The adage that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone rings oh-so true in the love story of Charleston native Lindsay Flatter and Thomas Shadili, who hails from France. After meeting on Lindsay’s first day of work at a staffing agency in Atlanta, the coworkers spent months grabbing meals together, watching movies, and running errands until Lindsay packed up and moved back to the Holy City a year after they met. When she left, Thomas realized what he had just lost and hopped into his car, drove five hours to Charleston, and asked Lindsay to be his girlfriend. After two years of dating long-distance, Thomas moved to Charleston, and on a sunny morning in May, he suggested they have a picnic with friends at White Point Garden near the Battery. When they arrived, Thomas led Lindsay under the picturesque oaks, dropped to one knee, and proposed. Following an “Oh my gosh, yes!” from Lindsay, Thomas told her to look to her right, where a photographer was snapping pictures of the sweet scene. Next, the pair hailed a pedicab and cruised to a restaurant on King Street, where they were greeted by 30 of their family members and closest friends. Yet the surprises weren’t over: during a champagne toast Thomas announced that he had already booked Lindsay’s dream wedding venue, The Island House on John’s Island, for a wedding on October 22, 2016.
Photograph by Harbormark, LLC