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.
Truth time: Sometimes we get these engagement sessions and straight-up envy the charmed Instagram-worthy lives the couples seem to live. And Kaitlin and Allan’s shots could do just that. But....
We’re heading into this football weekend with a true fan fave. Molly, a University of South Carolina law school grad, and Logan, who works with the Gamecocks football team, were successfully nudged...
Do you know about Alhambra Hall in Mount Pleasant? That two-story, meeting house on Charleston Harbor that’s tucked away in the Old Village? Let’s let these shots of Abby and Patrick’s wedding...
For the love of a topknot, people! University of Pennsylvania freshman Praachi and Shiv met one night when each were out with their friends and topknot caught his eye. “I remember thinking how...
Eleven months after Stephanie and Scott met, the avid travelers ventured to Iceland for a long weekend (a surprise trip planned by him) and Scott popped the question on their balcony overlooking...
Amber and Phil met while working in the same nonprofit organization together in Washington, D.C. Three years later, during a hike in Great Falls, Virginia (the same place where they did their first...
TWR: How and when did you meet one another? Was it love at first sight?
Daisy: Brent and I met through mutual friends on Halloween night at the University of North Carolina Delta Kappa Epsilon house...
The Wedding Row: Tell us how your love story all began.
Kiernan: Pawel and I met each other while we worked together at an ad agency in New York City. Early on in our friendship, Pawel tried to plan...
![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)
