Summery, bohemian vibes grace every moment of Kate and Kevin’s delightful South Carolina wedding at Cypress Trees Plantation. The adorable, love-at-first-sight couple filled their big day with personalized details, special contributions from talented friends, a curated playlist and DIY cocktails by the groom himself. Event design and planning was by AlmostWed with florals by Coming Up Roses. We especially love the tie dye dinner napkins, retro party bus, delicate arbor and—of course—gorgeous film images captured by Stephen Atohi.
What unique elements or DIY details did you include?
We gifted each guest a bottle of our homemade limoncello. It takes about 3 months to make, so it was truly a labor of love. Many chose to enjoy at the reception and others took it home to enjoy on a special occasion.
What was your favorite moment? Your favorite crafted detail?
Moment: our vows. We wrote them ourselves and didn’t share with each other before the ceremony. It was a moment we both knew we wanted to be a surprise and looking back it was 100% the right decision for us. Favorite crafted detail: personalized notes for our guests. Rather than a standard name card, we wrote a personalized note to each person. So often at weddings, the bride and groom don’t have an opportunity to visit with all of their guests. The personalized notes ensured we were able to express our gratitude and love for each person. They were a huge hit! Lots of hugs and tears.
Tell us about your flowers, your gown, your favors, your cake, etc.
I envisioned myself wearing a flower crown, but didn’t want to risk the flowers wilting in the South Carolina humidity. I found an amazing faux-flower crown designer in Utah (via Etsy). I sent her a Pinterest board of the flowers that would be in my bouquet and she made a crown to match. It was beyond perfect. Our florist was local to Edisto and had done many weddings at the venue before. She offered fantastic advice on how to let the natural elements of the land do the talking and the flowers/decor to simply be a complement.
Instead of a traditional cake, we had banana pudding shipped from our favorite bakery in NYC. I tried on a LOT of dresses. The dress I chose was the one I felt most myself in. It was head to toe lace with long sleeves and had an old-school feel to it.
On the back of our wedding program, we each wrote a list of people and things we wanted to give a ‘special thanks’ to. It included anything and everything from our parents to our childhood sleep-away camp to our favorite guilty pleasure fast food restaurant. We think it was a fun thing for the guests to read before the ceremony began. To kick-off the evening, Bob Marley’s ‘Could You Be Loved’ began playing as we kissed. It was a perfect way to conclude the ceremony and started off our playlist (which we curated over the course of our engagement; LOTS of time browsing on Spotify). We love music and wanted to play songs we envisioned hearing on our wedding day. We created 3 different playlists for pre-ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception – each with its own vibe. Rather than having the dinner catered, a chef friend of ours (who we met in NYC because he was wearing an Edisto hat!) cooked for our 75 guests and roasted a pig for 12 hours on site before. Shawn cooked an amazing meal and even gave a short speech at the reception. The grits he served were from corn grown on the property and the pig was raised with love on an island next to Edisto.
And finally, maybe just a little bit about you as a couple and how you met.
We met in NYC and were introduced by a mutual friend. Kevin was visiting a friend and was living in San Antonio at the time. It was truly love at first sight – we spoke on the phone every day that summer and Kevin took a leap and moved to NYC 4 months later. We love to travel, ski, cook (well, Kate enjoys Kevin’s cooking), binge watch the ‘it’ TV show of the moment, and spending time with friends. We’re currently renovating our first home together. And just like our wedding, the finished product will be a reflection of us!
Photography: Stephen Atohi // Event Design & Planning: AlmostWed // Florals: Coming Up Roses // Invitations: Designed by Bride // Venue: Cypress Trees Plantation // Wedding Dress: Lela Rose // Hair & Makeup: Pampered & Pretty // Floral Crown: Stevi Marie Flower Crown // Bride’s Shoes: Aldo // Bride’s Ring: Caitlin Mociun // Groom Attire: Bonobos // Groom’s Ring: Sabri Guven // Videography: His + Her Creative // Catering: Shawn Burnette // Furniture Rentals: Ruth’s // Specialty Rentals: EventHaus // Music: Danny Rizzo // Officiant: Kelly Halazyn // Transportation: Lowcountry Valet // Pitmaster: Tank Johnson