Autumn Blush

When Shannon Altergott and Emerson Buck met over a microscope during their sophomore year at the University of Georgia, the chemistry was undeniable. Realizing they lived in the same apartment complex, the pair began walking home together after class, with study sessions and group projects giving way to connections over live music, football games, and ultimately, romance. Post-graduation, she moved home to Charleston, and he headed to the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. The two dated long distance for four years until his residency at the Medical University of South Carolina finally landed them together in the Lowcountry. 

Nearly a decade after bonding in biology, Emerson hatched a plan to ask Shannon to marry him during a trip to Maine. Though lost luggage, a delayed flight, and an unexpected snowstorm forced him to pivot, a nearby park proved to be the perfect backdrop for a proposal, with a photographer capturing the moment he popped the question—and the ensuing snowball fight. 

Both of Shannon’s sisters had tied the knot at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, and the couple wanted to hold their ceremony in the same storied Lowcountry spot, followed by a tented reception at the elegant William Aiken House. When it came to planning the big day, a color scheme of mauve and muted pink, as well as an abundance of fall blooms, informed every decision. Designers Francesca DiSalvo-Follmer and Blake Baumbach of Pure Luxe Bride used color, pattern, and texture to create a relaxed, warm atmosphere. And floral designer Andraya Northrup of Flora built dynamic arrangements of ranunculi, scabiosas, cosmos, lisianthuses, hellebores, and garden roses in autumnal tones that played beautifully against the historic home’s buttery exterior.

While his medical residency kept Emerson busy during much of the planning process, the music aficionado did select the band Velvet Bay Groove Co. to get folks dancing. As for the cake, a three-tiered delight from Flowerchild, the couple was initially stumped on which flavor to choose. “There were so many delicious options that we had to have a bracket-style face-off,” laughs Shannon. (They settled on strawberries & cream and chocolate caramel.) Georgia Bulldog fans to the end, Shannon and Emerson were ushered to their rickshaw departure through a parade of red-and-black pom-poms and rousing barks.