What a Trip



WRITER CREDIT: 
PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT: 
What a Trip | These lovebirds wanted a location that on its own would be worth the trip for guests. See where they booked!

Courtney Lawson & Jared Rush
October 11, 2014
Boone Hall Plantation and Cotton Dock

 

“We wanted guests to feel like the venue alone was worth the trip,” says Chicago resident Courtney Lawson of her destination wedding to Jared Rush. Since every last attendee would be traveling for their Big Day, that was a tall order. But when the couple saw Boone Hall Plantation’s avenue of oaks and sun-bleached Cotton Dock, they knew they had hit gold. Working with Megan Chandler of Ooh! Events, Courtney put in a request for X-back chairs, mirrors, and strands of market bulbs, then let the planners take over. The crew draped fabric over the rafters, hung lanterns, and set the space abloom. “We were blown away when we walked into the reception,” says the bride. By night’s end, as the revelers were launching fire lanterns, Courtney remarked to Megan, “It really is over in a minute, isn’t it?”
 

Top Tips
Take It from the Rushes ...

• Make a rough guest list before you look at venues so you know what capacity you require.
• Give a roundup of must-have shots to your photographer and appoint someone to help them discern who’s who.
• If planning agitates you, step away till you calm down. Friends and family are there to help, not to bear your angst.
• Choose your wedding party based on who will be in your life for decades.
• Share the love! Surprise your parents with hand-written thank-you notes on the Big Day.
 

 

Vendor List:

Wedding design, rentals, signage:  Ooh! Events, www.TheArtofCreating.com/OohEvents

Venue: Boone Hall Plantation

Photography: Brandon Lata Photography, www.BrandonLata.com

Florals: Out of the Garden, www.TheArtofCreating.com/OuoftheGarden

Catering: Cru Catering, www.CruCatering.com

Cake: WildFlour Pastry, www.WildFlourPastryCharleston.com

Bar service: Squeezed On Site, www.Squeeze-OnSite.com

Linens: Connie Duglin Linen, www.ConnieDuglinLinen.com

Stationery: Minted, www.Minted.com

Table numbers, dessert bar sign, card sign, and table number holders: BHLDN, www.BHLDN.com

Bride’s gown: Jenny Packham, available in Charleston through White on Daniel Island, www.WhiteOnDI.com

Dress steaming: Cacky’s Bridal Aid, www.CackyBridalAid.com

Beauty: Wedding Hair by Charlotte, www.WeddingHairByCharlotte.com

Menswear: Bonobos, www.Bonobos.com

Bow ties: High Cotton, www.HighCottonTies.com

Ringbearer’s attire: Janie and Jack, www.JanieAndJack.com

Music: Two Three Ways, www.Two3Ways.com

Videography: Matchstick Wedding, www.MatchstickWedding.com

Transportation:  (vintage bus) LowCountry Valet & Shuttle Co., www.LowCountryValet.com; (other) ACW, www.ACWLimo.com

The Wedding Row

July 23 2021
Been wondering why go the extra mile for a bridal portrait shoot? While the tradition began in Southern Europe, at a time when affluent families would hire an artist to paint the picture, we’ve come...

July 8 2021
Like any solid relationship, Ali DuRant and Quinn Foster’s foundation began in friendship. They met at a July Fourth party on Sullivan’s Island in 2013. But it was a fated bus ride to a USC vs. UGA...

June 24 2021
You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Or can you? The old adage implying you can’t have it both ways didn’t ring true with Lauren Margaret Snyder and Robert “Bo” William Bledsoe’s May 1st...

June 14 2021
Need ideas for your wedding color palette? If you missed this bold and beautiful mock wedding (inspired by a to-die-for metallic rose gold Shelby Cobra convertible) in the latest installment of...

April 29 2020
Love’s Timeline New Yorkers Philip (Phil) and Brittany (Britt) Mcphail’s first brief meeting was at a concert. Five years later, at Britt’s cousin’s house, the two happened to...

April 28 2020
A Charleston Rehearsal Dinner | Introductions Laura-Brooke and Ryan both grew up in Florence, South Carolina, but they didn’t meet until a college spring break trip to Myrtle Beach in 2015. The S.C....

April 23 2020
But What If It Rains? Anybody who has ever planned a wedding has asked themselves this question. When you’re spending big money and planning for months, nobody wants the forecast to quite...

April 22 2020
“Falling” In Love Picture this. You’re in college, on your way to class. Your crush steps out of the building door two feet in front of you … and you immediately trip over your shoes. You...