Some Fabulous Footwear

If you're looking for a little something different for your wedding shoes, consider these amazing sandals from SandalWorld.

I originally saw this pair in one of the various wedding magazines lying around my house: 

But then I found these while browsing the site: 

These are phenomenal for a casual wedding, or for someone who just doesn't like heels. Or how about for the reception? You KNOW your feet will thank you!

This pair is so glam, and would be such a cool and unexpected addition to a floor length wedding gown. Who would expect it? 

I love the starfish ones for a seaside wedding (because it is SO hard to walk across sand in heels). And besides, who can resist a starfish (certainly not I)? SandalWorld has these cuties in pretty much all the colors of the rainbow if you want to match your sandals to your colors. 

MIddleton Plantation and Drayton Plantation

Rounding out our Charleston plantation venues are Middleton Place and Drayton Plantation. 

Middleton has several different locations where you can have the ceremony, including my personal favorite, the Wedding Oak:

Nothing says "Lowcountry Wedding" like exchanging vows under a massive live oak tree!

Or, if you prefer, you can marry on the front lawn in front of the main house (sheep not included). I saw a Charleston Weddings magazine article on a couple who had a destination Great Gatsby-themed wedding on the front lawn. Amazing!

Another option is Drayton Hall, the only one of the "major" plantations in Charleston that hasn't been completely restored. Although you cannot have your event inside the plantation house (as it's completely bare--no a/c, no lights, and in many cases, no windows), you can rent the entire property, set up a tent and have an incredible background for your ceremony and/or reception. If you'd like to rent the property just for the ceremony, it's $10,000, and you can have the ceremony and reception for $11,000. Chump change, right? 

Old Wide Awake Plantation

Sorry for the long hiatus--I just can't seem to keep up with everything I have to do these days! :)

Aaaannnd, we're back to the plantation theme today. If you're looking for something a little different, and a bit more off the beaten path than the other plantations I blogged about, consider the Old Wide Awake Plantation. It's a few 

miles outside of Charleston, so your guests will be able to use the Charleston area as their base while still enjoying the distinctly non-city atmosphere of this hidden gem. 

There's plenty of space for a tent if you wanted to have an outdoor reception, or you can use the first floor of the house for more of a homey feel. Can you imagine the great bridal party photos on the front steps and the front porch? 

Pricing is actually very reasonable for the Charleston area, and you have the use of the grounds and the house:

• 1-100 people: $1500
• 101-125: $1650
• 126-150: $1750
• 151-200: $2150
• 200+: price arranged on a per event basis

And, in closing, a fun fact about the Plantation: Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe were married here back in the day. Super glamorous!

Boone Hall Plantation

If you're looking to get married in or around Charleston, you've got a plethora of ceremony/reception options. I promise, I'll get to most (if not all) of the available venues in that area, but over the next few days I wanted to focus on the plantations that are available for rent. 

Perhaps you've always seen yourself as a Scarlett O'Hara type, or you've always dreamed of having your wedding in a really big, really impressive building. Either way, the South Carolina Lowcountry has several options. 

One of my favorites is Boone Hall Plantation. If it looks familiar, you've likely seen "The Notebook" one too many times. The house served as the summer home for Allie (Rachel McAdams) in the first half of the film. 

There are several ceremony sites, including the front lawn (you'd get married right where the photo focuses in on), and the back lawn (which has a great view of Horlebeck Creek). For a small reception, you could gather in the Butterfly Cafe, or for a larger reception, you could put up a tent on the back lawn. Another option for a larger party would be to rent the Cotton Dock (my favorite option). It's right on the banks of the creek, and many brides and grooms choose to make their grand entrance on a little motor boat. So cute! It's got a much more casual vibe than the other possible locations at Boone Hall. 

So what's a wedding here going to cost you?

Cotton Dock: $2000

Back Lawn: $3000

Front Lawn: $3000

Back Lawn and Cotton Dock: $4000

Front Lawn and Cotton Dock: $4000

Front Lawn and Back Lawn: $4500

Cotton Dock, Front Lawn and Back Lawn: $5500

The Butterfly Cafe: $600

Since a family actually lives at Boone Hall (LUCKY!), and since the grounds are open to the public during the day, your wedding cannot start until the site closes for the day (5 PM if you're using the Front Law or the Back Lawn). Set up for the Cotton Dock can occur anytime after 11 AM the day of the event since the building's not usually open to the public. 

Like every good venue, Boone Hall has its own nuances: no tents on the front lawn, no music after 11 PM and no tables and chairs are provided, even in the Cotton Dock. And if you're planning a summer wedding for the Cotton Dock, you'll definitely want to rent some AC units, as it's heated but not equipped with air. Your guests will love you for the extra expenditure. 

For more pictures, check out this site. It showcases a wedding and reception that took place at Boone Hall's Cotton Dock. I'm swooning already. 

Hello, world! My brand new blog is up and running, and I couldn't be happier. I'm more than a little obsessed with weddings (even though I've yet to have my own), and I'm a true Carolina girl at heart, so I think that a blog combining both of those loves is almost more fun than I can handle.

In my lifetime so far, I've lived in every major region in the state, and I've attended weddings (some big, some little, some in between) in a variety of venues (some awesome, some fair-to-middling, and some down right awful). Those experiences, plus some wedding snooping on my own time, have culminated in A LOT of South Carolina wedding knowledge on my part. 

In this blog, I'll give you tips on venues from all over the state, where to find the best invitations, whether a horse-drawn carriage is really worth the money, as well as all kinds of other fun tidbits of knowledge related to weddings. 

South Carolina is a gorgeous state to tie the knot in, and I'm so glad you chose it for your special day. So whether you're a Carolina girl getting married in her hometown church or a Chicago girl looking for the perfect destination wedding, you've come to the right place!