Ali & Quinn's Charleston-Chic Summer Wedding @ Runnymede Plantation
Ali & Quinn’s Charleston-Chic Summer Wedding @ Runnymede Plantation In Charleston, South Carolina
Okay, Let me tell you why this was the best wedding in the entire universe. I’ve got two names for you: Ali. And Quinn.
I don’t think we’ve filmed a more charismatic, sweet pair of human beings than these two. It was love at first phone call chatting with Quinn over a year ago. It’s almost rare these days we get to film two Charleston locals— but we had a home-court advantage working with this power couple.
5 years into dating, these two met through mutual friends. In reviewing my notes from our first phone call, I loved how Quinn described their relationship:
“We’re always on the same page when it comes to a sense of adventure while balancing our social lives and the professional side of things.”
Literally the definition of a power couple. These two are — or well, I should say WERE travel addicts pre-COVID-19 (ha!) — exploring Europe together last Summer, Quinn popped the question in Montenegro.
The Best Good Boy, Brady: He Stole All Our Hearts
Brady: The Best Good Boy With His Parents.
Let me introduce you to the most well-behaved, good boy around — Brady. Brady is there three-year-old Golden Retriever, who was nothing but smiles and tail wags throughout the day. I wish I could show you how many failed pet-included family portraits we’ve filmed — I’m talkin’ ripped veiled, strained dresses, red slash marks down the arms— Brady PAWS-DOWN won the Best Of for the most well-behaved dog we’ve ever seen work a photo shoot OF ALL TIME (He passes all the Good Dog criteria from our podcast episode, “It’s Not Your Dog - It’s You,” with professional dog trainer, Shannon Wooten.)
Brady — if you’re reading this — if you’d like to have a career in good dog modeling, please give us a call.
The Wonder Of A Blank Canvas (And A Thousand-Year-Old Oak Tree…NBD)— Why Runnymede Plantation Is The Perfect Historic Wedding Venue In Charleston
When we had our girl Haley Kelly on our podcast this past fall, I asked her about some of the top wedding venues in Charleston from a wedding planner and event design perspective, she immediately mentioned Runnymede Plantation— describing it as:
“Runnymede is the ultimate blank canvas for couples to build out their wedding day vision. ”
She couldn’t be more spot on. Haley and her team absolutely transformed Runnymede’s grounds for Ali and Quinn’s wedding day in a way that was nothing short of chic magic.
For my history buffs out there or any out-of-towners — Here are some amazing history tidbits and context for these historal grounds (courtesy of Events At Runnymede’s website)
RUNNYMEDE GROUNDS
This charming, private property lies between Magnolia and Middleton Plantations in St. Andrew's parish. Like those gardens, Runnymede can be accessed from Ashley River Road. Your guests' experience begins as soon as they enter through the iron gates, down a proper, picturesque dirt path surrounded by a canopy of centuries-old trees, twisting vines, and Spanish moss. At the road's end, the forest opens up to reveal a vast meadow displaying pristine lawns and punctuated with magnolia trees and an oak tree so large it is a sight upon itself. Beyond the meadow, an unobstructed view of the Ashley River, lazily floating by provides the perfect backdrop for any event. The rich, Southern history is apparent through the brick ruins of the old Victorian style Plantation house, creating a romantic mystique, intensified as the night falls and the dramatic landscape lighting is cued.
RUNNYMEDE HISTORY
Runnymede has a rich history, much like Charleston itself. The original land grant of 300 acres was made to John Cattell in 1705. In the year of 1777, the property was conveyed to Abraham Ladson, and parts of the tract were eventually sold to Nathaniel Fuller and Glenn Drayton. At the time of Ladson’s death, the remaining land was conveyed to Lambert Lance and later to John Julius Pringle, son of Robert Pringle. Runnymede was first known as “Greenville” and later as “Sarah Place” in honor of Pringle’s wife Sarah. When Pringle had taken possession of the property, a fire had claimed the original mansion. Once the new mansion was built on the property, the plantation was dubbed Runnymede due to its similarity to Runnymede in England. Both properties have a great oak in the center of the yard while their meadows open up flowing rivers.
After Pringle’s death in 1841, the property passed to his son William Bull Pringle who later sold his portion of the Runnymede property. Charles C. Pinckney purchased Runnymede from Pringle and mined phosphate off of the naturally occurring deposits that were scattered about the land. In 1865 the mansion built by Pringle was set on fire and destroyed by the Union Troops during the Civil War. Pinckney then rebuilt a third home which is rumored to be one of the only country style Victorian homes in the Lowcountry. The Runnymede property remained in the Pinckney family and withstood the ravages of Hurricane Hugo. In 1995 Floyd and Shirley Whitfield purchased Runnymede from the Pinckney family. Unfortunately, in 2002, a familiar fate was bestowed on the mansion built by Charles C. Pinckney. A fire of mysterious causes ravaged the old mansion, leaving only a few recognizable objects such as a two- story brick chimney from the kitchen house and a bell inscribed with the date of 1704. To this date, Runnymede has persevered through war, fire and natural disasters. Each time the property has been challenged, it responds through maintaining its original beauty and charm. The woods are flourishing and the grass is lush and green.
The magnificent oak which dates back more than a thousand years remains in the center of the Runnymede property and surely will stand for years to come.
You can see the thousand-year-old Oak Tree in the establishing shots of the Runnymede grounds in Ali and Quinn’s wedding video— I’m all about setting up a good pan to convey the magnificence of this beautiful tree. Ali and Quinn had the most fairy-tale intimate dinner beneath this ancient tree at a table set for two and were married underneath another gorgeous oak adjacent to the Ashley River.
COVID-19 Approved Outdoor Wedding Ceremony Seating Arrangement: Brilliant!
Haley and her team did a phenomenal job creating a COVID-19 social distancing compliant ceremony seating pattern. As you’ll see in the video — seats were spaced out in groups of 2-4, with multiple aisles. From a filming perspective, we LOVED this because there were so many more windows that guests can see the procession without fighting for a clear line of sight, no matter where you’re sitting, which for us is a wedding videographer’s dream!
The COOLEST Mother-Son Dance Turned Family Dance With A COVID-19-Approved Special Guest Appearance!
You know how we feel about dancing footage; we’re obsessed. Quinn and his mother’s first dance took the CAKE as one of the sweetest first dances turned family dances we’ve ever seen.
What started out as a playful, vibrant first dance together exploded into the coolest family dance — Quinn’s mother inviting his siblings onto the dance floor where Quinn’s sister brought along with her a SPECIAL GUEST — their grandfather on FACETIME!!! How incredible and what a thoughtful idea to include their grandparent to virtually enjoy the first dance with his grandson, as he couldn’t make it due to COVID-19. Well done, y’all!! Such a fantastic move in this COVID-19 Wedding era!!
&& We Had The Best Dang Line Up Of Wedding Vendors. Ever.
Flawlessly creating a 200-person event with 15+ different vendors is no easy feat on the best of days. Now throw in a rescheduled date to one of the hottest months of the year and a big ole dose of COVID-19 pandemonium and social protocol in the mix.
Every one of our wedding vendor partners provided nothing but the absolute best in terms of term work and extraordinary execution of their services. Here’s the line up — I gotta brag about these guys and gals for a second:
HALEY KELLY EVENTS // Wedding Planner
We just love her so much. One of our all-time favorite industry-besties, Haley Kelly and her powerhouse crew at Haley Kelly Events orchestrated the most magnificent reschedule, timeline, details, the whole dang thing — looking out for guests and vendors alike — these girls made this day absolutely flawless.
VEIL CHARLESTON // The Draping Queens
Their headline is: “Demonstrating The Power Of The Pleat.” …Are you in love with them yet?!! The GORGEOUS draping by girlbosses Moriah and Tiffany over at Veil Charleston created the most stunning first impression of this incredible reception area. I watched these girls work for HOURS creating that amazing entryway. Their fabric wizardry completely transformed the aesthetic to this airy, cozy room you can’t wait to be in.
TECHNICAL EVENT COMPANY // Lighting + Sound
Ohh these guys are a (videographer) girl’s best friend. Patrick, with the Technical Event Company, spoke our love language with stunning uplighting to highlight and bring the reception and ceremony spaces to life. He’s an absolute pleasure to work alongside, had our backs with running our backup for ceremony sound, and all his insane ladder-work and the millions of details he had on his to-do list made this wedding extraordinary.
CRU CATERING // OH… The Food And Drink.
These guys are top-notch!! Catering in the COVID-19 era and making sure guests are taken care of in a safe way is not easy! The Cru Catering + Cru Bar team handled everything flawlessly - from making sure plates were safely handed off to the right people, not cross-contaminating, the whole nine yards — they always serve a magnificent feast and executive so well. I can’t recommend Cru Catering enough!
JUNIPER AND JASMINE // Floral Design
Caroline and her team do such a phenomenal job. It isn’t easy working with flowers in one of the hottest times of the year — and these girls did a seamless job.
ABCD CAKES // The Cake!
These guys are wizards when it comes to fondant and icing. Holy. Freakin’. Smokes!! The cake was SO good and so stunning!!
WILD IVORY // Hair And Makeup
Brittany and her team are amazing. These girls have the best philosophy— that makeup should enhance your natural beauty, not mask it. Obviously, Ali looked BEYOND gorgeous on this day, the team over at Wild Ivory supported Ali looking and feeling her best!
ATLANTA SHOW STOPPERS // Wedding Band
This crew was an absolute RIOT!! Talk about a band who knows how to facilitate a phenomenal party!! Rarely do you see a wedding band with such stage performance and charisma be able to match it in technical ability — something probably only a videographer cares about — but their sound engineering was phenomenal, and as you can hear from the first dances, their caliber of performance was impeccable! Thanks for putting on such a great show!!
GIDEON PHOTOGRAPHY // Wedding Photographer
Jimmy is such a blast to work alongside, and the man knows his stuff! He spoke our love language with backlighting, supplying some phenomenal LED lights that made those first dances absolutely pop, and I think we owe that phenomenal sparkler send-off footage to him and his mastermind set up with his lighting! Thank you, Jimmy!! We can’t wait to see the photos!!
PRAIRIE AND SAGE // Boutique Paper Goods, Stationary, And Letter Press
Alright for all my dainty detail lovers out there— Prairie and Sage did the most incredible work with the stationary and invitations for Ali and Quinn’s day. That calligraphy made me weak in the knees!!
SNYDER EVENT RENTALS + OUT OF HAND EVENTS (Ooh! Events) // RENTALS
Two powerhouses supplied the incredible furniture && magnificent touches that made the feel of the reception so beautiful!!
NATURE’S CALLING, INC. // GLORIOUS AIR-CONDITIONED BATHROOM RENTALS
&& probably the most overlooked and under-appreciated — I’m not going to lie, myself and several other vendors found sanctuary in your gloriously cool and immaculate bathrooms. Seriously a godsend!!
CAROLINA EXECUTIVE LIMO // Bus Transportation
Who can complain about amazing air-conditioned busses that get guests and the wedding party exactly where they need to be? Absolutely seamless!
Alright, the moment we’ve all been waiting for —
Ali + Quinn’s Wedding Day Video
(And oh my goodness, for the love of everything video - be sure to make sure you select “1080 HD / HIGH QUALITY” to fully relive this beautiful day!)
Congratulations, Ali and Quinn! We wish you guys nothing but the absolute best!!! You can check out the full collection below to see the full ceremony and first dances!