Charleston Loft Wedding

Located in Charleston’s Cigar Factory, The Cedar Room is an open, airy space with rustic brick and floor to ceiling windows, and its open canvas created a stunning backdrop for Melissa and Ian’s reception! The couple worked with Pure Luxe Bride to design a romantic soiree with glimmering metallic touches and pastel garden-style centerpieces created by Branch Design Studio. Ian proposed to Melissa at Disney World, so subtle Disney elements, such as the castle on their table numbers, were sprinkled throughout. The overall effect is magical and we’re head over heels for the images by Catherine Ann Photography!

Brides Accessories
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Mint Bridesmaids Dresses
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Bride in Lace and Tulle Ballgown
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Charleston Wedding at The Cedar Room
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Brick Loft Wedding Reception
Pink Purple and Green Centerpiece
Gold and Green Loft Wedding Reception
Gold and Green Brick Loft Wedding
Purple and Pink Garden Centerpiece
Wedding in Brick Loft
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Gray and Gold Wedding Lounge Area

In their own words

How did you meet?
Being friends of mutual friends we met at the pool one day for a cookout. Later we talked at our local watering hole (Kickin’ Chicken) and there we both learned we had many things in common from places we have traveled and a mutual love for Tattooed Moose. It was fitting we have our first date at the Moose!

What is your proposal story?
Ian had an elaborate plan to surprise me in Disney World! My mom was in on the plan and I still can’t believe she did not slip up and tell me. On the last day of my trip to Disney, Ian appears during the firework show in front of the castle. My mom was trying to force me into seeing the show a second time on the trip so I was grumpy, but once Ian appeared I found out why she was so persistent!

What was the most important to the two of you while planning? Was there anything that you chose to splurge on or skip?
We wanted to make sure we had a great band to keep everyone dancing. This worked! Our planners were even worried some of our guest weren’t going to eat because everyone was up having fun dancing! The food was a splurge too because we wanted to make sure everyone did not leave disappointed. I am still getting complements about how great the beef tenderloin was at our wedding. Our final splurge was on the flowers which helped create the fairytale feeling at our reception. I was happy that we were able to donate the centerpieces to a fundraiser event happening at our venue so the flowers could be enjoyed by others! The only thing I feel we skipped out on was other dessert options besides our cake at the wedding.

What were your favorite parts of the day?
We loved our surprise rooftop sunset photo shoot! We did not even know the Cedar Room had a rooftop. Ian and I did not expect it and it was beautiful overlooking the bridge at sunset. We have amazing photos of that moment we can cherish forever. We loved walking into our reception venue before all the guest were there to see how beautiful it had become. Our first dance was beautiful and the band made it even better because they were awesome! The same day edit video might have been our favorite part of the entire night.

Did you include any family heirlooms or special traditions?
Family heirlooms included Melissa’s great grandmothers earrings, handkerchief and garter. Some special traditions we included were the wedding party running into the South Carolina Gamecocks foot ball song “Sandstorm” and finishing the wedding with the West Virginia University song “Country Roads”. Ian also wore WVU cufflinks along with his groomsmen from college. The other grooms wore their favorite teams’ cufflinks as well.

Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?
We really liked the fact that The Cedar Room and Mercantile and Mash did a lot of things in-house. It really took some of the stress off of planning everything since they covered the food, bar, cake, tables, chairs, place settings, and venue. Pure Luxe Bride did a great job helping us with our fairytale wedding vision and making it come to life. They also helped find all our amazing vendors. Our advice would be try and find a venue that has a lot of things included so you can spend money elsewhere! We also got a photographer and videographer that were friends with each other and you could tell because they worked so well together which just made the day run smoother. Hire people you like on a personal level because you are going to be spending your day with them. It just makes everything so much better.

Event Credits

Ceremony VenueSt. Luke’s Chapel
Reception VenueThe Cedar Room
Wedding PlanningPure Luxe Bride
Wedding CakeMercantile & Mash
Groom’s AttireMen’s Wearhouse
Bride’s ShoesTOMS
Bridesmaids DressesBill Levkoff