Will we ever tire of charming Charleston weddings? Ummm, NOPE – we can’t get enough! Today’s gorgeous wedding planned by Wildflower Inc. satisfies all our southern cravings. From a romantic ceremony under endless strings of Spanish Moss to a timeless tented reception every classic bride will love. Lucky for us, Hannah Lane Photography was there to capture all the inspiring details of this beautiful day at Governor Thomas Bennett House – head on over to the full gallery to see the magic unfold!
From the Bride… We both played on opposite teams in a co-ed soccer league in Northern Virginia, and because of a rain-out, played two games back to back nights. In a twist of middle-school style shyness, we both inquired about the other to our teammates. Through mutual friends, they relayed our shared interest in each other and encouraged us both to attend a birthday party that weekend. We struck up a conversation there and the rest is history.
Our first date was at a Mexican spot in Arlington, VA. With mariachi band and all, we shared our love of travel, future goals and dreams, and of course, our passion for soccer over chips and salsa and margaritas. We both had so much fun that shortly after, Rachel put her Baltimore Ravens fanhood aside for a Sunday and went with Tim to cheer on his Giants against the local Redskins, complete with a pre-game run to the popular Italian Store for some subs and Baltimore-sourced Berger cookies.
Rachel’s family typically takes an annual trip, and in 2017, the destination was one of Rachel’s favorites, San Diego, a place she and Tim had vacationed before. On the first full day of the trip, Tim ended it down on one knee on the cliffs of Torrey Pines state park overlooking the Pacific Ocean, where Rachel said yes! Before that, he had taken her on an adventure of scavenger hunt-type clues leading her to a helicopter tour of the city, shopping and a manicure, and a mystery limo ride to the park (she won’t let Tim forget that she had to hike 1/4 of a mile in heels on the dirt path to reach him!). Each clue had coordinates tied to a significant location of our relationship, with the final being the spot Tim proposed. We ended the proposal eating a delicious dinner at Mister A’s overlooking the city skyline to cap off an incredible day we will both never forget.
Our love of soccer initially brought us together, and we continue to play – now on the same team-for exercise and fun in North Carolina, where we now live. We both love to travel and have been to many places together both domestically and internationally, trying new food, exploring new cultures, and activities. Some of our favorite return spots include San Diego (obviously), Breckenridge, and Kiawah Island / Charleston area, where we got married. Locally, we love exploring the Triangle, whether its catching a Durham Bulls game or a show at the local performing arts center, or trying all the great food spots in the area especially NC barbecue). Board game nights are competitive and intense on occasion. We love spending time with friends and family, and staying active via biking nearby trails and hiking with our rescue dog Cooper.
Rachel grew up with her older sister and parents in Ellicott City, MD. She graduated from University of Maryland Baltimore County, where she played soccer and majored in biology. She also got her BS in Nursing at Marymount University in Arlington, VA (where she and Tim met) and ultimately took the job she still has today at Duke University Hospital as a NICU nurse working with premature infants. She loves garlic bread and binge watching Friends in her free time. Tim, the oldest of six siblings, hails from a town not far from the Jersey Shore in Holmdel, NJ. Tim graduated from Georgetown University, majoring in Accounting and Finance, and started his career in consulting with PwC after graduation. He now works in an internal consulting role with Wells Fargo. Tim loves anything chocolate and peanut butter and trying improve his woefully poor golf game when the opportunity presents itself. Tim and Rachel rescued their dog Cooper from the local APS in Durham in 2016 (test baby) when they first moved to North Carolina, and are now expecting their first real baby boy, in early May. We can’t be more excited to start our family.
It’s nearly impossible to pick the favorite part of the wedding. We loved everything about the whole day: the venue was stunning, the southern tapas selections offered the perfect taste of Charleston and the décor was magical with the lanterns hanging from the huge oak trees with Spanish moss. Even the weather for a late August wedding was perfect, there was even a breeze! But if we had to pick one, we both loved the ceremony itself being surrounded by family and friends in an intimate garden setting exchanging the vows we wrote ourselves.
Preparing for a wedding can be exciting and daunting. We had a few key takeaways after going through the process ourselves:
Hire a planner! It was the best investment of the whole wedding. We did a partial planner, which helps after you’ve signed a lot of the big contracts. It is great peace of mind and allow you to enjoy the celebration with your friends and families. Google sheets will be your best friend, from budgeting, planning, guest lists, open task items, and more. Staying organized and creating a plan up front that you can share with others like your planner, family, or bridal party will be a life-saver. At the end of the day, it is your big day together, so it is important you both as a couple decide what you want. There may be a lot of people with opinions and suggestions but it is important the two of you to determine what your non-negotiables are, commit to making those happen, and not feel the need to appease everyone else if its not what you want. It can also be helpful to assign family members tasks/projects to lighten some of the load – it helps them feel more a part of the big day and you can focus on other things on your list; we were fortunate enough to have our brother in law design our snap chat filter, map and timeline for the welcome bag, programs and table assignments etc. Surround yourself with great vendors and communicate your vision for the day. Great photographs and videography will preserve your memories forever, especially when things go by so quickly. Enjoy the journey!
We initially considered our current home location of Raleigh/Durham (NC), but didn’t quite find what we were looking for after touring some venues. Next we explored Charleston. Rachel’s family has vacationed in nearby Kiawah Island for years and Charleston represented a particularly appealing choice, for its charm and history, food scene, and more. After looking at several other venues, we immediately fell in love with the Governor Thomas Bennett House. It’s historic architecture, quintessential southern gardens, and downtown location provided the perfect venue. We loved the ability to use the garden space for the ceremony, the veranda and the house for the cocktail hour, and the tented patio/lawn for the reception. There was even a secret garden! It was great to have a spacious bridal suite to have hair and make up done and relax pre wedding. The location was conveniently close to many hotel options for our guests, and we were able to bring in a caterer that we really wanted. It embodied everything we loved about Charleston, and was something we were really excited to share with our friends and family.
We’ve already highlighted some of the things that we loved about our day. The venue was incredible, the food menu amazing, and the DJ provided lots of fun. A lot of what brought everything together were the little details and personal touches that everyone pitched in on. Rachel’s dad helped carve out wood placeholders for the name plates. Our wedding planner provided us with beautiful hanging lanterns draped from the Spanish moss trees and also shared some other neat decor. Rachel’s mom found fun pineapple flip flops (an ode to Charleston) and attached size tags to them so the women could rest their feet on the dance floor. Our brother in-law helped designed all the welcome cards and a personalized map as part of our welcome kits, and Tim and Rachel’s mom helped assemble them. Rachel designed a speciality drink we named after our dog (who could unfortunately not be there with us), and bought a neat chalkboard sign to document the drink menu. Having all these collective contributions come together for the big day made it even more special and made us feel really loved. The fact that we had Hannah (our photographer) and Shawn (our videographer) to capture all those small moments and details meant we could relive it over and over again. We are forever indebted to them for the awesome job they did!
Our wedding day wasn’t without its own drama. Tim had forgotten to bring his brother Jack’s suit to South Carolina (he serves in the military abroad), and so it required some last second hustle from Tim’s dad and Jack to get a replacement one at one of the local Men’s Warehouse the morning of the wedding. Thankfully the bride didn’t find about the little snafu until after the ceremony! Lesson learned – triple check your checklist, and also don’t stress if everything doesn’t go perfectly to plan. You get to marry your life partner and that is awesome!
Photography: Hannah L Photography | Videographer: Low Country Wedding Films | Planner: Wildflowers Inc. | Florist: Wildflowers Inc. | Cake: Sugar Bakeshop | Invitations: Minted | Ceremony Venue: The Governor Thomas Bennett House | Reception Venue: The Governor Thomas Bennett House | Jewelry: Anthropologie | Catering: B. Gourmet Catering | Hair and Makeup: Ash & Co. | DJ: Lowcountry Entertainment | Groom's Attire: Men's Wearhouse | Groomsmen's Attire: Men's Wearhouse | Bridal Gown: Essense of Australia | Bridesmaid Attire: Birdy Grey | Fans: All Mist