Sunday, May 19, 1:28 am

PVII CSS Express Drop-Down Menu

Beaufort Beauty

click any of the photos below to start the slideshow

Ashleigh Volland & Matthew Whitmore; October 11, 2008, Parish Church of St. Helena & Beaufort Waterfront Park

Ashleigh enlisted the help of her family to decorate galvanized buckets with ribbon and then fill them with candied walnuts and handmade soap (in muslin bags). She also included a map stamped with her new monogram, which she used throughout the wedding.

Hilton Head Island’s Branches Florals created a wire frame of a butterfly, covered it with moss, and used thistle as an accent. To get this look, cover a wire frame with durable kraft paper and use a hot glue gun to glue on moss. Then, accent with blooms that coordinate with the rest of your wedding florals.

Enlist your bridesmaids to help create programs. To get this look, use cardstock for the cover and résumé paper for the inside pages. Punch two holes at the fold and tie with a coordinating ribbon. Tip: Explore sites like www.dafont.com to create a font that’s uniquely yours.

Hilton Head’s Branches Floral framed pale pink and ivory garden roses with thistle.

“Every leading lady—my mother, grandmother, stepmother, and my new mother-in-law—at our wedding had one of these pins,” says Ashleigh. “Instead of corsages, I wanted to honor them with these Irish knot pins that mimic the rings that all of the women on my side of the family wear.”

Matthew and his groomsmen wore palmetto boutonnieres as a nod to the Lowcountry that he and Ashley call home.

Buy a pre-made wreath of broad foliage and accent with sprigs of your wedding florals like Branches Florals did here with thistle, twigs, and berry sprigs.

Wrap sturdy floral wire around a teardrop vase, like this one, to hang it from church pews. Cover the floral wire with ribbon and let the ends hang. Tip: Fill vase with water so your blooms don’t wilt.

Instead of a traditional guestbook, Ashleigh and Matt rounded up corks from their home, which guests signed and the couple later made into a bulletin board.

Ashleigh, an event coordinator herself, knows the key is to always be prepared, which came in handy when the showers began.

“Our close-knit family and friends all took a role, from bringing ice to the reception to decorating.”—Ashleigh Whitmore

An outdoor location always calls for a rain plan. Lucky for Ashleigh, when it sprinkled during her October reception, guests simply stepped under the covered pavilion at Beaufort’s Waterfront Park

Hearty blooms like hydrangeas can fill a container with a single bloom, good for gals on a budget. Accent with twigs or sprigs of berries to up the wow-factor. Bonus? Your guests will still be able to see each other across the table.

Don’t deny your favorite foods a spot on your wedding platter. Ashleigh had The Downtown Catering Company in Bluffton make these bite-sized crowd-pleasers to suit the hors d’ouevres style meal.

Matthew loves burgers, so Bluffton’s The Downtown Catering Company made these mini sliders. Tip: Ask family and friends to make these familiar foods, and your guests will be just as happy with their meals as you are with your bottom line.

Sherri Davis of Sherri’s Edible Designs on Hilton Head Island piped grapes and vines on Ashleigh and Matt’s wedding cake to continue the wine theme, while the pearl detail mimicked the pattern on the invitations.

Ashleigh’s sister, Kristin Hackler, made magnolia and lavender soap favors that fit inside muslin bags Ashleigh had ordered online and stamped with her new monogram.

Beaufort Beauty

Photographs by Karyn Iserman