Wedding photographer Anne Jervey Rhett and golf professional Matthew Appleby both grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, and actually attended the same high school. “She was a cool senior when I was a sophomore, so I like to say that she didn’t know me, but I definitely knew her,” Matthew remembers. “Our paths crossed again later in life when my sister got married and Anne was the wedding photographer. She was most professional, deflecting my advances and flirtation in that moment, much to my dismay. When Anne released the photos, I used it as an excuse to ask her out.”
Two years after they started dating, they got engaged on the beach in Harbour Island. Anne was photographing a wedding on the Bahamian island and invited Matthew to join her. “I had been holding onto the ring for months prior and was trying to find a special and unique way to ask her to marry me,” he recalls. “The opportunity to propose on pink sands presented itself, and I ran with the Harbour Island proposal.”
Luckily, some of Anne’s best friends happened to be vacationing on the island that same week and helped Matthew coordinate the proposal. “I was as nervous as I’ve ever been in my life,” he admits. “I had the scenario mapped out in my head, and in my mind, I would be so smooth! However, when the moment came, I was noticeably nervous and some might say looking a little unwell. Despite all of that, my nerves didn’t ruin the surprise, and she said ‘yes!’”
“I have worked in the wedding industry for most of my adult life,” Anne says. “So being on the other side as a bride felt a bit foreign but also familiar and—I cannot lie—at times fantastic.”
A year after the proposal, the couple married at Sunny Point Farm, outside of Charleston. “We were on the mossy, marshy, magical expanse of Wadmalaw Island,” Anne says. “This beautiful corner of the earth has been in Matthew’s mother’s family for generations. His parents and his maternal grandparents both had their wedding receptions at this same spot, so it holds much sentimental value.” Due to Anne’s line of work, she’s been exposed to many far-flung wedding destinations—and she did briefly dream of running off and eloping somewhere international—but ultimately, with both of the couple being native Charlestonians, they decided to stick with their roots. “We thought, why overlook the beauty at our fingertips?” Anne adds. “We ultimately came to the conclusion that, for us, there really is no place like home.”
Anne and Matthew worked with Gathering Events to plan their wedding weekend. “I knew they could create an environment that felt elegant yet breezy,” Anne explains. “The mood board I brought them was a mash-up of images that had spoken to me over the years—lots of shell motifs, columns, tasseled cabanas, and striped awnings.” The team brought it all to life, and also came up with the idea for Anne and Matthew’s beautiful meandering garden-style aisle adorned with cascading florals.
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