Southern Weddings

I couldn’t think of a better way to end another busy week here at SW than with a South Carolina beach wedding like Samantha + Tyler’s, shot by Nate and Amanda Reynolds of Turtle Pond Photography and planned by Morgan Gallo.  Everything from the bridesmaid’s fresh, color-coordinated Caribbean blue and citrus green J. Crew dresses and fun beaded necklaces from Old Navy to the bride’s tiered Watters gown and the crisp bouquets by Amy Harvey gets me daydreaming about a sunny weekend by the sea.  We love how this couple let their personalities shine through with a self-proclaimed non-traditional wedding held at  the South Carolina Yacht Club in Hilton Head.  How much fun would it be to forego the customary first dance for a thrilling limbo competition or to swap dress shoes for flip-flops?  After induling in a few more hungry glances at that fun, geometric cake from Sheri’s Edible Designs, I’m ready to get out and enjoy beautiful North Carolina with my father who’s in town from Virginia!  What will you be doing this weekend?

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Tyler and I met in 2001 when I was a student at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN.  I was looking for a summer job and there was a new restaurant opening near my house on campus.  I went for an interview and Tyler was the manager interviewing me.  I thought he was cute but wasn’t looking to date anyone (let alone my new manager!).  After about a month into my job, I found out that Tyler had made it known to a few people that he liked me.  We starting dating and later moved to Lafayette, IN when he opened Scotty’s Brewhouse.  Two houses and eight years later, we finally arrived at our wedding day!

Describe the proposal: There is a lion/lioness bench in Bloomington, IN that we would always sit on after dates.  One weekend in March, Tyler took me and our two dogs back Bloomington.  We walked around the campus and downtown area for awhile just enjoying the day.  Eventually, we ended up back at our favorite bench.  I didn’t think anything of it at the time but, sure enough, as we got up to leave, Tyler reached into his pocket, pulled out a ring and got down on one knee. I will always remember how shiny and sparkly my ring looked and how nervous Tyler was, even after all of those years together!

Three adjectives that describe the day are: Perfect, hilarious and yummy. 

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: It was surprisingly easy.  I tried on twenty dresses at five different bridal stores. Dress shopping wasn’t something I was particularly looking forward to and, seeing as how misery loves company, I recruited my sister and mother for the daunting project.  We found my dress at the very last boutique we visited.  It was perfect and I just knew it was the dress for me!

 Describe your wedding flowers: Peonies, roses, hydrangeas, orchids and curly willows.   

Describe your wedding cake: We chose a modern three-tiered caramel praline cake with ivory icing.  The cake was decorated with edible sugar orchids and curly willows. 

Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase/verse/or line? Our favorite verse in our handwritten vows was our promise to love each other when our love is easy and when our love is hard.

What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Save pictures of things you LOVE!  Save pictures of anything and everything, from bouquets and patterns to rings and cakes.  Use things that you love and that are special to you in your ceremony and reception.  Don’t do or use something just because you think you are supposed to.  We didn’t do anything traditional: our ceremony was ten minutes long, everyone wore flip-flops, there was no first dance, no head table, no caking cutting and no bouquet toss. 

Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration. We had a photo booth with a scrapbook for people to post pictures and words of advice.  Our favorite piece of advice came from our amazing friend, Melanie, who reminded us to love each other tightly yet loosely enough to be our own person.  I think this was the perfect advice for us!

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? We are currently planning our honeymoon.  After that, who knows?!  We will be enjoying each other’s company and our new life together with our dogs, Emma and Hensley.

Congratulations and best wishes to Samantha + Tyler! We hope you have a blast on your honeymoon!