Rich with Texture

Lacey Stallard & Bryan Kitz

June 5, 2021 / Lowndes Grove

When Lacey Stallard and Bryan Kitz met in 2011 at a Christmas party in DC, it was a night to remember. What started as a low-key gathering of young professionals, ended with a destroyed Christmas tree and, not one, but two visits from the police. Thankfully, as Bryan likes to tell it, their first date a few weeks later was “incredibly romantic and entirely free of police intervention.” But the revelry didn’t end there. The couple enjoyed fun times between DC and New Orleans, where Bryan attended law school, before settling down in Charleston six years ago.

For their wedding, the couple gave creative license to Calder Clark for the planning and design, and the outcome blew everyone away. “You can tell when guests think something’s fun when they’re taking pictures of it,” notes Calder—as was the case with the custom splatter-paint dance floor. During a visit to the couple’s home, Calder had discovered a color palette that she pulled into the wedding, with sky-blue draping, navy, green, cream, and white. She filtered in bright corals and pinks through the flowers and eye-popping table runners that were a perfect contrast to the tone on tone seersucker linens. The wedding bell escort wall was a hit, as were the striking six-foot scalloped chandeliers that hung over the dance floor and in various “rooms.” It was a harmonious blend of texture, pattern, and color, with a depth of affection that will last far beyond.

Top Tips

• Take every risk. “Weddings have a tendency to look the same,” says planner and designer Calder Clark. “Stretch yourself creatively. What big moments could you create that would wow your friends?” she asks. Lacey and Bryan’s dance floor is a great example. Adding the graphic pattern that splashed across the space had maximum impact.

• Think on a grand scale. The fiddle-leaf figs at this wedding were 15 feet tall. The basketry chandeliers were six feet in diameter. “When you have a ceiling that’s more than 10 feet high, you must oversize your decor selections to accommodate the space,” explains Calder.

Vendors

Planning, design: Calder Clark

Venues: Trinity United Methodist Church (ceremony); Lowndes Grove (reception)

Images: Lucy Cuneo

Florals: Blossom Events

Catering, bar: Patrick Properties Hospitality Group

Cake: Wedding Cakes by Jim Smeal

Rentals: Snyder Events, EventWorks (china)

Linens: Nüage Designs

Lighting, sound: Technical Event Company

Entertainment: Charleston Virtuoso (dinner); East Coast Entertainment (reception)

Transportation: Going Coastal Transportation

Videographer: Hart to Heart