What a trip! I recently had the opportunity to see one of my friends get married at the breathtaking community of Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, South Carolina.
Courtney (right) and I met in Kindergarten at St. Paul's Plus and spent a lot of our high school nights together, running around Baltimore County and listening to Slightly Stoopid. After 20 years of friendship, it was surreal to be part of celebrating her marriage to an amazing guy named Jeff (left).
To help kick off the destination wedding weekend, my mom hosted a beautiful luncheon at Courtney's family home on Hilton Head Island, which is a Southern tradition where the bridesmaids relax and snack together before the wedding.
As you can see, no one decorates a table like my mom! My parents drove to Hilton Head Island from their winter home in Vero Beach, so my mom even packed her favorite platters and serving utensils. We had mimosas, cupcakes, croissants, bourbon pecan bars, smoked salmon and all the toppings. I could live on smoked salmon, crostini and capers. Mom put a lot of care and attention into each treat, each flower and each handwritten sign.
As a big surprise, Courtney lovingly gifted each of us a pair of beautiful Kate Spade earrings, petite totes, monogrammed champagne glass, and a navy monogrammed robe for helping support her throughout the wedding process.
Aside from experiencing an unforgettable weekend at Palmetto Bluff, I'll always cherish the quality time I spent with my parents leading up to the wedding. Now that I live on the West Coast, I try even harder to make the most of our time together.
My parents and I grabbed bikes and mosied around the stunning property at Palmetto Bluff, where we stayed. It's easy to slip into the Southern summer scene and enjoy the beautiful landscape. The dangling moss was just as dreamy and lazy as you'd hope it to be. And yes, I drank sweet tea.
The funniest part of the afternoon was that the bikes...weren't actually ours. We didn't realize that the bikes parked lazily all around the property had tiny license plates with guests' room numbers who had paid $20 or so an hour to ride them.
Oops. We rode for hours and had no idea until a concierge gently let us know that these bikes were accounted for.
When the wedding day arrived, Courtney couldn't have been more'a Southern Belle from her hoop skirt to her chignon that remained intact throughout the afternoon. This is one of my favorite moments of she and one of her puppies getting ready.
The weather was perfect, the appetizers delicious, and the only thing missing of course, was a dance with my own new husband. Josh was working hard throughout the weekend at VidCon 2017 in Anaheim.
Spending time with my parents over the weekend was memorable for a lot of reasons - one being that I learned my dad's 4:00 am alarm for the gym is a David Bowie song. It went off every morning and we laughed until dad found his phone to turn it off. My mom and I also spent respite in our room's air conditioning, laid out on the bed like teenagers, looking at wedding photos together and recalling fun details from Josh and my day.
Georgia and South Carolina are quite different from California. It was a fun experience to transport for the weekend, but as they say, there's no place like home.
To all those who adventure unabashedly,
Ashley