1. Real Weddings

A Garden-Inspired Scottish Wedding at Lowndes Grove Plantation in Charleston, South Carolina

Combining their Italian and Scottish heritages with stunning florals, Nina Lamia (30 and a senior product manager) and Tristan de Souza (29 and a port

Combining their Italian and Scottish heritages with stunning florals, Nina Lamia (30 and a senior product manager) and Tristan de Souza (29 and a portfolio manager in real estate private equity) had an amazing overgrown garden-inspired wedding. Shades of white and blush were combined with pops of gold, polka dots and lots of greenery for their garden party, and Branch Design Studio arranged amazing, textured florals to bring the outside in. "We wanted to incorporate each of our heritages into our flowers, while keeping the look in line with our overall design aesthetic," Nina says. "To represent Tristan, we incorporated the blue thistle, which is the national flower of Scotland, where he was born and raised. To represent me, we incorporated olive branches, since I’m 100 percent Italian." When the London, England-based couple started dating, they visited Charleston, South Carolina, and absolutely loved it. Without even seeing the venue, they chose Lowndes Grove Plantation for their nuptials. "I came across Lowndes Grove early on and knew it would be perfect for us," Nina says. "The location on the Ashley River is stunning, and the plantation house is historic and so well preserved. We loved the fact that we could create many different spaces and vibes, all within the same venue." Ashley Wenz of Boutique Planning helped Nina and Tristan bring their vision to life. "She was fabulous throughout the planning process—extremely thorough, organized and creative," Nina says. There's so much to love about Nina and Tristan's amazing wedding. See all our favorite details, captured by Paige Winn Photo, below.

Nina carried white peonies, blue thistle, dusty miller, olive branches, white tulips, green plumosa, white astilbes, jasmine vines and white garden roses hand-tied with an ivory ribbon down the aisle. She and Tristan loved incorporating thistles (Scotland's national flower) into the textured florals to represent his heritage.
Patrick Properties Hospitality Group created Nina and Tristan's four-tier textured buttercream confection. It was lemon cake with lemon curd and lemon buttercream, hummingbird with spiced buttercream, and red velvet with cream cheese frosting. "We liked the idea of having a variety of flavors for the guests to try, and we chose the hummingbird cake because it’s a South Carolina tradition," Nina says.
Nina and Tristan's ring bearer wore a kilt in the Flower of Scotland tartan to match the groomsmen. He completed his look with a mini boutonniere and rocked some Converse sneakers as well.
Since Nina lives in London, England, and her mother lives in Michigan, they decided to meet in New York City to shop for a dress. Although Nina thought she wanted a dress that was more form-fitting, she quickly realized it wasn't exactly the pizzazz she was looking for. Once she tried on this stunning Valentini Spose ball gown, she finally felt like a bride. It was a total bonus that the bodice was entirely covered in Swarovski crystals for plenty of added glamour.
"I fell in love with the Prada shoes on first sight," Nina says. "Originally I didn’t think they were bridal enough, but then with the nudge of a girlfriend, I decided they could be my something blue. I absolutely loved the blue, patent leather and was happy to invest in them since they were versatile and could definitely be worn again and again."
Since Nina's father hadn't seen her dress, he met her at Lowndes Grove Plantation for a first look before the church ceremony in Charleston, South Carolina. After the father-daughter look, Nina rode to the ceremony in a white trolley with her parents, her aunt, her bridesmaids and Tristan's mom.
We loved Tristan's mother wore a knee-length red dress for the traditional wedding.
Nina and Tristan's flower girl wore a blush dress with a tulle skirt and a sash decorated with a large rose. Their florist, Branch Design Studio, created a flower crown for her to wear, including olive branches and roses hand-tied with a blush ribbon.
Nina and Tristan exchanged vows in a traditional Catholic ceremony at Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Afterward, the newlyweds and their parents rode from the church to Lowndes Grove Plantation in Charleston, South Carolina, in a white trolley with mini bottles of prosecco and Michigan IPA on ice to celebrate.
Nina's something borrowed was her gorgeous veil, which she borrowed from a family friend. She loved how the Swarovski crystals on the veil matched her Valentini Spose ball gown.
Nina's nine bridesmaids wore the same Monique Lhuillier one-shoulder blush tulle gown. Nina loved the soft, romantic look and style and how it flattered all the special ladies in her life. The groomsmen wore the Flower of Scotland kilts with gray tweed waistcoats, jackets and sporrans (small pouches worn around the waist) completed with teal bow ties.
The bridesmaid bouquets echoed Nina's gorgeous arrangement and included white roses, peach garden roses, white astilbes, white sweet peas, blush peonies, olive branches, green plumosa, jasmine vine and dusty miller tied with a pale blush ribbon.
Nina's family friend, Cindy Carney, created chic ivory and gold escort cards. They were displayed on a white-framed chalkboard that was decorated with olive branches and pink peonies. Once guests got to their seats, they were greeted with a funny photo of themselves in a Polaroid format. "It was a labor of love finding and selecting all the photos, but it was so much fun to see the delight on our guests’ faces when they saw their photos," Nina says. "It was also a great talking point for guests to get to know one another."
Instead of a traditional guest book, Nina and Tristan asked their guests to sign Jenga game pieces. "We liked the idea of having a keepsake game that had nice notes from our guests on them instead of a book that we might never look at again," Nina says.
"We were really intent on having lots of personal touches," Nina says. "We had custom Converse sneakers made with our names on the back, which we changed into when our feet were hurting from standing all day."
"My favorite feature of our decor was the fabulous, lush floral chandelier that Whitney from Branch put together," Nina says. "I loved the impact it made in the tent and how it tied our garden-party theme together." The gorgeous overgrown garden-inspired chandelier was 48 inches and was hung around a 16-lamp crystal chandelier. It included olive branches, jasmine vines, peach stock, white spray roses, white hydrangeas, peach garden roses and blush fringe tulips.
Nina and Tristan's cake was topped with blush peonies, scabiosa, blue thistle and plumosa. "We wanted to have a simple design and to incorporate fresh florals in keeping with our garden-party vibe," Nina says. "We had alternating layers of Swiss dots (a way to incorporate more polka dots) and combed buttercream, with fresh flowers on top."
Nina and Tristan had their first dance to "Home" by Phillip Phillips. "Tristan’s parents live in Edinburgh, Scotland, and mine in Michigan, but we have made a life together in London," Nina says. "We don’t know where we will live long-term, but we do know that we will always support each other and make each other feel at home."
Traditional Italian Olive Branch Wedding Reception Table Runner
On the center of each table, Nina and Tristan placed a canvas painting of a city they had visited together. They were painted by their extremely talented friend Annie Sorge. On the back of each painting, she put the date of the trip, along with a small description of their favorite part. Another one of their friends, Cindy Carney, did all the calligraphy including the city names sitting on top of the canvas paintings.
The head table at the reception was decorated with a gorgeous, giant arrangement including white hydrangeas, olive branches, green plumosa, white roses, peach garden roses, dusty miller, blush astilbes, blue thistles, white fringe tulips and one giant king protea.
Nina's and Tristan's chairs were decorated with "Mrs." and "Mr." cloth linens with gray polka dots. The ivory drapery matched the bengaline table linens from Nuage Linens. "I absolutely loved the Nuage Linens," Nina says. "They were actually the inspiration for a lot of our decor."
Studio R created the sophisticated gold polka-dot menu cards for the classic and glamorous wedding. Nina loves polka dots, so she knew she wanted them in the decor, and the stationery was the perfect place.
Since Nina's parents own a hair salon and spa in Michigan, Nina has always loved hair and makeup. Her favorite stylist from the salon, Monica Jadan, traveled to Charleston from Michigan to do Nina's hair. "I have naturally curly hair, so it was quite a feat to tame the frizz, but Monica managed to do it," she says. "I wore my hair half up, with long, loose curls."
Before the sparkler exit, Nina changed into a beautiful white getaway dress by Free People. "I loved how it looked with my something blue Prada heels," she says. Since the couple live in London, England, they had a London black cab whisk them away at the end of the night.