Melissa Barton, of A Charleston Bride in Charleston, SC, planned a wedding in the season's prettiest hues.
By: Rachel Griffiths
The happy spring bride in her leafy bower
With its Easter-egg yellow walls, white balconies and lush green lawns, the historic William Aiken House in downtown Charleston was the perfect setting for an April wedding.
Left: Wedding programs were attached to chairs for the outdoor ceremony. Right: An elegant detail of the decor.
The ceremony was held on the grass in front of a soaring pergola hung with petite white wire baskets filled with garden roses. A greenand- white program was attached to each chair by a black ribbon; the programs echoed the green, white and black invitations, which were adorned with a motif of vibrant green scrolls and leaves.
The stationery, in grassy green, white and black, set the tone for the wedding.
With the vows spoken, the newlyweds and their guests picked up their escort cards from tailored boards covered in apple-green bengaline. A cut-crystal vase held a dramatic spray of that most iconic of spring flowers: the French tulip.
The ballroom at the William Aiken House has cheery red walls, ocher curtains and apricot-printed window treatments, giving it the feeling of a Fabergé egg. With such an elegant room as a backdrop, Melissa used restraint with her green-and-white color scheme. Table linens were white, chiavari chairs were black, and the only pops of green came from the apple-green dinner napkins and the stems of the French tulips.
Left: The red walls and ocher window treatments of the dining room made a distinctive backdrop to the simple but striking reception tables. Right: Tiers of fluffy coconut alternated with layers in a dotted swiss pattern, accented by nosegays of tulips and garden roses and pale gray bow
Melissa took advantage of the mild weather for the lounge, which was set under a white tent in the garden. The V-shaped bar, covered in green linen, was on an adjacent open-air patio, so guests could mingle under the stars. Melissa brought in couches with white slipcovers and accented them with grass-green pillows with white embroidery. As the evening wound down, out came mini milkshake shots to serve as one last, sweet surprise for guests.
Photography by Richard Israel
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