Stephanie & Nathan

Today fall in love with this super cute couple, Stephanie and Nathan, just like we did in the months of planning before their wedding day this past June. These two just sparkled inside and out!  Spencer Special Events was so honored to be a part of their day.  From the beautiful styling of Stephanie's dress, delicious selection of food, tremendous cake and dessert options, divine floral arrangements, soft drapery and beautiful venue at The Omni Resort on Hilton Head Island, this wedding was both personal and reflective of the couple getting married.

We sat down with Stephanie to ask her some questions about how she and Nathan met, their design inspiration, and plenty more to share with our readers. Thanks to Hopkins Studios for beautiful photography of this sweet couples big day!

1. How did you and Nathan meet?  Nathan and I first met in 2007 while we were freshmen at West Virginia University through mutual friends. We actually both grew up in the same hometown but our paths never crossed until then! Nathan and I attended different schools (rival high schools) until we both started at WVU. We found that we had similar interests and really enjoyed being around each other. In the summer of 2008, Nathan finally asked me to go to dinner with him. After that the rest is history! We dated for four years before we got engaged in March 2012 in the beautiful Dominican Republic. From that moment on the wedding planning started (and continued) for the next two years.

2. Why did you choose Hilton Head Island to get married? We chose to get married in Hilton Head because we really loved the beautiful environment of the island. We both love the beach and found it to be a perfect place to have our wedding. We also wanted our guests to enjoy themselves and make a family vacation out of it. Nathan and I actually vacationed in Hilton Head in 2009 with my parents. This was our first vacation together. Little did we know that 5 years later we would be saying “I Do” on the island!

3. Why The Omni Resort Shorehouse for your ceremony and reception? Nathan and I really fell in love with the beautiful scenery surrounding the Shorehouse. The backdrop of the beach is stunning. The Shorehouse had everything that we wanted in a venue. We were able to have both the ceremony and reception in the same location. It was a part of the Omni Resort but still secluded enough that you were separate from the other guests. Alison Ward, the catering manager, was amazing and had several years of experience at the Omni. The Shorehouse as well as the entire Omni Resort was a wonderful place to have our wedding.

4. Where did you draw your inspiration for the wedding design? Like the majority of modern brides, I found my inspiration from sites such as Pinterest and The Knot. After looking at the wedding board that I had created on Pinterest, I discovered that I pinned a lot of deep purple and gray. That is when I realized that I was drawn to those colors without really even knowing. The color palate was so beautiful that we decided to choose those colors for our wedding. The vibe that I was going for was definitely romantic. One of the designs that I really wanted was to incorporate white draping into the space. I really wanted to create that soft, romantic look with white drapes that would catch some of the ocean breeze coming up to the Shorehouse. I also loved the idea of having tall candle lanterns to add to that romantic feel.

5. Tell us about that gown and the bridal attire! I found my wedding gown at Exquisite Bride in Murrysville, PA. It was the first and only bridal salon that I went to. My mother and grandmother were with me. It was special for me to have my grandmother there as she used to own her own bridal salon. My wedding gown was the third one that I tried on. It was a beautiful sweetheart strapless Maggie Sottero A-line gown made out of Paris chiffon with a stunning Swarovski crystal beaded belt and a corset back closure.

6. What was the most important thing for you on your wedding day?  It was really important to us to create a relaxing and fun environment for our guests. We wanted them to really enjoy themselves while they were being a part of our day. It was important to us to have great food as well as great music to create that perfect environment for our reception.

7. Tell us about your food! Our food was amazing! We wanted our guests to have a variety of different options to choose from. We went with stations for our reception for that reason. For cocktail hour we provided a selection of chef’s canapés that included a selection of brie and strawberry, roasted vegetables on baguette, smoked salmon on pumpernickel, curry chicken salad in phyllo, crab salad on cucumber round, and blackened filet with horseradish on crouton. We also had black eyed pea hummus and Carolina crab and crawfish dip severed with crostino and pita. There was a chilled jumbo shrimp display as well as a fresh fruit display. We had a signature cocktail served during this time called “Almost Heaven” topped with edible orchids. For our reception we did a plated salad and then had different stations. There was a carving station which had honey whiskey glazed beef tenderloin with roasted potatoes. We also had a pasta station where guests could choose from penne and bowtie pasta accompanied by grilled chicken, prosciutto ham, and a variety of different vegetables with marinara and pesto cream sauces. Our last station was a pan seared jumbo lump crab cake station where there was a chef preparing the crab cakes right there. For dessert we had miniature desserts which including key lime pie squares, tiramisu in shot glasses, pecan squares, and mini cheesecakes. Our guests could enjoy a variety of cocktails throughout the reception. Our wedding cake was made by the talented Minette Rushing with Custom Cakes. She created a beautiful three tiered cake with different flavors for each tier. The bottom tier consisted of a vanilla bean cake with strawberry filling. We chose a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream for the second tier. The top tier was carrot cake with cream cheese.

8. Where did you honeymoon? We honeymooned for a week in the gorgeous Riviera Maya at Secrets Maroma all-inclusive resort. We enjoyed a honeymoon package in a preferred club swim-out suit. It was a perfect ending to an amazing wedding!

We SO enjoyed working with Stephanie, Nathan and their sweet families and feel so blessed to have been a part of their day!