Romance On the Creek

Spring 2014

WRITER CREDIT:

PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT:

Romance On the Creek | Two Lowcountry natives choose a spot close to home—real close, in fact—to say "I do."

The Cotton Dock at Boone Hall Plantation Out of Hand Baked Boone Hall Plantation Boone Hall bouquets Daniel Island White Co diy gown Plane Jane WED

CLASSIC SURROUNDINGS: Boone Hall Plantation’s stately exterior served as the perfect backdrop for this vintage-inspired wedding.

HAIR TO TELL YOU: “It was the vision of my wedding,” says Mary Jo of her hair bauble. The wedding’s style came together around the accessory, which, like her Jenny Packham dress, was from White on Daniel Island. Alex added a suave touch to his ensemble with a Robert Talbott Seven Fold tie from Gwynn’s of Mount Pleasant.

GARDEN PARTY: The bridal party carried bouquets from Out of Hand.

STRONG TIES: Alex and his groomsmen wore suits from Men’s Warehouse.

BONDED: A family friend made the wooden cross that marked the ceremony altar.

ORDER OF EVENTS: Hello & Co. created an emerald green floral motif for the fan-shaped ceremony programs.

SWEET THING: The couple’s daughter watched intently as her parents wed on the banks of Horlbeck Creek.

MARCH ON: Charles Carmody—director of Charleston Music Hall and a friend of the couple’s—and Bennett MacNath led a parade from the ceremony site to the reception.

Virgil Bunao Photography

GARDEN PARTY: Swaths of hung fabric defined the open-air cocktail area.

HANGING AROUND: Friend-turned-planner Julie Righetti hung French market buckets stocked with clusters of like blooms—tulips, alstroemeria, and spray roses—along the Cotton Dock’s exterior walls.

Virgil Bunao Photography

FLORABUNDANCE: “I wanted a lot of flowers, but I wanted all the flowers to have meaning. I used the Victorian flower dictionary and my coral, creams, and lilac colors to carefully choose all the flowers in my bouquet and in the centerpieces,” says Mary Jo.

EASY DOES IT: Single blooms in simple glass jars offered easy décor inside the Cotton Dock.

Virgil Bunao Photography

SWEETHEARTS: Mary Jo, Alex, and their daughter, Georgi, shared a table dressed with crocheted lace, pale pink napkins, and gold-rimmed tableware from Event DRS.

NEW HEIGHTS: Julie adorned the Cotton Dock’s wooden rafters with flowers from A Victorian Flower Dictionary, which gives each bloom a unique meaning. Peach-hued peonies symbolize a happy marriage while yellow roses are for contentment. The ferns and Spanish moss served as a nod to the Lowcountry.

Virgil Bunao Photography

TAKING NAMES: Guests posed with props like novelty glasses and chalkboard conversation bubbles and had their pictures made.

Virgil Bunao Photography

INDOOR, OUTDOOR: Comfortable lounge furniture let guests enjoy the night sky on a warm Southern night.

TABLE TALK: Simple tables got a vintage makeover with lace that Mary Jo handpicked and specially ordered for the day. Topped off with single stems, the tablescape offered a pretty but not overpowering place for guests to dine and mingle.

Virgil Bunao Photography

SIMPLE TOUCHES: The location’s rustic beauty was aglow with myriad candles. The hearth was filled with a gentry of tall flowers, while white-framed mirrors hung above the mantel.

FAMILY PORTRAIT: “This wedding was as much for her as for us,” says Mary Jo of wedding Alex with their daughter, Georgi, as her maid-of-honor.

LIGHT UP THE NIGHT: Attendees wrote messages and well wishes on paper lanterns before lighting them and sending them into the night from the dock. “It was the most beautiful sight,” says Mary Jo, “all the lights scattered across the sky.”

Virgil Bunao Photography

Photographs by:

Virgil Bunao Photography

Mary Jo Stone & Alexander Herlocker

May 27, 2013

The Cotton Dock at Boone Hall Plantation

Mary Jo Stone and Alexander (Alex) Herlocker became fast friends after meeting in the seventh grade. But it wasn’t until they reconnected their senior year of high school—he attended Academic Magnet, and she was at Bishop England—that they began dating. Three years later, Alex set a candlelit dinner on the back deck of their creekside Mount Pleasant home and proposed. Mary Jo’s answer was as obvious as their ideal venue. “I looked across the water to Boone Hall’s Cotton Dock, and thought, that is where I’m getting married,” says Mary Jo.

It was a decision rooted in family tradition. The bride grew up on the same waterway that wends by the plantation, and her mother wed her stepfather there 12 years ago to the day the younger couple would exchange vows. For planning and design—Mary Jo and Alex were both in the thick of finishing their nursing degrees—the bride turned to friend Julie Righetti, a talent with interior design and faux finishing. Together, the two played off of Mary Jo’s soft, vintage aesthetic and love of spring colors.

When the day came (the same month both the bride and groom graduated and earned their nursing licenses), the couple was overjoyed. After a ceremony under the oaks and a party at the Cotton Dock, Mary Jo and Alex joined family, including their three-year-old daughter, Georgi, and friends to release paper lanterns into the sky. “It was a representation of all of our guests, the family and friends that had lifted us up in our lives,” says Mary Jo.

Vendor List

Baked Goods: Whole Foods, www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Bouquets: Out of Hand; www.theartofcreating.com/shopoutofhand

Bridal Gown: Jenny Packham from White on Daniel Island, www.whiteondi.com

Bridal Hair Accessory: White on Daniel Island, www.whiteondi.com

Cake: Elaine Mincey—Cakes of Distinction, www.elainesevents.com

Ceremony Music: Gregory Guay, www.gregoryguaymusic.com

Event Design, Coordination, & Florals: Julie Righetti

Groom’s and Groomsmen’s Suits: Men’s Warehouse, www.menswearhouse.com

Groom’s Tie: Gwynn’s of Mount Pleasant, www.gwynns.com

Invitations: DIY & Nepalese Paper, www.nepalesepaper.com

Photographer: Virgil Bunao Photography, www.virgilbunao.com

Procession Music: Charles Carmody & Bennett MacNath

Programs: Hello & Co., www.helloandco.com

Rentals: Event DRS, www.eventdrscharleston.com

Reception Music: Plane Jane, www.otherbrotherent.com/plane_jane.htm

Venue: The Cotton Dock at Boone Hall Plantation, www.boonehallplantation.com

The Wedding Row

October 21 2019

Amanda & Matt | Lowndes Grove Plantation

Office acquaintances, Amanda and Matt, turned friends at a karaoke work party. One evening after said work party, the pair strolled by the Empire State Building (at 1 a.m., mind you). Matt...

October 18 2019

Kait & Alec | Lowndes Grove Plantation

We’ve all probably dreamt at one time or another of marrying the “boy next door.” Luckily for Kaitlyn, she fulfilled that dream in a kinda sorta way. Back in college, Kait and her roomies had a group...

October 15 2019

Katie & John | Private Residence

You know that person you keep running into over and over, no matter how many times you move, no matter what state you happen to be in? No? Well, some lucky romances are grounded in just that recipe,...

October 13 2019

Ben & Erin | The Restoration Hotel

Here’s a confession: We have seen a bajillion shots of couples and wedding parties on the cobblestones of Chalmers Street (specifically on the block between Church and Meeting streets), and after...

October 10 2019

Grace & Trevor | The Mills House

We can honestly say we’ve never seen a couple with so many photos of themselves on their wedding website having so much fun in so many different hot spots across the globe (check out TrevorandGrace....

October 9 2019

Sarah & Corey | The William Aiken House

It all started in Hollywood, California, with a bright yellow truck. When Corey dropped his friend off to meet his wife at her pal’s place, he spotted a stunning pickup in the driveway there. The...

October 8 2019

Hannah & Matt | Boone Hall Plantation

We are totally in love with these two. Not only does their gorgeous wedding at Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens attest that you need not have an elaborate affair to have a sumptuously luxurious one...

October 7 2019

Cassi & Daniel | Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

If you need help believing in love at first sight, take a look at Cassi and Dan. Some years ago in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on the balcony of Dan’s Muhlenberg College dorm room, the pair first locked...

Feature

Rosy Future

What do you get when a bride and her groom request a Gatsby-style garden party? This florabundant fête rife with joy

Feature

Fruitcake Fever

Revive a centuries-old tradition at your reception

Feature

Camp Kiawah

From a Champagne-carrying burro to a silent disco, this black-tie bash at Kiawah’s Mingo Point was full of fun surprises

Feature

Miami Heat

A Sunshine State couple brings the heat to their al fresco wedding at Magnolia Plantation & Gardens

Feature

Happy at Home

Host a reception where you grew up? Sure! This Charleston bride shares how she squeezed 300-plus guests into her parent’s Ansonborough abode

Feature

The Book-It Babes

Wedding room blocks organized with no strings attached and no fees charged? Yes, please!

Feature

Orange Crush

Rheney Mitchell & Jacob Dearstyne; October 10, 2009, Boone Hall’s Cotton Dock

Feature

Rosy Does It

Punch up the polish and panache with metallic rose gold

Feature

A Walk to Remember

Four-legged friends bring a Tar Heel couple together...and to the Holy City

Feature

Get the Latest Buzz

From shop openings to custom accessories, check out what’s happening in bridal beauty and fashion around town

Feature

Oh, Happy Day!

<p>A Floridian couple celebrates their “I dos” with an Old South meets New South reception </p>

Feature

Pure & Simple

A Beverly Hills couple ties the knot with a simple and chic, modern-meets-rustic affair at Runnymede Plantation

Feature

Life of the Party

He came back from a debilitating coma to walk the aisle. She was right by his side every step

Feature

A-List Accessories

Look no further for the wow! factor—these bags, jewelry, and more make any look next-level

Feature

Camera-Ready

Bridal portraits make a comeback, especially for the theatrically minded

Feature

Sunny Disposition

A cheerful, sunny palette and milk glass décor make this Gibbes Museum affair a work of art

Feature

The Perfect Kickoff

Weddings are weekend-long affairs these days. Jump-start yours with a welcome party like this one, where far-flung guests fell fast and hard for the Lowcountry life