An Ethereal, Family-Only Wedding in Coastal Georgia During the Pandemic

Shanna Webster and Evyn Hawthorne's wedding day was intimate—from their family-only guest list to their vendor selections. The couple's matchmaker ("I didn’t come around right away. But when I did...I was done for!" shares Shanna), a friend they'd known from childhood, ended up serving as their event designer. "From the beginning, Shanna, like most brides, had an idea of what she wanted but needed the experienced hand of a designer to bring it all together," recalls event designer Shean Strong. Enlisting expert help was especially crucial to the success of the couple's wedding once the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Shanna and Evyn's original plan was to have a big church wedding with 300 guests, something that simply wasn't possible under social distancing guidelines. "Because of the unexpected restrictions that Covid-19 brought, the couple was forced to scale back their weddings tremendously to only immediate family and a handful of close friends," Strong shares.  
"As Shanna was thrust into this unknown, she chose to completely trust what I envisioned for her, under the new circumstances. Shanna is a testament to what can happen when you trust your wedding designer. With fresh flowers being nearly impossible to come by, preserved and dried flowers became the style of choice for Shanna and Evyn’s wedding," says Strong. "The simplicity of an outdoor, family-style table with textural linens, lined with candles, a collection of bud vases with neutral and chalky blooms, paired with gold rimmed crystal votives set the tone for the evening." Shanna recalls that the day's aesthetic, "wasn’t necessarily a theme—however, there was a feeling Shean was able to invoke. It was clean, and minimal, with subtle Savannah influences—but nothing too literal."