Engagement Announcements | Charleston Weddings

Saturday, May 25, 8:34 pm

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Jessica Lee Slaughter & Ryan Michael Becknell, engaged 2/12/2011

Rebecca Charlap & Christopher Kelley, engaged December 24, 2010

Ashley Maria Hawkins & James Hayter Cook, engaged August 12, 2010

Alex Andreah Groves & Justin Philomeno, engaged 08/18/10

Beige Boroughs & Jason Matthews, engaged 07-03-2010

Alice Uflacker & Bryant Mersereau; engaged August 1, 2010. Alice and Bryant met in at Porter-Gaud High School as 10th graders, when he moved to the states from the Netherlands. Alice says Bryant was a big joker who would amuse his classmates, herself included. The pair soon shared the same group of friends and by the 11th grade, Alice and Bryant became inseparable while working in an after school program. While neither had entertained the idea of dating (both had other romantic interests), in time, they found their friendship had grown into something more. When both were single, Bryant asked Alice to accompany him to prom in the spring of 2002, and the two dated thereafter. Eight years later, on August 1, 2010 while enjoying a family dinner, Bryant asked Alice to marry him. For dessert, fortune cookies were passed around (Alice’s said, “Yes!”) and both champagne and happy tears flowed. Photograph by Renan Uflacker, MD

Christina Demos & Baron Revis Wynn; engaged July 27, 2010. Christina and Baron met “the old-fashioned way,” she says—through a friend. The pair grew into friends of their own, then their relationship evolved into “something both of us had always dreamed of,” says Christina, adding that the pair’s first date was at a local Quizno’s. On July 27, 2010, a typically warm summer evening, Baron and Christina headed to the beach at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island, a place they both love to visit. As the sky grew dark blue and red with a sunset storm, Baron asked Christina for her hand in marriage. They had just enough time for her to answer with a “Yes” before bolting away to miss the ensuing downpour. Photograph courtesy of the couple

Stephanie Watson & Glen Ownby II; engaged July 18, 2010. Tennessee natives Stephanie Watson and Glen Ownby II started their romance as college students at East Tennessee State University when she recruited him for a goofy game at a charity event they both attended. The price of his participation, he said? A date with her. From then on the two finance majors were an item, and by 2007, they moved to Charleston for a change of scenery. On July 18, 2010, Glen put aside their normal Saturday chore and beach routine, and told Stephanie to pack a bag for a mini-staycation. He drove her to the Charleston Resort and Harbor Marina where they lounged by the pool by day, and enjoyed a sumptuous dinner there later that night. During dinner the chef brought their plates out, and asked, “I hear…congratulations?” Clueless, Stephanie wondered how he might have heard about banker Glen’s promotion. Afterward, the unsuspecting Stephanie was led upstairs to their hotel room, opened the door, and found the floor covered in rose petals and a waiting bottle of champagne. Glen asked her to knee, he gave a sweet little spiel about how happy Sarah made him. Her response? She began crying and hugged him tight. “I don’t remember saying ‘Yes,’” admits Sarah, “but he says I did.” Flashes went off as Sarah’s best friend Kinsey came out from the bushes to photograph the couple. Besides the camera, Kinsey carried champagne, a bridal magazine, and makeup to since she knew Sarah would cry. “It was the happiest moment in my life,” says Sarah today, “and I can not wait for more!” Photograph by Nadean Bruelman of Gene Ho Photography

Ashleigh McHenry & Todd Pash; engaged July 17, 2010. Soothing a bad breakup, Ashleigh McHenry flew to her hometown of Cleveland for a St. Patty’s Day girls’ weekend. Heading into an Irish pub, she locked eyes with fellow Ohio native Todd Pash and both say they knew right then they were made for each other. After hours of talking, the pair exchanged numbers and went on their ways: Todd back to Akron, Ohio, and Ashleigh to Charlotte, North Carolina. In weeks, Todd moved to Charlotte for work, the two have been together ever since. After a while—enduring their fair share of life trials and tribulations together, Ashleigh says—they moved to Charleston, where Ashleigh is a Web Content Manager for WCBD-TV2 and Todd is the manager of Express at Citadel Mall. On July 17, 2010, his family was visiting, and after a “fantastic” dinner at Carolina’s, the group walked out into Waterfront Park. Todd separated himself and Ashleigh from the group asking her to join him on a bench. He then handed her a card saying how lucky he was to have her in his life. After she read it, Todd sheepishly asked, “So...will you marry me?” With tears in her eyes, Ashleigh replied with a “Yes,” and Todd slipped a ring—her grandmother’s ring her parents had overnighted—on her finger. A few moments later, his family joined the pair for hugs; in no time, they say, the details of the wedding started to come together. Photograph courtesy of the couple

Maribeth Kellenbenz & Ben Scott, engaged June 16, 2010. Maribeth, an office manager and photographer, and Ben, a musician and worship leader, were set up on a date by two mutual friends. Following almost three years of dating, Ben popped the question on June 16, 2010. “It was the hottest day of the year,” says Maribeth, “and Ben proposed on Broad Street just outside my plate glass office window in the middle of a huge tourist group wearing fanny packs and straw visors.” Maribeth, who lives in Park Circle, and Ben who lives in downtown Charleston, will share a residence in North Charleston after their wedding. Photograph courtesy of the couple

Candace Jean Bailey & Jonathan David Crompton; engaged June 9, 2010. Candace met David when the two were lifeguarding for Mount Pleasant Recreation Department as college students. Within days of her starting the job, the two worked the same shift, and from then on, says Candace, “we couldn’t stay away from each other.” Six years later, on June 9, 2009, Jon, a real estate agent with Agent Owned Realty, insisted that Candace, Membership and Social Director at Dunes West Golf & River Club, come with him to photograph houses for his real estate website. Afterward, he tried to lure her to walk the beach near Breach Inlet, but her heels and a cut on her foot thwarted his efforts. They headed over to Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island to try again, hoping the tightly packed sand might better suit her footwear. After the second attempt, Jon suggested they move over to the boulder jetty there, which Candace climbed atop, hurt foot, heels, and all. After “chit-chatting away for about five minutes,” says Candace, she turned to see Jon on the ground beside her. At first she thought he had fallen, and began to ask him if he was OK, stopping only because she noticed the engagement ring on his finger. Though Candace says the specifics are blurry after that, she does remember Jon saying some of the sweetest things that she had ever heard before he asked her to marry him. And, she says, “Of course I said, ‘Yes!’” The two plan to wed in October 2010. Photograph by Chuck O'Morrow

Sarah Clark & Cliff McLeod; engaged May 28, 2010. When Sarah Clark bumped into Cliff McLeod (who’d she met once before) at The Brick in downtown Charleston in 2009, he hefted her over his shoulder to carry her out of the bar. “I immediately knew that I would like this guy,” says Sarah. The pair went on to date officially until he moved to Virginia for a month of Officer Candidate School, during which they could only write letters. “We both feel like we were brought closer together,” says Sarah. Since then, Cliff joined the Marines and only rarely gets to come home. This past May when he returned for a visit, Cliff took Sarah out for a dinner date downtown, then hustled her off to Mount Pleasant’s Memorial Waterfront Park for a stroll. “As soon as we got out of the truck,” says Sarah, “Cliff was acting different, nervous. He practically pulled me down the sidewalk to the beautiful war memorial. I was giggling and cutting up while poor Cliff was trying to strike up a serious conversation.” When he dropped her hand, she turned to see what he was doing. On bended knee, he gave a sweet little spiel about how happy Sarah made him. Her response? She began crying and hugged him tight. “I don’t remember saying ‘Yes,’” admits Sarah, “but he says I did.” Flashes went off as Sarah’s best friend Kinsey came out from the bushes to photograph the couple. Besides the camera, Kinsey carried champagne, a bridal magazine, and makeup to since she knew Sarah would cry. “It was the happiest moment in my life,” says Sarah today, “and I can not wait for more!” Photograph courtesy of the couple

Kerry Tipple & Will Watkins; engaged February 17, 2010. Kerry Tipple and Will Watkins met in their hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, on the first day of high school in 2004 when he sat behind her in Spanish class. They soon became the quintessential high school cheerleader-football player couple, going to every homecoming and prom together, and continued dating while she attended the College of Charleston and he went to the Citadel. On their six-year dating anniversary, February 17, 2010, Will invited Terry to a surprise dinner out, starting with a stop at the Wentworth Mansion to climb its cupola. While the pair looked out over the city, Will took Terry’s hand and said, “I love you more than anything, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He then pulled off the heart ring she wore on her ring finger—the one he’d given her the summer before their junior year of high school—and got down on one knee. He opened a ring box (the very one his father had used to propose to his mom) and offered Terry her grandmother’s ring. As she wept, both sets of their parents joined them, carrying flowers, a bottle of bubbly, and champagne flutes engraved with the couple’s soon-to-be monogram. “It was truly the most perfect moment,” says Terry. The two plan to wed May 28, 2011 at Grace Episcopal Church in Charleston and afterward will host a reception at the William Aiken House. Photograph by Karyn Iserman

Ashley Loh & Jason Johnson, engaged February 16, 2010. After meeting at a Clemson soccer game students Ashley and Jason instantly hit it off, but remained friends for almost a year before they began dating. After three-and-a-half years together as a couple, Jason enlisted the North Charleston residents’ mini dachshund, Cooper, to help him ask for Ashley’s hand on February 16, 2010. Jason put a sweater on the pup and tied the ring to it with a string. He sent the four-legged ring bearer downstairs, where Ashley was sitting on the couch. On the way, the ring fell off, and while Ashley pondered why Cooper’s sweater had a string tied to it, Jason waited for some sort of reaction from his girlfriend. When he couldn’t wait anymore, Jason went down to Ashley and started to ask her what was going on, just as he noticed the ring in the middle of the floor. After a little panicking, a lot of laughter and tears, he was rescued with a big “Yes!” from Ashley. Photograph by Hyer Images

Ashley Marie Vincent & John Jason Burbage; engaged February 13, 2010. Jason, chief operating officer with Carolina Land Realty, planned to surprise Ashley, a home health physical therapist, with a ring at his grandmother’s house on the banks of the Pocotaligo River. But because he had picked the day—February 13, 2010—after a fluke snowstorm, he needed some help to see his plans through, as a 70-year-old long leaf pine had fallen across the dirt drive to the river. Thankfully his cousins came to the tree removal rescue, and when Jason and Ashley got to the snow-dusted banks of the Pocotaligo, he proposed to his thoroughly surprised gal. Afterward, he drove her to a second surprise—a party with both sets of their parents the Vincents’ home in nearby Grays Hill. The two says they will marry at the French Huguenot Church, where Jason’s grandparents were married, and will celebrate with a reception at the Citadel’s Holliday Alumni Center December 11, 2010. Photograph courtesy of the couple

Megan Duck & Kristian Webber; engaged August 15, 2009. “Who knew the grocery store could be so much fun,” says Megan of how she first met Kristian, who was selling wines for Shelton Vineyards at their local Concord, North Carolina, supermarket. Two years later, the couple took a trip to one of their favorite vacation spots in the South— Charleston. Kristian arranged for a carriage ride to pick them up from the Mills House Hotel—where they were staying—and take them on a tour of the city. Little did Megan know that the box in Kristian’s pocket contained not only her favorite candy (pralines), but also a ring. “Before I knew it he was on one knee—in the carriage,” says Megan.“ Traffic stopped, people cheered, and I said yes!” Megan and Kristian are currently pondering wedding plans. Photograph courtesy of the couple

Margaux Palmer & Matthew Kaynard; engaged July 4, 2009. Immediately after they met during happy hour at Tin Lizzy’s Cantina in Atlanta, Matthew took Margaux on their first date. “It was love at first sight,” says Charleston native Matthew. Nearly a year later, the Atlanta residents visited Margaux’s parents in Washington, D.C., over the Independence Day weekend. More than sparks flew after the grand finale of the Mall’s fireworks display when Matthew popped the question. Margaux and Matthew plan to wed and receive guests in May 2010 on Sullivan’s Island near Matthew’s family’s beachfront home. Photograph by Ashley Brannen

Kelly Forward & Nicholas George; engaged September 28, 2009. Although Kelly and Nicholas both lived in Charleston,they actually met at a wedding in Alabama, where the bride and groom intentionally sat the pair together. “We immediately hit it off,” says Kelly, “especially after Nick won my heart with an extremely sincere Johnny Cash karaoke rendition.” A smitten Kelly even gave up her return flight to Charleston in favor of road tripping back to the Holy City with Nicholas. Nearly a year later, when they were debating about dessert choices at a restaurant, Nicholas pulled out a different treat: a ring. Kelly accepted his proposal, and the James Island residents forwent dessert in favor of champagne.The couple plans to exchange vows and celebrate in Charleston and is working out the details. Photograph by Rick Walo

Amanda Blackford & Tim Hull; engaged August 22, 2009. Amanda and Tim, both of Ohio, grew up across the street from each other as friends. “But one summer everything changed and we fell in puppy love,” says Amanda. Tim surprised Amanda with a trip to Charleston the summer before their last semester at the University of Akron. While strolling the grounds of Drayton Hall, Tim explained that he had driven to her parents’ house the day before they began their vacation to get their permission to ask for her hand in marriage. “I was completely shocked and yelled, ‘What are you doing?’” says Amanda, when he began proposing to her. “Then I was overcome with laughter and just said, ‘Yeah!’” Although Amanda and Tim haven’t picked a date, they have chosen Charleston for their nuptials. Photograph by Jennifer Abel

Megan Fowler & TJ Myers, engaged August 15, 2009. Lowcountry natives Megan and TJ met in school (she, at Academic Magnet, he, at Wando High School) thanks to a mutual friend. After bumping into each other for several years, the two began dating while attending Clemson University before each headed off to graduate school, she to Vermont Law School and he to MUSC. Though they split for a while as a couple, they kept in touch before reuniting for a two-year long distance relationship. On August 15, 2009, the pair became engaged and will marry in December 2010 with a locally inspired, eco-friendly wedding. Says Megan, “We are excited to finish graduate school and start our new lives together—in the same city!” Jess Newman Photography

Lane Stuber & Jonathan Tuggle; engaged June 7, 2009. Charleston natives Lane and Jonathan go all the way back to first grade together, when she drew a big red heart around his yearbook picture. While they held off on dating till high school, they have been together ever since. On June 7, 2009, Lane, a medical assistant with Southeastern Spine Institute and Jonathan, a financial specialist at Wachovia Bank, were vacationing with at her family’s place in Sapphire Valley, North Carolina. After a day of golf, and a dinner out, they returned to the house for a little wine on the deck, just as Jonathan had planned. He had not planned for a bug to fly into Lane’s face, however, a snafu that drove her back inside for more than an hour. Eventually, wondering what her beloved was still doing outside, she wandered back out onto the deck where she was greeted with a bended knee proposal. The two plan to wed in Charleston in October 2010. Photograph by Heather Forsythe

Alison Thigpen & Kevin Redar; engaged June 7, 2009. Mount Pleasant native Alison Thigpen and Kevin Redar in South Bend, Indiana, have a thing for music, for Notre Dame, and now, each other, too. Alison acts as assistant band director at the University of Notre Dame, and alumnus Kevin used to play for the band when he was a college student. After bumping into each other at various Notre Dame band-related community and sporting events, they were chatting during a basketball game when the musicians started to play “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Frankie Valli. Neither could place the song, but less than a week later Kevin gave Alison his business card with the answer on the back. The card sat in the top drawer of her desk for months, until Alison happened upon it while spring cleaning. She e-mailed him, and a year-and-a-half later, on June 7, 2009, the pair were walking around the Notre Dame University campus holding hands when she realized he had the engagement ring they’d picked out earlier on his index finger. “Really?” she said, and after Kevin dropped down on one knee and popped the question. The couple plan an October 23, 2010 wedding at Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church followed by a reception at Alhambra Hall. Photograph by Terry Tretheway

Kari Scheuchenko & Mario Mitchell; engaged February 27, 2009. Fate was surely at play when, just a few months after friends mentioned they should meet, Kari and Mario randomly ran into each other. Two years later, Mario gathered 50 of the couple’s closest family and friends (who flew in from as far as Florida and New Jersey) at the Hyatt Hotel in Reston, Virginia, and proposed. “As I looked up, everyone was standing on the balcony looking down, and they all started cheering,” says Kari, who enthusiastically accepted. Kari and Mario—who adore Charleston—will exchange vows and celebrate with guests on April 23, 2010 at the William Aiken House before settling in Gainesville, Virginia. Photograph courtesy of Kari Scheuchenko

Katie Whitman & Cleve Henderson; engaged February 14, 2009. Katie and Cleve first met as students at Clemson University, but they didn’t begin dating until after graduation when they bumped into each other in Charleston, where they live. Six years later, Cleve planned a Valentine’s weekend at Middleton Plantation. “We had an absolutely beautiful room with a great fireplace,” says Katie. “While we were sitting in front of the fire, he got down on his knee and asked me to be his wife. I obviously said yes!” After celebrating with a bottle of champagne, they called their families to share the news. Cleve will say his I dos to Katie at St. Luke’s Chapel in Charleston where his parents wed, on December 12, 2009. Photograph courtesy of the couple

Melissa Palubiak & Jason Loy; engaged June 25, 2008. Although Melissa admits to hating her job waiting tables at a Charlotte, North Carolina steakhouse, she loved the eye candy—meaning her co-worker or FREQUENT PATRON, Jason. Soon after they met there, Melissa and Jason moved to Charleston, and attended a friend’s wedding six years later. “Everyone was asking when we’d get engaged since we had been together for so long,” says Melissa. Little did she know Jason had already purchased a ring. While vacationing in San Diego the next week, Jason dropped to his knee beside during dinner and proposed. Melissa and Jason now live in Mount Pleasant, where they plan to wed October 17, 2009 at the Cottage on the Creek at Shem Creek. Photograph by Jen Snyder Design

Claire King & Bobby Huff; engaged June 13, 2008. “We truly fell in love in Greenville,” says Claire, who met her fiancé, Bobby, through his brother—a coworker of hers at Tekgraf Corporation. Although “it was love at first sight” for both, says Claire, the first time they told each other how they felt was in Bobby’s Upstate home. Nearly two years later, Claire, who had moved to Charleston for work, visited Bobby in Greenville one weekend. When she arrived, he presented her with a bouquet of flowers, a bottle of champagne, and a diamond ring before proposing. “He wanted to ask at our house in Greenville, because that’s where we first told each other ‘I love you,’” says Claire. The couple, who now live in Mount Pleasant, initially wanted a June wedding but thought better of it when they took local temperatures into account. Now, they plan to wed and receive guests at I’On’s Creek Club on November 6, 2009 to take advantage of the Lowcountry’s mild fall weather. Juliet Elizabeth Photography

Elizabeth Kerr & Christopher Wilhoit; engaged November 26, 2008. Six months after friends introduced them, Christopher was late getting home to meet Elizabeth before they left Charleston to visit Christopher’s family in Kentucky for Thanksgiving. “I was getting a little annoyed,” says Elizabeth, who didn’t stay that way for long. As a surprise stop en route to the Bluegrass State, Christopher had booked a suite at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. After dinner, he knelt down on the Inn’s terrace and asked for Elizabeth’s hand. Elizabeth, who enthusiastically accepted, will wear her mother’s wedding gown when they exchange vows on July 25, 2009 at St. Mary of the Annunciation Catholic Church. The Charleston residents will host a reception at the Old Exchange Building immediately following the ceremony. And as for him being late? Well, when a man runs behind because he was asking your parents’ blessing, seems like he has a pretty good excuse. Photograph by Amy Sword