May 15, 2016

The couple met at a café in downtown Toronto and dated for five years before getting engaged. Alan and Laura fell in love with Brookgreen Gardens when visiting Myrtle Beach in 2012 and spent several months designing a leaf-themed Moissanite engagement ring. In May 2014, Alan proposed at a secluded stone staircase under a live oak, incorporating both their love of nature and the South. The newly engaged coupled were surprised by a pair of cardinals landing just a few feet away, which became their “mascot,” even being incorporated in their wedding décor. The ceremony was held with 22 of the pair’s closest family and friends at the gates by the Holliday Cottage at Brookgreen. Since the couple planned to have a formal church wedding back in Canada, the smaller ceremony let them accommodate all the things they wanted to do that wouldn’t have fit in with a more traditional wedding. There were bright fuchsia and turquoise table linens with orchids, lush palm ferns and greenery. The menu was symbolic to their travels and included foods like crab cakes and key lime and pecan pies. The event also included a courtesy trolley for the snow birds, bathroom hospitality bags and activity bags for the kids, a specialized guitar playlist and rattan hand fan favors with calligraphy thank you tags attached with turquoise bows to tie in with the linens. Laura and Alan will live in Toronto until they can move to the South.

PHOTOGRAPH BY KARA STOVALL