Ready To Say “I Do”

Tomorrow, this beautiful couple will say “I Do” and go from two individuals to a couple. I’m so honored to be coordinating Lena & Greg’s wedding. They will tie the knot at the beautiful Cypress Tree Plantation in Edisto, South Carolina.

About the bride

Lena grew up in Tega Cay, SC. She attended the College of Charleston before transfering to the University of South Carolina where she got her degree in Advertising. Lena currently lives in New York City where she works as a media buyer at MediaVest. Her love for college football brings her home each year to see at least one Carolina football game. Go Gamecocks! Lena & I are actually sorority sisters (Gamma Phi Beta) and worked together in college at HandPicked, Inc.

About the groom

Greg grew up in Alpharetta, GA. He attended Young Harris College before transfering to the University of South Carolina. Greg graduated with a degree in Sport Marketing from USC. He now lives in New York City where he works as a media planner at MindShare. His southern accent charms all the northerners and his love for college football, Roll Tide Roll and Go Gamecocks, keeps his southern roots grounded.

How they met

Lena’s roommate’s boyfriend decided to come down for the University of South Carolina vs University of Florida football game and bring his friend, Greg, along with him. Immediately upon seeing a picture of Lena on Facebook, Greg called ‘Dibs!’ and the rest is history.

The Bride’s version of the proposal:

Date of event: Friday, December 23, 2011

I flew down to SC from NYC to spend Christmas with my family and of course Greg (Greg and I were living in different cities at this time). Greg and I decided to drive to my friend, and Greg’s partner-in-crime, Erin’s house so we could all exchange Christmas gifts. I was waiting patiently all day and finally convinced everyone that we should open our presents. Greg was reluctant but eventually gave me one of my presents, which Erin had helped him pick out. I opened the box to discover a beautiful blue topaz ring with diamonds. I loved it, but also knew that this meant I would not be receiving ‘The Ring’ this year. I went outside with Erin and told her that I was just going to stop working myself up for an engagement. When he is ready he will ask me. Erin agreed and we left it at that.

Little did I know the plans that they both had in store for me later on in the evening.

Erin said we had to go to her Grandmother’s to say hello. We drove the golf cart up the path to Grandma’s house and chatted for a little while. After a little time had passed, Erin told me that her Dad had a light show that he wanted to show us. “Just amuse him’ she had said. A light show seemed pretty normal to me considering that Erin had lights on the barn for her wedding in October so I thought, he probablly just added more to it.

We drove the golf cart back down to the barn where it was pitch black. Erin cut the lights off pretty quickly which annoyed me, but I now understand why. Instead of driving all the way down the hill Erin insisted on staying at the top and making me walk down. (Side note: I do not do well in the dark. It freaks me out.) So in typical Lena fashion I started to complain and yell at Erin to just drive down the hill which she calmly told me ‘No’ and that she ‘Didn’t want to get the cart stuck’ which I knew there was no way this would happen. Annoyed, I got off the golf cart and started walking down the hill. Since it was dark, and I was starting to think I was going to be attacked by a wild animal, I started to call Greg’s name to come find me. A figure started walking towards me and annouced himself as my sweet boyfriend. As he got close to me he grabbed my right hand, yes ladies, my right not my left, and got down on one knee to pop the question. I was confused and thought he was joking since he knew everyone was joking about us getting engaged during every major Holiday recently. All I kept saying was ‘Are you kidding me?’ until I noticed he was putting an actual ring my finger.

Once I realized what this was really happening I was in shock and utter surprise. Erin was yelling at me to look up and as I did I saw, in Christmas light on the barn, a sign that said ‘Will You Marry Me’ which I thought read ‘Wilson’ and was confused but eventually figured it out. Of course I said Yes and Johnny, Erin’s Brother-in-Law, began shooting off fireworks. It was amazing and wonderful and I all happened while I was wearing an oversized gray sweatshirt.

 

(Engagement Photos by : Kristin Vining Photography)

 

 

 

 

 

Unique Wedding Venue in the Lowcountry

Old Sheldon Church near Yemasee, SC is a beautiful historic location that is often overlooked. It’s a beautiful place…. and very unique…

 

The church was burnt down in 1779 and again in 1865. This bellicose history is in stark contrast to its serene calm today. Visitors can wander the beautiful grounds and adjoining cemetery. The church is the property of the Episcopal diocese, but anyone may be married there.

The grounds even have an old water pump which STILL works!

Whether it is for a wedding or not, a visit to Old Sheldon Church is certainly worthwhile.

 

(SOURCE: http://savannahweddingminister.wordpress.com)

Priciest Weddings in History

Weddings have a way of costing more than intended. After the dress, the food, the venues, the photography, the flowers, and everything else, you may find yourself looking at quite the bill. But you’ll probably never face a price tag quite as high as these weddings:

1. Prince Charles and Lady Diana spent $48 million on their big day in 1981, which would be about $110 million today with inflation. It took place at St. Paul’s Cathedral and had over two million spectators (including royalty). It was televised to over 750 million and had 27 wedding cakes and a five-foot-tall main cake that took about 14 weeks to prepare.

2. Vanisha Mittal and Amit Bhatia, a businessman and philanthropist from India, dished out $60 million in 2005 (about $66 million today) to be married in Versailles. Invitations were sent out in silver boxes that included plane tickets and rooms at a five-star hotel in Paris. A temporary wooden castle was constructed for the event, and festivities lasted five days. They even handed out gift bags filled with jewels.

3. Prince William and Kate Middleton spent about $34 million for their big day in 2012. The flowers alone cost a reported $800,000 and the cake comes in at $80,000. Like his mother’s wedding, William and Kate had their wedding televised to hundreds of millions around the world.

4. Wayne Rooney, an English soccer player,  and Coleen McLoughlin take fourth place with their $8 million wedding in 2008. Included in festivities was a masked ball on a $120-million yacht in Genoa and stays at a five-star hotel. The ceremony was at a 17^th century villa and the reception took guests to a medieval abbey near Portofino.

5. Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky got hitched in 2010 for about $5 million. The daughter of former President Bill Clinton and her investment banker husband spent about $600,000 to air condition tents and $11,000 on the cake. The bride wore a Vera Wang wedding gown and Oprah even attended the festivities.

A Lowcountry Plantation Wedding

I had the opportunity back in October to help Photos By JKay with this beautiful lowcountry wedding.

Cody & Megan are both from small town South Carolina and have such a big heart and have a love I’ve never seen before. They are the sweetest couple and I was so honored to be at the wedding. Adam Siegel with Siegel Films did such an amazing job with this highlight video! Be on the lookout for pictures from their big day… I’ll be sharing those when they are ready! Until then, enjoy!

Josh & Stee Say “I Do!”

What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?

Stee: Having a fiance’ in Afghanistan probably helped me the most in planning for the big day due to all the new free time I had. I was able to work on wedding stuff throughout the weeks and weekends when I would usually be spending time with my now new husband. I was able to spend large amounts of time researching everything from flowers to koozies.  I also had a great friend who helped me through the whole process as well. She was definitely the biggest help on my wedding day because she knew the end and outs of everything. She knew exactly what I wanted and how I wanted it, which made everything less stressful.

What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?

Stee: It’s hard to say the most important thing about choosing vendors, I can narrow it down to 3 things. Word of mouth helped me a lot in choosing my vendors. I asked my friends who they used, what they liked and disliked, and then researched them from myself. Professionalism was also very important. When I was calling around to meet with different florist, I ran into two that didn’t even return my call….very unprofessional. And the last thing, which could be the most important, was the connection I felt. All of my vendors were very down to earth and easy to talk to. I found that some almost became family during the planning, which made the planning go by very smoothly.

What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

Stee: Ultimately my favorite thing about my wedding was being with both my friends and family as well as my husband’s. I don’t think the opportunity will ever arise for us all to be together again, so I cherished this time of togetherness.

What is your best piece of advice for other brides?

Stee: The best piece of advice I could give to other brides would be to be organized. Buy one of those big binders and keep everything you can in it. Wedding planning is hectic, and I felt like this gave me some piece of mine. I felt very accomplished when I could check things off of my checklists.  Mine has dates of wedding shows I attended, vendors I liked, and pictures taken throughout the planning. It really turns out to be an amazing keepsake.

 

Stee & Josh Featured in “Carolina Bride”

I had the honor of helping coordinate  the wedding of my good friends, Stee & Josh.

They were married on May 5th in Lexington, South Carolina! Stee did the majority of the planning on her own while Josh was deployed with the National Guard overseas, serving our great country!

The newest issue of The State Newspaper’s “Carolina Bride” was published just last week and they featured my favorite newly weds! Here’s the article! I’ll be sure to feature them a little later on the blog, once I have some of my favorite pictures from their big day! So here’s a sneak peek!

Reality Show Couple Weds In The Lowcountry

Many of you know, my full time job is a news producer for a local news station in Charleston. Last week at work we got a press release from WIld Dunes, an oceanfront resort on the Isle of Palms! I knew after reading it, I had to share it with you guys.

Out of all the places in the world, two former contestants from the hit reality shows “The Bachelor” & “The Bachelorette” fell in love and decided to exchange their vows and get married in the Charleston-area!

On Saturday, May 5th, Peyton Wright and Chris Lambton were married in front of 200 of their closest family and friends.

The couple’s beach ceremony took place on the Resort’s Grand Pavilion overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  To help create that “beach chic” feel, Wright wore an exquisite strapless dress with a full ruffled skirt designed by Melissa Sweet.  Light and flowing and perfect for an ocean front ceremony. Lambton was dressed in a classic tan suit paired  with sneakers.

The wedding’s color palette was ivory, yellow and moss green with burlap accents. The bridesmaids wore short, yellow dresses designed by Lula Kate of Charleston. The flowers were a combination of whites, yellows and greens put together by Justin Wham. Similar to the groom, groomsmen wore tan suits complete with matching sneakers.

“Wild Dunes seemed like a natural choice for us,” said Wright. “I have such fond memories of vacationing here as a child with my family. Plus, it matched up well with our wish for a beach wedding, and provides the Southern charm and atmosphere we were looking for.”

On Friday, May 4, the bride and groom hosted a welcome party on Wild Dunes Resort’s picturesque, palm tree-lined croquet lawn for approximately 150 guests.

“They feasted on a traditional Southern spread complete with barbeque, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and caramel cake,” said Wild Dunes Resort’s Wedding Specialist and Catering Manager Samantha Martin. “Tiki torches, rocking chairs, burlap, lanterns, and croquet and bocce ball games added to the down-home ambiance.”

At Saturday’s wedding reception in the elegant Sweetgrass Pavilion Palms Ballroom, guests enjoyed Cinco de Mayo inspired sangria, shrimp and grits served in martini glasses, banana pudding shooters and a traditional wedding cake by local Ashley Bakery. The centerpieces consisted of low, square-cut vases filled with greenery, ivory peonies, and hydrangeas. Coastal hued white and tan lounge furniture flanked the dance floor for guests enjoying music from local band, Two Three Ways. Later into the night, the groom’s special request was honored with a celebratory specialty cocktail of butler-passed espresso martinis and the bride and groom departed through a shower of bubbles by golf cart.

Wright and Lambtom have decided to postpone their honeymoon until winter because they have a new show airing on HGTV this spring called “Going Yard.” The show debuts on Saturday, May 12, and will feature Wright, Lambton and their family as they transform rundown yards into landscaping masterpieces ideal for entertaining friends.

*Photos courtesy of Channing Johnson*

Real Weddings: Indiana Farm

Today I have a beautiful country wedding in eastern Indiana that was shot by Photos By JKay.  The combination of both rustic and vintage elements paired with a purple and apple green palette is so very beautiful- especially for the gorgeous working farm (Walhill Farms) where the reception took place.

Winter Wonderland Wedding

One of the first weddings I ever did Day-Of coordination for was that of my best friend.  Suzanne met Matt while working at a TV station in Jacksonville, Florida.  Suzanne is a producer (she writes the shows for the anchors to read) and Matt is a director (he works behind the scenes and punches the buttons to change between camera and video). The two are amazing together and are meant the live happily ever after.

My husband and I (left) with Matt & Suzanne (right)

 

The two chose the Hardeman-Sam House in Athens, Georgia (Suzanne is a UGA grad) and picked a winter wedding in December 2011. The house at that time of year is decorated and is beautiful with evergreens and holly.

The couple decided to have a small, intimate wedding in the backyard of the home. The decorations were simple yet elegant. 

After the ceremony, a sit down dinner was served inside the home from a local Italian restaurant. Instead of a traditional cake, the couple went with cupcakes from GiGi’s Cupcakes.  The night followed with the couple’s first dance as well as a dance for the bride’s father and a special slideshow for the groom’s mother.

Matt and Suzanne wrapped up the night with taking some photographs in downtown Athens as well as on the campus of the University of Georgia.

Here are just a few of my favorite photos from their special day.

 

Thanks Suzanne & Matt for letting me be a part of your "happily ever after!"

PPhoto Courtesy: Mark Parsons Photography

Hello From TLC Events!

It’s finally a dream come true. TLC Events is now a reality!

Thanks for visiting my website. My name is Chaunte’ Turner, owner of TLC Events. I live in the lowcountry of South Carolina, just outside of Charleston in the town of Summerville.

My profession: news producer for a local television station My passion: helping people plan the day of their dreams

I married my best friend on May 21, 2011 in Columbia, South Carolina.  It was truly the best day of my life. After putting so much effort in to my own day all by myself and loving every minute of it, I knew I wanted to help others do the same and make their dreams come true on their wedding day.

I have two different packages I am offering as well as numerous other services to help ease the stress of planning.  Any package can be customized to fit your needs. Click here to view our packages.

Please contact me if you have any questions or want to plan a meeting.

tlceventssc@gmail.com

Thanks and Happy Planning!