by: Another week ... and another gorgeous wedding we are excited to showcase! High school sweethearts, Anna and John, hosted their lovely southern plantation wedding in May. Their day was nothing short of classic romance and southern charm.
Anna & John's Southern Plantation Wedding
The historic Runnymede Plantation in Charleston played host to Anna and John's wedding. The ambiance of the venue provided a romantic, mystical, and even nostalgic feel. A string quartet played as their wedding guests arrived, and an artist was onsite to paint their wedding in real time. Blush, navy, and gold hues adorned their day against the canopy of centuries-old trees, vines and Spanish moss.
You almost step back into time as you see all the gorgeous photos of their big day! Brick ruins from the plantation's mansion made for a marvelous and intense backdrop. And the magnolia trees along the serene riverside? Wow. You have to see every beautiful detail of Anna and John's southern plantation wedding, including their shiny foil wedding invitations from MagnetStreet!
Their Grand Soiree bracket-shaped wedding invitations featured raised rose gold foil ... such a perfect match for their classic southern plantation wedding!
"We found MagnetStreet through an online search and so glad we did. First we ordered our save the dates and loved the quality of them, so decided to get our custom invites through y'all as well!"
Finding the perfect wedding dress "I hope I am not the only bride who went to six different bridal shops to find her dress! I wanted the perfect dress - I always envisioned a long train on my dress and a beautiful ball gown. I tried on so many dresses but a lot of the ones I tried were to please my mother ... she had this idea of a more conservative neck line. But after trying on a few and taking all of my bridesmaids with me and asking everyone's opinion ... I realized I needed to go look on my own. Finally I came across my Justin Alexander dress! It was a few hundred over my budget, but when I put it on and twirled in it I just knew. I did not say yes that day because I wanted to think about it. I actually tried on a few others after ... but every time I looked at one I would just compare it to the JA dress, which was the one."
Favorite photo of the day - at sunset by the river
The highlight of the day? "According to my husband the moment he saw me. In my opinion the highlight of the day was the kiss. I had always talked about doing a big kiss at my wedding ... my husband never likes to show too much PDA, (he is kind of shy). So when I told him about my big kiss dream, he was like 'babe no.' But he totally took me by surprise on the day and he gave me the biggest kiss of my life! He dipped me down and I was totally shocked but totally in love!"
A bit of wedding day rain"It had been raining all weekend long and all day. My wedding planner had to wait till 20 minutes before the ceremony and then finally set up the chairs. Then for some reason the heavens opened up and it stopped raining a few minutes before I walked down the aisle. It did not rain for the rest of the night! We were planning on doing happy hour under a tree, but due to the rain we pushed the happy hour under the reception tent even though it ended up not raining. It still worked out perfectly, because we ended up doing our wedding party photos under the tree!"
Look at that cake! "Our cake was amazing!! Three-tier white chocolate raspberry cake with a beautiful flower fondant bottom layer in white. The middle layer was a blush with white accents, and the top layer was a gold drip. It was topped with blush and green florals. Then we had cute mini cupcakes- one a lemon blueberry and the other a red velvet."
Best part of wedding planning "The fun parts of planning were getting to go to bridal shows and catering tasting! You get to try so many different foods and yummy desserts!"
Hardest part about wedding planning "The most difficult was trying to do a lot of things DIY. I think the DIY really paid off in some areas. All of our centerpieces and bouquets were done by the bridal party! I told the girls we needed to open up our own floral shop, but we all agreed we never wanted to put together another floral arrangement again ... lol!"
First dance song "Cant Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley
Advice to other couples "Do not sweat the small stuff. Although the little details may seem super important in the beginning, in the end it is not worth the stress. In fact you won't even notice any of the small details during your reception ... you will be having too much fun!"
Thanks to the ultra-talented vendors that made Anna and John's southern plantation wedding a dream come true!
Photography: Sarah Beach Photography / Venue: Runnymede Plantation / Cake & desserts: Sweet Rhi / Photobooth: MVP / Catering: Mosaic Catering & Events / Wedding dress: Sweet Elegance Bridal, Atlanta / Wedding planning: Brand Bars & Events / Table & chair rentals: Event Works Rentals / Ceremony music: Palmetto Strings, LLC / DJ: TNT DJ Services/ Live ceremony painting: Caroline Wagner Art / Personalized bride hanger: Hanging With The Bride
