October wedding month, what a way to start with these two great clients from Spartanburg Sc, for Jenny & Benjamin Stevens, at the amazing Charleston Marriot Resort.
Here in Jenny words is how these two clients met and had their big day.
The roads Ben and I took to find each other were not easy and, at times, filled with heartache, but fate intervened at just the right moment. We were brought together through mutual friends and a common profession but quickly learned we had many, many shared experiences which helped form a bond which cannot be broken.
Ben’s proposal started with a weekend away in one of our favorite cities, Charlotte, NC. After a stroll through the beautiful Freedom Park, we came across a caricature artist (Eric Melton), who offered to draw our caricature. We both thought it would be fun so we sat down and Eric started the “interview” process to figure out what activity to draw us doing in the picture. Little did I know, Eric was hired by Ben a few weeks before to play a major role in his proposal. After what seemed like forever, Eric finally said the picture was ready to reveal. As he turned the picture around for me to see, I realized he had drawn Ben down on one knee holding up a ring. When it registered just what was happening, I turned to see Ben pulling the ring from his pocket and he asked me to marry him.
Even though we live in Spartanburg, we chose to marry in Charleston as it is my hometown and we were lucky enough to secure our venue at my childhood church at 43 Wentworth Street downtown. For the reception, we chose Charleston Marriott because since we were having an out-of-town wedding, we wanted a one-stop-shop for both venue and catering, if possible. After meeting with our event planner, Younesse Alami, however, there really was no question about where the reception would be. The Marriott staff and Younesse, in particular, truly went above and beyond, from recommending other vendors for us to work with, to going out of their way on the day of the wedding to make sure everything ran smoothly, leaving us to just relax and enjoy the day.
In fact, Younesse was the reason we found Michel Berda of King Street Photo Weddings. Michel was top notch and first class in all aspects from start to finish. He spent time with us to get to know our vision of our day, and he then worked non-stop helping to make that vision to come true. His work did not end with just the photography, however. Ben and I are a modern day “Brady Bunch” and have six (yes, SIX!) children between us. Michel was an amazing “wrangler” of sorts, and he was able to keep all six children in line and smiling during picture times so that Ben and I could keep genuine smiles on our faces!
Our florist was WildFlowers out of Summerville, who we cannot praise enough. Our flowers were picked somewhat last minute, but Beth’s creativity and quick work resulted in beautiful bouquets and arrangements for the church. Hair and makeup were provided by PaperDolls and Erica W. Thomas, who were also last minute finds, but truly delivered perfection for me and my bridesmaids, not to mention quite a few laughs to calm the nerves during the preparation for the ceremony.
The vendors are:
King Street Photo Weddings, Photographer, Michel Berda:
Charleston Marriott, Event Coordinator, Younesse Alami, Venue:
Redeemer-Charleston, Church:
Flowers by Beth of WildFlowers, Florist:
PaperDolls, Hair:
Eric Melton, Caricatures:
