Lindsay + Giles' Modern Southern Wedding at 701 Whaley

Spring blossoms climbing up a rustic banister, fried green tomatoes, a bluegrass band and a kayak proposal are just a few of the reasons we love Lindsay + Giles’ charming and rustic South Carolina wedding. The ceremony and reception took place at 701 Whaley, a popular event space with a long history in the community. The space was transformed with lush hanging floral installations and floods of natural light.

We asked Lindsay to tell us about meeting Giles, planning the perfect day and bringing friends and family together from Mississippi and Texas. The day was captured beautifully by Landon Jacob Photography.

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Tell us about meeting Giles.

Giles and I were set up by a mutual friend while living in Nashville, TN. She knew of our shared love of great music and being outdoors, so she knew we would be a good match. Giles and his friends had weekly Sunday night dinner which I was invited to one night. It was actually at his apartment. Following the dinner, our mutual friend organized the group to go see “The Muppets Movie” later that week. Conveniently everyone in the group cancelled (probably because it is The Muppets and we were almost 30 haha) so it was only Giles and I. We left halfway through the movie and went to a bar for dinner and a drink. We talked all night and have spent almost every day together since.

Music seemed to play a major role in your wedding, not just as a background for dancing, can you talk about the significance and how you incorporated that element?

We absolutely love live music. And we especially LOVE bluegrass music. One of our favorite bands, which we’ve seen so many times and traveled many miles to see, is The Hackensaw Boys. It had always been a joke that we were going to have the Hackensaw Boys play at our wedding. Once we finally got engaged, we decided to see if we could make this little joke into a reality. After a little Google-ing, I got in touch with The Hackensaw Boys’ booking manager. To our complete surprise, they agreed to play a private event. Since we hadn’t set a date, we booked our wedding around when the Hackensaw Boys were available to play. We debated on having them play at the reception, but decided having an after- party was the best idea.The wedding and reception were over, so at the after-party we really got to let loose and enjoy having a private show by our favorite band. It still feels like a dream thinking back on it!!

Tell us about finding your dress.

When my sister, Beth, got married in 2013, my mother and I traveled to DC (where my sister lives) to go wedding dress shopping. I wanted to share the same experience with them. So we traveled to DC and went to many of the same bridal salons. On the second day of shopping, we went to a boutique that my sister’s best friend, who is like a sister to me, got her wedding dress.

Mom knew instantly when I found my dress because I started swaying and spinning like I was dancing. It was the perfect dress because it was whimsical but classic and most importantly...did not require lots of squats to fit into! Since we found the dress so easily, we had some extra time for the weekend in DC. Beth somehow convinced me to get glitter Kate Spade shoes. I have never owned anything like these shoes and they are not typically my style. I figured you are only a bride once, so what the heck, you might as wear gold glitter shoes!

Were there any family traditions you incorporated into your wedding or reception?

I recycled a lot of things from my sister's wedding like the veil, champagne glasses and cake cutter. I even reused her table numbers and picture frames. The one tradition I kept was making sure my Dad not see my dress until the wedding day. I have one memory that always sticks in my mind. It was when my Dad first saw me in my wedding dress. My family means the world to me and having the moment with my Dad was so special. I had accidentally sent him a picture of the wedding dress and he was very upset that the surprise might be ruined. (My mom caught the email before he saw it!) Those were probably the hardest tears to hold back. I’ll always be his little girl but he looked so happy for Giles and I to start our new life together.

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How did Giles propose?

Giles proposed in August of 2013. One Saturday we decided to go kayaking on a lake just outside of Columbia, SC. When we kayak, we take both of our dogs, Hogan, an old beagle and Banjo, a yellow lab puppy. We paddled to one of the many small islands on the lake to let the dogs swim. Giles asked me to turn around because he had a surprise for me. The whole time I thought he had gotten some new toy for the dogs (I kept thinking, did he really buy an inflatable kayak for the dogs?!). But when I turned around, he was on one knee holding a ring box. He had a blanket laid out with champagne and candles. Plus he had both dogs on each side dressed in their finest clothes–Banjo had on a pink princess dress and Hogan had on a bowtie. Of course I said yes! We drank champagne, swam with the dogs in the lake, and then paddled back to call our family and friends.

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What was your wedding vision?

Honestly, we had a completely open mind. The only thing we wanted was to get married and share the experience with family and friends. The details didn’t matter to us. 50 years from now, we won’t care what color the linens were or the flavor of the cake. What really mattered to us was starting a life together and having the opportunity to share that with family and friends. Since we did have to make some decisions, we told our wedding planner a few things we liked and she ran with it! We wanted to create a romantic, super fun evening. Nothing too stuffy while still creating a special event to honor the occasion.

Our family and friends are scattered throughout the US, so we figured whatever city we decided to have the wedding in, the majority of our guests would have to travel. Many of the guests had never been to Columbia, SC so wanted to stay as southern as possible. We decided to keep it thus, having a low-country boil for the rehearsal dinner, and things like fried green tomatoes and deep-fried catfish at the reception.

We love to drink craft beer so we wanted to feature that at our wedding. Giles’ favorite beer is from a local brewery in Nashville, TN. Since it was the city we met and fell in love in, we definitely had to have it at the wedding.The only problem was they do not sell Yazoo in South Carolina. And it is illegal to ship across state lines. So to solve this problem, we ordered a keg of Yazoo’s Pale Ale and had a friend bring it with her from Nashville. Not only was it fun to feature Giles’ favorite beer, but also to share a Nashville favorite in South Carolina.

The artistry of softening the hard lines of the warehouse space so delicately with hanging florals, a wall of paper flowers and a perfect spring color palette was done so well! Tell us about how all this came together.

Since moving to Columbia, whenever we have out of town visitors it always rains. Literally always. We really wanted an outdoor wedding but since we were cursed and all of our guests would be traveling from out of town, we would bring the garden inside! Fern Studios is absolute genius! The overflowing centerpieces in vintage boxes to the ladder overflowing with greens, the reception felt like being in a garden. I told Sarah, owner of Fern Studios, to design whatever she wanted and to be as creative as possible, and it was the best decision ever. After all, she is the professional so I wanted her creativeness to run wild. To complete the look, Meagan Warren, my wedding planner, suggested we use farm tables and vintage china. To top it off, we rented vintage furniture from 428 Main in Charleston. It was my big splurge and it was worth it! I took all of Meagan’s suggestions and let her run with her imagination! Best lesson I learned is to find vendors with similar styles, take their advice, and let them be creative!

Advice to future brides?

If you select the right vendors with similar taste, let them use their creativity! After all they are the professionals! This makes the process so easy and more enjoyable!

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The natural lighting in the daytime photos is incredible- tell us about the venue and why you chose it.

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The natural lighting is definitely a result of Landon Jacob’s incredible photography skills! They use mostly film which I think creates images that are light and often ethereal. We chose the venue because it is such a blank canvas. It is a huge space and thankfully, the venue gives (pretty much) free rein on your event design. We hung café lighting and had loose, overflowing floral designs to soften the space. The building is an old warehouse and they kept a lot of original details, like the staircase. I think that helped in the overall rustic-style of the wedding.