria chose their Halloween wedding date not for the holiday, but for its proximity to the month’s full moon. “The tide pulls back enough to give you a tiny private beach [at my parents' house], which makes for great photos,” she says. (Image by Juliet Elizabeth Photography)](https://charlestonweddingsmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/Juliet_Elizabeth_Photography-13cx_0.png?itok=XE2r0LRv)
