Cori & Anthony's Elegant, PASSIONATE Fall Wedding At The Historic Gadsden House Downtown Charleston
So the backstory on how we crossed paths with Cori and Anthony and filmed their wedding at The Gadsden House is maybe one of my favorites.
Last fall we were filming Amanda Paige and Damon’s eccentric, off-beat wedding soiree at The Gadsden House off historic East Bay Street in downtown Charleston, SC and a miracle happened. If you don’t know this about me, I have a minor (okay maybe major) obsession with the chandeliers in these amazing historic venues in downtown Charleston. The Gadsden House just so happens to have one of my favorite chandeliers of all time, and on Amanda Paige and Damon’s fall wedding day the stars aligned, the planetary alignment shifted in my favor - and we experienced my all time favorite chandelier EXPLODING AND EMITTING THOUSANDS OF RAINBOWS throughout the downstairs room at the Gadsden.
Cori & Anthony's Elegant, PASSIONATE Fall Wedding At The Historic Gadsden House Downtown Charleston, SC
Needless to say, I was absolutely losing it and overwhelmed by this phenomena, and naturally the next action Madeline and I took was looking like absolute idiots sharing this on our Instagram page.
“Oh, what’s that? Madeline’s got rainbows all over her forehead? OH! Well that’s because there’s an EXPLOSION OF RAINBOWS AT THE GADSDEN HOUSE RIGHT NOW.”
We tagged the Gadsden House (like the good social media millennial wizards we are), our ridiculous story was reposted on The Gadsden House’s feed, and Cori’s amazing mom, Vickie, saw our idiotic exploit about the rainbows, and thought, “Cori and Anthony are goofballs, too, they would totally get along with these girls.'“
And thus, we were contracted to film Cori and Anthony’s wedding day because we were acting like idiots on social media #StoryOfMyLife #DreamsDoComeTrue #AsIfINeededAnExcuseToContinueIncriminatingMyselfOnTheInterwebs
So that was our meet-cute story. But here’s why we’re obsessed with Cori and Anthony.
Cori and Anthony’s Legit, The-Notebook-Status Love Story (As Real As Real Gets.)
Y’all. Cori and Anthony have a legit — and I mean, LEGIT love story. It’s The Notebook status, I’m telling you.
How To Write AMAZING Wedding Vows Or Officiate An Amazing Wedding Ceremony
These two soulful humans met in college, went through the REAL LIFE ups and downs of maintaining a relationship through their twenties, separated, wooed one another, wrote each other SNAIL MAIL LOVE LETTERS, I’m talking Nicholas Sparks status. If you want a good freakin’ cry - watch their amazing ceremony. Cori’s family friend officiated and PERFECTLY documented their amazing, hilarious love story. Seriously! I don’t think I can recommend any one ceremony more than theirs for recommendations on how to write fantastic vows, or how to officiate an amazing wedding.
Click their wedding ceremony the The Gadsden House and see what I’m talking about. Best 25 minutes of your LIFE!
I think the thing I love the most about Cori and Anthony is they’re real, they’re raw, they’ve gone through some SERIOUS reality together and they know what they’re signing up for, and they know how to have one another’s backs.
Cori: A Chronic Chronicler - Bride Reads A Journal Entry During Her Wedding Vows
One of the best ideas I’ve seen in the midst of sharing your vows: Cori shared a journal entry.
I have never seen this at a wedding. Cori has kept a journal throughout her life. As a fellow chronic writer of all of the things in life, this made my jaw drop to the floor. Cori shared her musing after watching “P.S. I Love You” while Anthony was deployed, and reflecting on the parallel of the passion she saw in the movie and her and Anthony’s dynamic.
Standing behind the camera, hearing Cori’s thoughts reflected in such an intimate journal entry was such a gift to witness. There have been moments throughout my wedding filming career where you get a glance into a couples dynamic and there’s something that resonates so hard with you it stops you in your tracks. This was one of those moments.
“I’ll Always Be Coo-Coo For You.” Anthony’s Hilariously Sweet Wedding Vows On The Back Of A Cocoa Puffs Cereal Box
Between hearing Cori’s articulation of their love, and Anthony’s soulful musings written about his little cotton tale on the back of a Cocoa Puff’s cereal box “I’ll always be coo-coo for you.,” These two are the real deal, and were such a pleasure to tell this snapshot of a moment of their story.
I don’t normally add such big chunks of a couple’s vows into their highlight reel
Anthony is one of the boys in blue.
And so are all of his handsome groomsmen!! Hubba hubba!!
He’s worked in the armed forces, they’ve gone through deployments during the course of their past seven years together, and almost every day Anthony puts his life on the line in service of their community and our country.
Cori and Anthony know how to play hard, they know how to celebrate hard, and so do their friends.
How To Make Sure You Bridal Party Has A Great Time On Your Wedding Day: Ice ‘Em
Can I just say Cori, Anthony and their wedding crew know how to party? Cori and Anthony surprised their wedding party half way through the wedding reception with a seemingly harmless gift in a tall gift bag. You know, a classic, “I’m so thankful you are in our lives and here to celebrate our wedding day with us!” Sort of gesture.
No.
Cori and Anthony’s 16 closest friends opened up the unsuspecting gift bags placed on their table settings to reveal INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED SMIRNOFF ICE.
That’s right. Even on their wedding day, in the midst of a lovely wedding reception, Cori and Anthony kept up their ridiculous trend that they can’t seem to escape in their friend group of getting ICED.
Down on one knee they went; in their suits and swanky rose and champagne colored dresses; chugging those fateful Smirnoff Ice’s. It doesn’t get any classier than that.
And also for the record, the girls smoked the boys on their Ice game.
Salsa Dancing During The Wedding Reception For The First Time Since COVID-19
There are very few things that will ever entice me to leave my post behind a video camera during a wedding reception. Salsa dancing— is, however, one of those things. (And relax, Madeline is still holding down the fort with her camera documenting all of the things, don’t you worry.)
Anthony’s family knows how to SALSA! In addition to the WAP, the dougie, singing every word of Backstreet Boys, Anthony’s family knows the rhythms of SALSA and once the formalities were finished — they hit the dance floor! I had the best time sneaking in a dance or two with Chris, Anthony’s twin brother. It was the first time I had the opportunity to partner dance since COVID-19 and was it worth the risk? Oh, you know it. :) I always love pulling a little Stan Lee vibe as a director and dropping in a half second cameo of one of us in the edit, I threw in a mini clip from a dip Madeline documented during one of the dances. That was one of the greatest treats of 2020 was having the opportunity to salsa!
Cori and Anthony’s wedding day was one of our favorites of 2020. Their family, their friends, our amazing line up of wedding friendors who made this day happen — it was all nothing short of magical.
Vickie — I’m so glad you found us that day geeking out about chandeliers and rainbows on Instagram at the Gadsden House!~ :) Cori and Anthony — We love you and your families!