Elizabeth and Brantley’s enchanted wedding day

Sometimes your wedding day goes exactly as planned. And sometimes a tropical storm comes through and changes everything about the entire day. That is exactly what happened for Elizabeth and Brantley, but they could not have been better about rolling with the punches and having what turned out to be the most beautiful wedding!

Wilmington Plantation has a pretty cool backstory. It is far from a plantation in the historical sense of the word, though it provides sprawling acreage and a gorgeous 1920’s building. It was first built by and for the mob. Yup! the mob. The ballroom they now use as the event venue was used for their events, dinners, exclusive parties, etc. The apartments are now reopened to tenants but were once the rooms for mob members when they came to town. It is still a gated community, right on the water, which creates the perfect - and private - backdrop for a wedding.

While Elizabeth had her heart set on a ceremony under the live oak right along the water’s edge, Mother Nature had other plans. We were able to use the gorgeous ballroom for both ceremony and reception, with a last minute room flip that saved the day. A little bit of rain - ok, a lot of rain - didn’t get these love birds down, and their day turned out to be just gorgeous all around!

Some fun facts - Elizabeth made the book inspired seating chart, her father handmade the wooden bars, and Brantley’s mother baked both the classic tiered cake as well as the groom’s cake. I also did a bit of custom work to her reception dress - what began as a simpler strapless dress became a one of a kind showstopper with cap sleeves created from a mix of modern and vintage French lace. You may also catch a glimpse of me in one of the photos below - I always give my couples a quick lesson on their cake cutting before they slice into it. I wish I could remember what we were saying in that moment. These guys were just completely, all around fun to work with!