Megan Pinckney, the digital content producer behind the blog Shades of Pinck (and former Miss South Carolina USA), and Todd Rutherford, the Democratic Leader in the South Carolina House of Representatives and an attorney, were introduced by a friend of his who had dated a friend of hers. Years later, they were on a vacation in Santorini when Todd chartered a boat so that they could cruise around the island for the day. During the tour, he took the opportunity to get down on one knee, and Megan promptly said “Yes!”
Once engaged, the two got straight to planning. Their original wedding was scheduled for Friday, November 6, 2020 in Charleston. The guest list was 500 people strong, and the Gibbes Museum—where Megan serves on the board of the young professional group, Society 1858—was booked to host.
“It took us months to decide where we wanted to actually host our wedding,” Megan admits. “My poor planner had gone down the path of a ceremony in South Africa, Paris, and even Montenegro up until February 2020 when my mom and grandmother convinced me to do it in my hometown of Charleston.” The following month, Megan booked the museum, and then two weeks later, the world shut down. “Of course, at the time, we all thought everything would blow over by the end of the month,” Megan adds. “But when it didn’t, we knew a wedding that large was not going to happen anytime soon.”
“At the time, my idea of a wedding was a party with everyone we’ve ever known and loved celebrating our union,” Megan says. “So we decided to wait it out until we could host that kind of event.” Once Megan and Todd canceled their initial wedding, the planning process came to a complete halt. “We stopped talking about it,” Megan admits. “And honestly, I stopped thinking about it. I was so discouraged because there wasn’t an end to the pandemic in sight.”
Eventually, it occurred to Megan that this milestone wasn’t really about anyone other than she and Todd. “We decided we should just leave the idea of celebrating with ‘everyone’ behind and go for it,” she says. She reached out to her planner, and they started dreaming again. In a little over a month, they planned an entire wedding. “I kind of preferred it this way because instead of spreading the process out over a year, I was able to focus on it for a few weeks and that was it!”
They rescheduled for December 11, 2020, and Megan worked with Alexandra Woodlief of Alexandra Madison Weddings to plan it all. The two had become friends while Alexandra was the marketing director for the Columbia City Ballet. “I served on the board of directors for the organization, and she and I were given the task of planning the company’s annual galas,” Megan remembers. “We’d worked together planning so many parties and I loved her visions and respected her expertise.”
The first order of business for Megan was finding a wedding day look. “My wedding dress was actually not a wedding dress at all,” she says. “I knew I wanted a look that was glamorous and timeless, but something that didn’t feel so expected. I’d modeled a ton of wedding dresses during my career—and tried on a ton of pageant dresses in my day as a former Miss South Carolina USA—but none of those gave me the feeling I knew I wanted for this day.”
Over the course of her career, Megan had formed a relationship with luxury womenswear designer Sergio Hudson—a native of South Carolina and the designer of Michelle Obama’s memorable Inauguration Day outfit. At various points, she’d mentioned how she wanted him to one day design a wedding dress for her. “I was scrolling on his website one night and came across this gorgeous body suit from one of his past collections, and it spoke to me,” Megan says. “Initially I wanted to pair it with a mini skirt, but he insisted on designing me a maxi with a little train and one of his signature belts. It was perfect!”
Because of COVID, and the fact that there was less than a month to plan, the two weren’t able to meet for a fitting in L.A., so Megan sent measurements and trusted Sergio. Luckily, the look required only a few minor alterations that the bride’s grandma’s cousin was able to do the night before the wedding.
“I grew up close to four really strong Black women: my mom, my grandma, and my two aunts, so I knew I really wanted to incorporate my special relationship with each of them into the wedding. I did so through the tradition: something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. The old was my grandmother’s veil. Alexis Doktor Designs helped me reimagine the veil she wore 54 years ago. The new was a strand of pearls from my mother that were shades of pink—a play on my blog, but also a reminder that I’ll always be a Pinckney. The borrowed was my Aunt Zoa’s original wedding band, tethered, old, and worn but a symbol of the hard work a marriage takes and a testament to a solid unity. And finally, the blue was from my Aunt Ellen, the most creative person I know. She added gorgeous blue flowers to the buttons on my sleeve!” Megan’s feminine bow earrings were by T. Marie Designs and featured her birthstone—a pearl.
“I wanted everything about my beauty look to feel timeless, so my friend Victoria gave me a natural beat that felt glamorous but not at all trendy,” Megan explains of her makeup for the day. Todd wore a black velvet suit by Ike Beher, styled by J. Fredrics, and Gucci shoes. “My favorite part was his little nod to me and Shades of Pinck with his pink pocket square!” Megan adds.
On the day of the wedding, 20 guests arrived via trolley to Washington Square, a secluded park behind Charleston City Hall. It was clear and a balmy 72 degrees in the late afternoon. After getting ready at The Dewberry Hotel, Megan and her mother drove to the ceremony site in a pink 1991 Nissan Figaro known around town as The Pink Figgy. “It reminded me of the ride Meghan Markle had with her mom right before she married Prince Harry.”
The car pulled up to the location on Chalmers Street—one of the last remaining cobblestone streets in the city. “The park is full of gorgeous oak trees and is lined by an iron gate created by Paul Simmons, a legendary local African American blacksmith who was known as a ‘poet of iron work,’” Megan says. “I chose the space because of its proximity to the Four Corners of Law. It’s a Charleston landmark at the intersection of Meeting and Broad Street that is anchored by four buildings representing federal, state, and local law as well as the church, which I thought was pretty symbolic of Todd and me as a couple.”
Violinist Preston Barbare of Edgewire Music serenaded the small group with R&B and pop songs before the mother of the bride walked down the aisle to “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. “I was suppose to walk down the aisle to ‘Can’t Keep My Eyes Off of You’ by Lauryn Hill,” Megan remembers, “but she walked so quickly that we ended up sharing the same song!”
As the couple exchanged their vows, guests stood around a flower installation by Salt + Stem which looked as if it was blooming out of the cement. “The entire time all I could think about was how perfect everything felt, how naturally it all came together, and how I couldn’t have imagined this wedding happening any other way,” Megan says. “It also really felt like the joining of two families as those were the only people there. I felt this immense sense of happiness because I was about to officially spend the rest of my life with a person who knew all of me—the good, bad, ugly—and still chose to do life with me. My heart was full and my soul felt like it was glowing.” The newlyweds sealed the deal at the end of the ceremony by jumping the broom—an African American tradition that Megan was adamant on including in their day.
“When we began planning this COVID celebration, I believed it was just going to be a formality, and that the ‘actual’ wedding would take place post-pandemic,” Megan notes. “But after the ceremony that we had, and the feeling I felt that entire day, I honestly don’t think I need another celebration. It was everything I could have ever wanted from a wedding and now couldn’t imagine having it any other way.”
Immediately following the service, the couple met their guests at Henrietta’s, the resident restaurant at the bottom of The Dewberry. “I chose the space solely for their black and white floors and the fact that it felt elevated, but not stuffy, and I wanted the entire experience to feel like a few friends met us in the park and then we just all went to dinner—which was exactly the mood I got.”
Cocktail hour was held in the front by the bar, and then dinner was served in the dining room. The space was filled with Fraser Fir Thymes Candles and other decor that played up the holiday spirit. Lush green garlands extended down the table, while four arrangements were spread out across it. There were candlesticks, bowls of fresh seasonal fruit, and each place setting had a menu with each guests’ name written in calligraphy. The flowers from the ceremony were placed at the foot of the dining table and underneath the cake table.
“When we arrived at the party, we immediately went into our first dance, which wasn’t how things were planned, but when the DJ began playing ‘Thinking Out Loud’ by Ed Sheeran we took the cue, and it ended up really working out!” Megan says. Guests then found their seats and a four course meal with wine pairings was served. After dinner, there was a festive champagne toast using red coupes by Estelle Colored Glass. “And then, we danced the rest of the night away,” Megan remembers. “Well, at least until 8:00 p.m. when everything wrapped!”
The Link LonkJanuary 29, 2021 at 09:20AM
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The Bride Wore a Skirt Set by Sergio Hudson for Her Winter Wedding in Charleston - Vogue.com
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