The perfect spot for your destination wedding: Charleston (Part Two)
The perfect spot for your destination wedding: Charleston (Part Two)
A few weeks ago, my boyfriend Scott and I traveled to Charleston for a weekend getaway. I have been a regular in Charleston over the past decade and wanted to share one of my favorite getaways with Scott. And since he had a free weekend from work, I promptly decided I needed a four-day weekend to mentally prepare for the upcoming wedding season.
I have noticed that Charleston has become THE vacation spot for sightseers, but it has also been gaining popularity among honeymooners and destination elopers. If you are from the Atlanta area and are looking for a destination wedding or even just a romantic honeymoon within four hours of the city, Charleston should peak your interest.
What I love most about Charleston is feeling of home, the warm summer breeze, scattered palm trees and the smell of the ocean on a mid-summer morning stroll. As cliché as that sounds, it brings me back to my roots with the ever so present historic charm and Southern feel. More importantly, especially for us, there are plenty of wonderful restaurants to choose from, as well as shopping on King Street.
As a wedding planner, I usually find myself dragging Scott to a plethora of venues while on vacation and Charleston has been nothing but a dream for my inner wedding planner with its marvelous plantation homes and historic sites. Not to mention the number of weddings and bachelor/bachelorette parties we counted in a single weekend.
Below is summary of our vacation stops and why we loved each. If you are traveling to Charleston or are interested in having your wedding there, please let me know and I will be happy to direct you to different venues!
Checked in to the Francis Marion Hotel
The Francis Marion is a nice hotel with a great location – it is located on King Street, which is within walking distance of everything and across the street from Marion Square. There is a lot of shopping and a laundry list of great restaurants located along King Street. On the weekends, there is typically a Farmer’s Market or something exciting going on in the square. This is also where the Bride Run ends if you ever wish to run the 10k that starts in Mt. Pleasant and ends in downtown Charleston.
Scott and I both had the “Mac,” an 8 oz. house ground CAB burger partnered with aged cheddar, nueske’s bacon and pecorino truffle frites. The truffle fries were absolutely delicious, and yes I ate every single one.
Walked to the Battery from our Hotel and wandered around the market
I am not one for the touristy part of things and have been to the market before, but we did walk through it on the way to lunch. If you aren’t looking for anything the market offers, at least try the legendary Charleston Iced Tea, which is quite refreshing roaming the market. The Battery also has a breathtaking view of Fort Sumter. Not to mention the rows of historical homes that make the morning run a bit more interesting.
Lunch at the Charleston Crab House
I have been to this restaurant multiple times, and I think they have the best crab in town. Scott and I shared the World Famous “Crab House” Crock Pot. It was Scott’s first time having crab, so I basically had to do all of the work for him. This is a great place to stop by if you go to the Battery in the morning and then here for lunch and drinks. The restaurant also has an upstairs patio that overlooks the historic market.
Located in the carriage house of the Wentworth Mansion, Circa 1886 is the ultimate fine dining experience in Charleston. The restaurant reminded me a lot of the St. Regis and being very private and downright expensive. The chef prepares the menu as a three-course dinner starting with an appetizer and ending with dessert. The crème brulee was fabulous, but surprisingly out of everything we ate that evening, the never-ending dinner rolls covered in an orange zest butter was by far my favorite.
The Wentworth Mansion actually serves as a hotel and can also host weddings for up to 50 guests. Ironically, as we arrived for dinner, we got a sneak peak of the ceremony.
Following dinner, despite my fears, we went on a ghost tour that stopped by a church cemetery, Poogan’s Porch and the old military jail. Poogan’s is actually a great restaurant to get breakfast, that’s if you can snag reservations, but on a Sunday it’s nearly impossible. The tour was fun, but I was more interested in the three weddings going on at some of the other venues as we walked around the city.
One of the venues that looked amazing and I want to stay at next time is the Mill’s House. As we walked by, they were preparing to do the bride’s sparkler sendoff accompanied by horse drawn carriage.
To take a break from downtown, Scott and I ventured over to Mt. Pleasant for breakfast before going to tour Boone Hall Plantation. We ate at the Fish House, which sits right at the bottom of the Cooper River Bridge and has a great view of downtown Charleston and the water.
Boone Hall has an impressive entrance as you drive down the hundred-year lane of oaks leading up to the mansion. The only disappointing part of our tour was that we didn’t get to see many rooms within the house because the current owners still occupy the home. Boone Hall also does weddings, but unfortunately we were unable to get more information on their pricing that day.
The service at this restaurant was wonderful and one of the owners even stopped by our table to see if his restaurant was living up to its reputation. Several pounds of crab and a couple drinks later we were pretty “crabbed out.”
This was such a charming French restaurant that we stopped at late at night for dessert. This restaurant also serves as a wedding venue and has a separate events space next door.
On our way out, we stopped at Early Bird Diner where the early bird certainly gets the worm! There was quite a wait to enjoy breakfast, but the chicken and waffles were absolutely amazing. The parking and small town diner feel makes it feel like, well for lack of a better term -hole in the wall, but don’t let that fool you. It was the best breakfast of the trip.
This was a more hands-on type of plantation to visit because you were able to go in all the rooms of the house during the tour. Magnolia had gardens, a petting zoo for rescued wildlife and this place also performs weddings!
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