Fripp Island, South Carolina wedding by Landon Jacob Productions

FRIPP ISLAND WEDDING

KATE & NICK

Fripp Island, South Carolina

November 12, 2016

Tell us how you met: Nick and I were actually high school sweethearts! We both grew up a couple of miles apart from one another and attended the same middle & high schools in Marietta, GA. When we graduated, Nick immediately enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and I went off to the University of South Carolina in Columbia to get her undergrad. Although we spent some time apart, we never lost touch. After four years, we both returned to Georgia to begin our careers. We immediately reconnected and have been together ever since!

Proposal Details: It was Father’s Day weekend and Nick and I were planning to host both of our families at our house for a fun-filled cook out party. I was stressing out (per usual) about getting the house cleaned, set-up and looking perfect for our party on Sunday. Nick decided that Saturday would be the perfect time to go for a (very hot!) hike to a waterfall at Lake Rabun. After a couple hour drive through the mountains, we were finally at our destination to begin the hike. Nick’s brother had also joined for the adventure (unbeknownst to me, he was actually there to take pictures.) It was a short but STEEP hike and when we finally reached the top, Nick wasted no time pulling the ring box out of his CamelBack and dropped to one knee. His brother, Ben, took some amazing pictures with the gorgeous waterfall in the background and, NO!, Nick did not drop the ring in the water Thank God! Of course, I exclaimed yes and after our drive home, we showed back up to our home to find all of our best friends and family there to celebrate with us. It was perfection!

Tell us about your dress shopping experience! I tried on about 800 dresses over 8 months in the Atlanta area. My mother and I went to 4 boutiques and got really close to buying one (I even had the first couple initials of my name on the signature line!). It wasn’t until our shopping experience at Joan Pillow in Atlanta that I knew I would find the one. A family friend of ours, Kathy, gave us the royal treatment and was with us every step of the way as we custom designed my Ines Di Santo gown. I definitely had a vision and it turned out more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.

Hair and makeup: Our wedding planner, Ashley Rhodes, introduced us to Bride’s Side Beauty and told us that they were THE best in the Beaufort/Bluffton area. Turned out, she was completely right. They have so many different stylists and were so great during the hair and make-up trial process. The most important thing to me was that I looked like myself. I don’t wear a ton of make-up on a regular basis and I didn’t want Nick to see me at the end of the aisle and not recognize me! Another thing that was important to me: maintaining that frizz factor in the humid Lowcountry! Bride’s Side Beauty was amazing! My bridesmaids and I looked so glamourous all day long and I never got the dreaded shine factor even after dancing for hours on end!

Bridesmaids Attire: I spent many hours picking out my bridesmaid dresses with Timeka at Bella Bridesmaids Atlanta. We chose three different colors (Sand, Mauve & Dove) and two different designers (Natalie Dealaya & Joanna August) to create the perfect color palette. My bridesmaids were able to pick whichever style they wanted and fit their body type best. Junior bridesmaids wore Joanna August in Ivory and our flower girl wore the most adorable custom Etsy dress in ivory tulle that she loved. I was worried about the way everything would blend but it came together perfectly and was very unique!

How did you select your venue? My parents have had a vacation home on Fripp Island for about 15 years. Since Nick and I have known each other for so long, Nick has had the opportunity to join our family for vacation there many times over the years. In fact, when Nick graduated from boot camp at Parris Island, we spent the weekend with both of our families at the beach house on Fripp. When we got engaged, it was almost automatic that we would get married in the Lowcountry. After much persuasion from my father and a realistic vision from our wedding planner, we decided to have our reception in the backyard of my parents’ home. We basically built an entire wedding venue from the ground up. We knew the logistics would be challenging but we also knew that this venue would be forever close to our hearts and would never be done again!

Groom & Groomsmen Attire: Nick and his groomsmen all wore charcoal gray suits from Bachrach. All of the groomsmen had on ties in the same color wheel as the bridesmaid dresses. An avid bird hunter, Nick changed from a neutral bowtie to a bird feather bowtie for the reception. All of the groomsmen wore American flag dress socks as a nod to Nick’s patriotism!

Did you decide on a first look? This was one thing that was a non-negotiable for me! Since our ceremony was at our church, I was very serious about Nick not seeing me until those doors opened at the end of the aisle. We never spoke on the phone or text during the wedding morning and I truly think that it made that moment so much more special. The photographer and our wedding planner both talked about the time & logistics that a first-look would save for travel but I never budged and I am so glad that I didn’t. Nick’s reaction was worth everything!

Ceremony Details: Our ceremony took place St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Beaufort, SC. The church is designed so intricately and beautiful with high ceilings and so much natural light. We hardly needed any décor at all. The music director played several traditional wedding hymns that I carefully selected on the organ. He was extremely talented and the quality of the sound radiating through the massive church was magical.

The décor: Ashley Rhodes is a design genius. She completely understood my vision from day 1. Since we had four events throughout the weekend, I really wanted to let the other three events be the “beachy” theme. We kept the actual wedding ceremony and reception very elegant, a little bit rustic and a little bit classic. The whole goal was to create this upscale space in the middle of a backyard and she totally nailed it! We tented the entire backyard with a massive 150 X 30 frame tent with a clear top. Edison bulb café lights and lightweight gray linen drapes were hung throughout the tent. The entire tent was floored and covered with a custom cut seagrass carpet. The brick patio attached to the home was converted into the dance area by adding a barnwood dance floor. The dance floor remained uncovered with more strands of the Edison Bulb café lights hung over top. There was a 28ft rough cut plantation bar on the far end of the tent and another 10 ft bar in the cocktail hour section. Tables consisted on a combination of long wooden farm tables, small wooden café bistro style 4-tops, 16 cocktail tables, and 10-top rounds covered with linen. Rustic wooden x-back chairs were at each table. There were 2 separate lounge areas with plush furniture and galvanized cocktail tables. Each piece of décor or menu sign on the food stations was handpicked to fit the rustic theme with many heights and levels. There were wooden lanterns in all areas of the tent and lighting the entrance pathway.

What was on the menu for the evening? I work for Proof of the Pudding, Atlanta’s premier caterer, so I knew that our food had to be incredible. I spent many months with our chef, Vagn, and our sales account executive, Barbara, picking a menu to fit our vision. With four separate events over the weekend that all required food and beverage, we had our work cut out for us. For the wedding reception, we started the evening with passed hors d’oeuvres of vegetarian empanadas, she-crab soup shooters and a fried chicken salad waffle cone. Also during cocktail hour was a giant charcuterie table full of local meats, cheese, spreads and honeys as a nod to the bride’s Italian heritage. In the center of the tent was a large grazing station with small plates of crab corn salad, a veggie garden, a harvest salad, mahi-mahi sliders, fried oysters and mini shrimp po-boys. In one pop-out main entrée station with a true Lowcountry fair guests found chefs sautéing shrimp and andouille sausage followed by a build your own shrimp & grits bar. Also included on this station were creole inspired gator tacos (one of the grooms favorites!). The second station contained an herb chicken pasta in a lemon caper sauce and another option of a short rib filet piled on top of a Vidalia onion mash and root vegetables.

The Invitation + Paper Details: Our paper products were truly one-of-a-kind. Emily McCarthy created a custom invitation suite that set the tone for all of our guests on what kind of a weekend to expect. A custom watercolor painting of my family home/reception site was printed into the liner of the invitation. We worked with Emily to find a calligraphy style that fit the unique style of our event. Emily was genius in creating a custom “events card” that was included in the invitation suite that detailed each of the four events that we were hosting over the wedding weekend. We really wanted our guests to feel the full effect of the entire weekend experience that we had created at the second that they received their invitations. I could not be more pleased with the way they turned out.

Cake & sweets: I always knew I wanted a simple, understated cake. Courtney with Brown Sugar Custom cakes created a delicious three-tier white chocolate pound cake frosted with a messy, rippled buttercream design. It was adorned with one beautiful live succulent. Proof of the Pudding also provided some of my favorite mini desserts including bourbon pecan pie martinis and macerated berries.

How did you decide on your aesthetic + color palette: I knew I wanted an industrial feel with lots of grays and neutrals for our wedding. The dusty rose colors and the pops of wine/marsala seemed to make sense with the fall season!

Describe your flowers: Bridesmaids held garden-like bouquets of shades of ivory, burgundy, dusty rose, and lots of greens. Quicksand roses, anemones, dahlias, jasmine vine, antique hydrangeas, chocolate cosmos with hints of deep navy berry. My bouquet was very similar but included more ivory tones. Our junior bridesmaids & flower girl wore floral crowns of green with lush ivory blooms and trailing ivory ribbons. Reception florals included rustic potted herbs for the cocktail tables and bars. Long barn tables were adorned with rough-cut cypress boxes filled with quicksand roses, hydrangeas, large live succulents and plenty of glass hurricanes with pillar candles. Suspended over top our main food station in the dead center of the tent was a massive wooden box hanging by jute rope that was overflowing with florals to match the tables and candles that delivered much natural light under the stars.

What is your favorite picture from your wedding day? It’s impossible to choose just one when you have a photographer like Jordan Thompson with Landon Jacob Photography. The portraits of Nick and I and our entire bridal party on the fairway of the golf course are some of my favorites. The stylized shots of our paper products also touch my heart because they incorporate so many of my favorite details. And you can’t forget about the pictures of the reception decor & the incredible food stations. Makes me hungry just looking at them!

We had to reschedule our wedding due to Hurricane Matthew that devastated the coast of South Carolina in October of 2016. Our wedding was originally scheduled for October 22nd (a date that we had selected 15 months previously!). On October 10th, Hurricane Matthew made landfall on our little island and brought massive amounts of damage and water ashore. The damage made bridges and roads impassable and utilities for the barrier islands were cut off for several weeks as FEMA worked to restore the area. After much soul searching, lots of research, and way too many family meetings to discuss options A, B and C, we made the decision to push our wedding back 30 days but to still move forward with the plan to hold it at Fripp. Our hearts were set on saying our vows in the Lowcountry and we were truly not willing to compromise on that. By the Grace of God, our families and bridal party were able to change their plans to join us on our new day of November 12, 2016. With the support of our wedding planner and massive amounts of persistence and communication, each of our 16 vendors came together to make this wedding weekend happen on a new date with almost no advance notice. There are truly not enough words to write the appreciation we have for our vendors, friends and family for pulling this off. It truly took a village. And when our (new!) wedding date finally came around, Nick and I were so thrilled to just be saying our vows that we just focused on love and on having FUN! Even more special was that our new wedding date fell on Veterans Day weekend which is very important to us. It magically came together and there was no more sweating the small stuff, that’s for sure!

What were the most important elements about your wedding day? With everything we had to go through to ultimately get to our wedding date, the most important thing was that our family and best friends were there to witness our love. Good foods, good drinks, good music and a million laughs were had by all! We wanted to be on the dance floor celebrating the entire time and that’s exactly what we did.

Guest Count: 300

For the signature cocktail, we decided to make light of the situation and provide our guests with “The Hurricane” courtesy of Hurricane Matthew as the signature cocktail when they entered cocktail hour. Of course, a full bar with premium liquors, local craft beers and a large variety of wine was also available for guests to enjoy.

What was your first dance song? Tennessee Whiskey – Chris Stapleton

Every single thing about my wedding was a personal touch. From the custom watercolor painting of my parents’ house that was incorporated into my stationary, to wearing the same earrings that my mother wore on her wedding day, to the family diamond that is set in my engagement ring, to my grandmothers rosary that was wrapped around my bouquet, to the bagpipers that played on the golf course as our guests drove up the reception tent, every item was carefully thought out and touched during the planning process.

Best Piece of Advice for Brides-to-be: Enjoy every second of it. It is truly the most important time in your life and you will hold on to the memories (and the pictures!) forever. Don’t let the planning stage pass you by with frustration because I promise you will miss it when it’s over! And most importantly, remember to be flexible, open-minded and realistic. Everything can change in the blink of an eye and you need to be able to adjust with a positive attitude and a game plan to move forward! At the end of the day, if you’re standing up there saying your vows to the person that you love, you’ve already won the best possible prize.

What was your first dance song?

Tennessee Whiskey – Chris Stapleton

The Send-off/Getaway Vehicle: Sparklers and a golf cart, of course! Golf carts are the only way to travel on Fripp Island!

What are you plans and goals as a newly married couple? Life remains crazy and hectic, as always! We enjoyed our wonderful honeymoon in St. Lucia just a couple of months ago with some much needed R&R. We are constantly working on the home that we own in Georgia, both working hard to pursue our career paths, spending time with our friends, and have just added a new puppy to our family! The Fender Family of 4 is loving life and looking forward to a fun summer with hopefully lots of trips to our favorite piece of Lowcountry paradise, Fripp!

Check out the H ILTON HEAD WEDDING VENDORS who created it...

Ceremony Venue: St. Peter’s Catholic Church ll Reception Venue: Private Residence ll Photographer: Landon Jacob Productions ll Event Planning & Design: Ashley Rhodes Event Designs ll Floral Design: Em Creative Floral ll Gown: Ines Di Santo ll Dress Boutique: Joan Pillow Bridal Salon (Atlanta, GA) ll Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Natalie Dealaya & Joanna August ll Hair & Makeup: Bride’s Side Beauty ll Men’s Attire: Bachrach & Brackish Bow Ties ll Catering & Bar: Proof of the Pudding ll Cake: Brown Sugar Custom Cakes ll Rentals: Amazing Event Rentals, Snyder Events, Party Tables, La Tavola ll Invitations & Paper Goods: Emily McCarthy ll Band: Surround Sound Band from East Coast Entertainment ll Videographer: Withers Films ll Rehearsal Dinner: Wren Bistro (Beaufort, SC) ll Welcome Party: The Creek House (Fripp Island, SC) ll Officiant: Father Paul MacNeil ll Welcome bags: Emily McCarthy & Fripp Island Group Events ll Transportation: The Point Tours