Blake & Nicole | Featured in Charleston Weddings Magazine | Destination Vow Renewal Celebration
We've been waiting so long to share this sweet story and more from this beautiful vow renewal weekend, and now that Blake and Nicole's feature has finally appeared in Charleston Weddings magazine, we can finally do so! If you haven't seen it already, be sure to pick up a copy of the magazine on newsstands now, or hop over here to see the spread! Special thanks to photographer, Perry Vaile, for capturing and sharing these beautiful images.
In the summer of 2014, Nicole and Blake reached out to us from San Diego to talk about the possibility of a destination wedding somewhere in the Southeast. In less than five minutes of speaking with Nicole on the phone, I realized that this would be a very special project and a terrific fit for us! She and Blake were already married but due to his Navy deployment, their wedding took place very quickly and they had not been able to have the bigger celebration with family and friends that they always wanted. Looking ahead to 2015, there was no exact game plan, and no location chosen... but somewhere in the southeastern region of the country, they hoped to have a weekend to celebrate with everyone. We quickly started brainstorming and settled on Charleston, South Carolina as the perfect destination for Nicole and Blake's vow renewal celebration!
If you've ever spent time in Charleston, you know that the month of April is an absolutely splendid time of year in this coastal town. The sun shines, the temperature is beautiful (warm, but not hot!) and things are in bloom! Betsy and I planned a trip to Charleston to do site visits and venue research. After our trip we presented a variety of options to Blake and Nicole and together we all agreed that the charming Creek Club at I'on was the perfect choice.
Planning and creative brainstorming commenced and we were off to the races! Many months into the process, after Save the Dates were put in the mail, we encountered a hiccup. The Navy needed Blake to remain in San Diego on the weekend of the vow renewal. There was no way around it - we had to change the date. In a stroke of incredibly good luck, we were able to align a new date with the venue and vendors that worked for all of us.
Their invitation suite, created by our design team at Rebecca Rose Creative, is one of my all-time favorites. It's simple, fresh, and communicates the overall feel of the weekend experience that Blake and Nicole wanted to provide for their guests: a vacation-style getaway that is relaxing, joyful and tons of fun. The soft blue watercolor inspired look was inspired by the beauty of Charleston's many beaches and rivers. Because we had already communicated the original date with a Save the Date card, we had added a little square tag that read "The Navy had other plans for April 19, so we've changed our date!"
This weekend was full of meaningful details. In the images above, you can see the monogrammed linen hemstitch cocktail napkins that we surprised Blake and Nicole with on their wedding day as a little gift from our team, as well as the hotel guest gift boxes, place cards, and escort card "garden" that we set out for cocktail hour. The gift boxes were a guest favorite, thanks to some delightfully fresh and tasty little tarts from one of our local Charleston favorites, Sugar Bakeshop. The boxes included a sweet welcome note from Blake and Nicole, as well as a door tag to hang on their hotel room doors after a late night of celebrating. The hand-lettering on the place cards was done by my own talented sister-in-law, Jordy Lievers-Eaton. (Check out more of her stuff in her Etsy shop!)
Nicole and Blake chose to do a first look and it was full of some of the most beautiful moments. Perry Vaile captures emotional connections in photos in such a beautiful way, doesn't she?!
The vow renewal ceremony was stunning. I mean stunning. Sunlight streamed beautifully through the dripping moss on the trees, and blue water glistened in the background behind them as Nicole and Blake renewed their commitment to each other in front of their closest family and friends. It could not have been lovelier!
After the ceremony, guests enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and cocktails on the outdoor porch as the sun began to set, and a seated dinner reception followed. It was a joy to design this reception. We stuck with soft, textured natural linens and added the colors of Charleston's famous sunsets and coastal waters: soft blues, minty blue-greens, coral, peach and gold.
What might surprise many of you the most is the fact that we never actually met Nicole or Blake in person until the wedding weekend! That's right - everything was done over the phone/email/Skype, etc. But when we finally did meet face-to-face, it felt like we had seen them a hundred times. Destination weddings can be just as thoughtfully planned and designed as local weddings...all it takes is a willingness to trust. Nicole and Blake - thank you. Thank you for entrusting our team with this celebration that meant so much in your lives. We so loved getting to know you and it was such an honor to dream with you throughout the design process, pull together all the logistical details and bring it all to life on your special weekend. We know you're in for a long lifetime of joy together and we feel privileged to now call you friends!
~Becca
Special thanks to our dream team of creative partners for this event!
Photography: Perry Vaile | Venue & Catering: Creek Club at I'on | Chargers and Flatware: EventWorks Rentals | Linens: Nuage Designs & La Tavola | Lighting: Technical Event Company | Graphic Design & Paper Goods: Rebecca Rose Creative | Calligraphy: Jordy Lievers-Eaton | Desserts: Sugar Bakeshop | Planning, Design, Styling & Floral Design: Rebecca Rose Events