ALLI & WILL
DeBordieu Club wedding
Georgetown, South Carolina
If Alli Foster had it her way, she would have stayed in on the fateful night she met her future husband. Luckily, her good friend (and eventual matron of honor) coerced her into an impromptu night out in Charleston. The nudge was just what she needed, because that night, she met Will Lewis. Even though Alli was preparing to leave town for six months of clinical rotations, she couldn’t deny their connection and agreed to a dinner date that would lead to a long-distance romance. Over the next few months, Will made countless trips to Beaufort, Baton Rouge and Jacksonville to make his feelings known. “Since then, Will has never stopped pursuing me and making me feel special,” said Alli.
The trend continued for Will’s birthday when the couple escaped to DeBordieu for a quiet beach weekend. He popped the question that Friday evening before heading out for what Alli thought was a private dinner. To her surprise, they were greeted by a restaurant filled with family and friends. “Will pulled off the most epic surprise,” recalls Alli. “The weekend was perfect in every way.”
DeBordieu has always been a place of celebration for Alli & Will — it’s where they headed when Will passed the bar and after Alli graduated from MUSC — so it was an obvious choice when they began planning their wedding. The DeBordieu Club, centrally located between her hometown of Wilmington and his roots in Columbia, would provide the atmosphere for a weekend of fun, sun, and sand. Hoping to mix the natural beauty of the golf course with rustic details, they enlisted Stunning & Brilliant Events to manage the design and invited 200 guests to join them for their September 30th wedding.
Alli planned a trip to Charlotte to visit several bridal shops with the intention of doing some recon. But at the first stop, she fell hard for an off-the-shoulder, fit-and-flare Modern Trousseau gown. The Italian satin design featured an embossed floral motif and custom back that she paired with a romantic up-do and dramatic eye the day of the wedding. She carried a bouquet of white roses, peonies, ranunculus and lisianthus wrapped in lace from her mother’s wedding dress — her “something old” — and wore a pair of Will’s mother’s diamond earrings as her “something borrowed”. Because the wedding décor revolved around a neutral color palette with natural details, she let her bridesmaids provide the pop of color in French Blue Monique Lhuillier dresses.
The ceremony took place on the marsh lawn where Will and his twenty groomsmen, dressed in black tuxedos and Will in a Brackish Bow Tie, looked on as Alli made her entrance on the arm of her father. The couple exchanged vows under a billowing oak tree with the help of Reverend Charles Davis, an important addition as he was Will’s childhood priest.
Once the couple was pronounced husband and wife, guests moved to the front lawn to find sesame fried chicken and pimento & candied bacon appetizers. The open-air reception featured Alli’s color palette of ivory and green, which was reflected in the boxwood sectional bars and highlighted the marsh front setting. Seating tables were a mix of rounds with soft camel linens and mahogany farm tables, all surrounded by natural wood slatted chairs. The farm tables were decorated with garlands of lush greenery and scattered with hurricane lanterns, gold votives and geometric vases for a modern twist. Low centerpieces boasted white hydrangeas, dahlias, garden roses and seeded eucalyptus. Acrylic table numbers in gold script finished off the elegant design.
Seating tables were a mix of rounds with soft camel linens and mahogany farm tables, all surrounded by natural wood slatted chairs. The farm tables were decorated with garlands of lush greenery and scattered with hurricane lanterns, gold votives and geometric vases for a modern twist. Low centerpieces boasted white hydrangeas, dahlias, garden roses and seeded eucalyptus. Acrylic table numbers in gold script finished off the elegant design.
To add a personal touch to the night’s desserts, Alli’s father converted an antique Waterford goblet into a gorgeous cake stand; it was the perfect spot for a three-tiered pound cake from Priceless Desserts with buttercream icing — a cake that Alli dubbed the “best cake I have ever had”.
The celebration moved to the dance floor where Alli & Will swayed to Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” before inviting the crowd to join them for an epic dance party thanks to the sounds of The Maxx. As the evening ended, the newlyweds rode off in a vintage, white Chrysler Thunderbird convertible under the brightness of their guests’ blue and white glowsticks, and headed straight to the afterparty at a nearby beach house!
MYRTLE BEACH WEDDING VENDORS - Ceremony & Reception Venue: DeBordieu Club ll Photographer: Corina Silva Studios ll Event Planning & Design: Stunning & Brilliant Events ll Floral Design: Carolina Charm Florist ll Gown: Modern Trousseau ll Dress Boutique: Hayden Olivia ll Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Monique Lhuillier ll Hair & Makeup: process. A Hair Salon ll Groom’s Attire: Ralph Lauren, Brackish Bow Ties ll Catering & Bar: DeBordieu Club ll Rentals & Lighting: EventWorks ll Cake: Priceless Desserts ll Invitations: Martha Morris ll Ceremony Music: Strand Strings ll Band: The Maxx via EastCoast Entertainment ll Officiant: Reverend Charles Davis
