Our first evening in Charleston was a "date night" before the whirlwind began. I know we always come in and go from one event to the next, so we decided to carve out one night for a little rest by the fire and a wonderful dinner out on the town. We literally ate our body weight in delicious, southern cuisine at High Cotton. The picture below was just before my glorious nap. After a 4:30am wake-up call on Thursday morning and a day of travel, this girl collapsed in front of the fire with a Charleston Magazine and took a little snooze under the down comforter at the Inn at I'ON. Heaven, my friends, heaven. I wanted to move in forever.
PS...If you find yourself at High Cotton, the "Picnic Plate" is glorious. Hands down, THE best fried green tomatoes I've ever eaten, along with pimento cheese and these black garlic, barbecue peanuts that will make you question every other peanut you've ever eaten. Every other peanut in history is now a slacker in my book.
And on Friday, we let the wedding festivities begin with a lovely bridal luncheon followed by manis and pedis and champagne. I swear this photo was not done in a Sear's studio.
By Friday night, we were ready to shuck the night away with the soon to be Mr. & Mrs. at a Lowcountry oyster roast directly on the inter-coastal waterway. It slightly makes my heart hurt now to be so very far from the saltwater and pluff mud yet again, but that night was amazing. And I loved teaching the Hubs how to dig in and shuck some oyster clusters.
No, the Hubs and I did not plan to match. What??? It just happens, okay.
Finally, the big day was here so we ventured over to Alhambra Hall in Mt. Pleasant for a little girl time to get all beautified together. Our bride, aka T- Payne, was all sorts of calm and collected. We chatted, laughed, got teary a few times and toasted our girl with some champagne. It was the perfect start to a perfect day.
One of the Maids of Honor gathered over a dozen sweet "letters to the bride" for T-Payne to read on her big day. Each one was written by a friend, family member, and also the groom and her future 4 year old step son. Precious, I tell you. Great work, Lyza! I'm sure this will be something she'll read and reread for years to come.
And as with many brides who are sequestered while guests and grooms arrive, T-Payne snuck a quick peek from the bridal suite. I think my favorite quote of the day came from her about 15 minutes before we walked down the aisle "I just want to be with him already. I miss him." Awww.
From the harbor view to the floating candles amongst the oaks and Spanish moss, everything was divine. They could not have asked for a more gorgeous day in November.
And as the bride walked out of the building for the ceremony, she gave a quick three "pumps" of her bouquet in the air signaling "here we go, let's do this". It was a genuine moment that made us all belly laugh and I'm so thankful Rebecca captured it at the very moment she did it. That's our girl! Let's do this! And they did. They "do".
From there on, the rest of the weekend was filled with cherished reunions, dancing, great food and celebrating the new Mr. & Mrs. Payne. Congrats & all the love in the world for you three!
T-Payne's new stepson. She's going to be an amazing mom!
To say their photographer, Richard Bell is a genius, would be a colossal understatement. Gorgeous!
And they lived happily ever after in the prettiest city in the world.
That's how the saying goes, right?
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