Happy Wedding Wednesday loves!
After last week’s big wedding reveal post about our wedding being featured by Southern Weddings, I’m so excited to share more about our wedding weekend with a post dedicated to my bridal brunch at Cannon Green. My mom and sister, Sarah, threw me this brunch and hosted all my favorite ladies including my bridesmaids and friends, all our female relatives, and my mom’s nearest and dearest friends.
They threw the affair at Cannon Green the day before our wedding, which happened to be a beautiful, sunny day in the 70s in Charleston. Everything from the theme to the menu to the color palette was dreamed up and perfected by my mom and Sarah with the help of our incredible wedding planners, A Charleston Bride. Keep reading for more behind the scenes of the event!
My Bridal Brunch Theme
Charleston really embodies Southern hospitality and since the pineapple is considered the symbol of hospitality (one that is all over Charleston dating back to colonial times), my mom and Sarah decided to play on that for the theme of the event.
Our wedding was really themed around the beauty, sights, tastes, and traditions of Charleston
We were married under a huge live oak tree, served all southern food, and went pretty formal with details like paper and attire. However, Charleston has a whole other side to it… the bright, topical, Caribbean influenced side. This didn’t come through in our wedding so my mom and Sarah took the opportunity to show our guests this side of the Holy City at the bridal brunch with a pineapple theme, pops of color I love (hello pink!), and tropical tastes (keep reading for more on the mimosa bar and the menu).
Everything was so beautiful, I could cry just looking back at the photos!
I adore the pineapples as center pieces on the tables and did you see the mini pineapples in the floral arrangements!? I love a traditional blue and white gingham but the green and white gingham gave the event an extra punch and made the gingham print actually feel a bit Charleston tropical in my eyes.
The Venue: Cannon Green
Cannon Green was the only venue we considered for the event! For starters, I love the restaurant for dinner and brunch (you may recall from my Beginner’s Guide to Charleston!) but I also love the event space, which consists of the beautiful palm tree lined courtyard and the back carriage room where we held our event (p.s. they also do weddings!). The courtyard was perfect for cocktail hour and the carriage room was the most stunning space to hold the bridal brunch. I’m still not over the greenery wrapped throughout the bannisters! It was perfect! P.S. you can spot one of my uncles in the above photo who was not invited but can never pass up a good party!
The Guest List
Weddings can be such a whirlwind of excitement that bridal brunches are often one of my most favorite events of the weekend when I’m in/attending weddings (it doesn’t have to be a brunch though for me to love it – my girlfriend took us bridesmaids horseback riding and picnicking last summer in Colorado!).
Bridal brunches are so special because they provide dedicated time to actually talk with your favorite women before the craziness of the wedding day arrives.
While bridal brunches often consist of just the bridesmaids and some female family, it was important for us to have a larger event for the exact reason I just mentioned. My mom and I both wanted the opportunity to visit with our dearest friends who had traveled from all over and who we knew we wouldn’t have the chance or time to see very much the rest of the weekend.
I also knew I’d spend quality time with my bridesmaids getting ready on our wedding day but knew I wouldn’t have very much time to see my other close girlfriends and cousins who came to celebrate Edwin and me.
There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted them to feel special, appreciated, and honored too
So they all attend the event. I’m so close to so many of my mother’s friends so it was important to have them there too to celebrate and so my mom had the chance to spend time with them and honor them for the role they’ve played in her and in my life. It wouldn’t be complete without all Edwin’s and my aunts and cousins too! All around, it was all my favorite ladies in one place… pinch me! So so special as I know I’ll never really get that chance again.
The Menu
The tasting for this event was such a blast! My mom and I did it with our beautiful planners, Lindsey and Abby of A Charleston Bride along with my best friend and bridesmaid, Allison, who came to Charleston for a little wedding planning with me. Sarah could not make it to Charleston so her bestie stepped in and joined us. The more the merrier! The chef at Cannon Green is a true talent. The chef along with Demi, part of the Cannon Green events team, created the most beautiful menu for us. At the tasting we settled on…
Cocktail Hour:
As assortment of some of the yummiest passed appetizers I’ve ever tasted (no exaggeration!) as well as a mimosa bar complete with traditional orange juice as well as tropical options including peach, pineapple, and mango.
First Course:
Romaine salad with a sunny side up quail egg, burgundy truffles, sourdough crisp, and a black pepper dressing for the first course.
Main Course:
Herb-crusted atlantic salmon with creamed leaks, green beans, arugula, and horseradish crème fraîche.
Dessert:
Assorted sorbets of champagne, peach, and pineapple (the tropical flavors popped in again!)
The Favors + My Bridal Brunch Feature
My mom and Sarah did party favors for all the ladies that consisted of a tropical Charleston candle and custom matches for the event. It was simple and sweet! This event was everything I could have ever imagined and more. I still feel like the luckiest girl to have the most amazing mother and sister! A huge thanks to them as well as Lindsey and Abby of A Charleston Bride and Demi of Cannon Green for making this event so dreamy and wonderful! One more special thanks to Virgil for giving us gorgeous lasting memories of the event with his photography!
P.S. my bridal brunch is featured in the spring 2018 edition of Charleston Weddings Magazine! It is available all over Charleston so scoop it up and take a peak. xx
I hope y’all enjoyed reading about my bridal brunch at Cannon Green! I can’t tell y’all how happy it makes me to share it with you. Stay tuned next week for another Wedding Wednesday post on our big weekend! xx
Vendors for my bridal brunch at Cannon Green:
Planning & design: A Charleston Bride
Venue, catering, bar service: Cannon Green
Photographer: Virgil Bunao
Florals: Out of the Garden
Rentals: OOH! Events
Stationery: Studio R Design
Calligraphy: J.Lily Design
Signage: Studio R and J.Lily Design
Linens: La Tavola
My attire: Tory Burch dress, Stuart Weitzman heels, Pearls by Shari Earrings, Chanel handbag
Photography by Virgil Bunao