Katherine Kaser and Matthew Donahue were just another couple touring the Lowcountry when they stumbled upon Boone Hall Plantation’s Cotton Dock. Little did they know that a few years later, they’d be celebrating their own nuptials in the rustic, romantic venue.

The New Jersey-based couple met through mutual friends in 2008. Katherine was three months into her first English teaching job and Matthew had started working at a contracting company; Matthew teased Katherine about “chalk dust” and she joked with him about “spackling.” The rest is history.

The pair exchanged vows six years later at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. While the ceremony was formal and traditional, things loosened up at the reception, where Katherine’s chosen palette of cobalt and gold contrasted beautifully with country-style lace and burlap details. Soft lighting from tea lights, lanterns, strings of lights and amber floor lamps highlighted the Cotton Dock’s charm, and Katherine’s DIY wreaths and angel ornament favors were made using Southern cotton bolls. Katherine and Matthew wanted guests to immediately feel welcomed into the environment of the Cotton Dock as much as they were during their initial visit to Boone Hall.

The reception featured a Lowcountry menu from Twenty Six Divine; guests are still raving about the fried green tomatoes, mussels Provencal and gouda mac ’n’ cheese.

The couple bucked the tradition of a tiered wedding cake and instead served four separate wedding cakes: Lemon Doberge, Red Velvet, Chocolate Tuxedo and Hummingbird, the latter of which was the groom’s cake.

Katherine and Matthew worked with Christine Boykin and Carri MacGregor of Mac & B. Events to coordinate the event. “Christine and Carri’s eye for detail and professionalism ensured that the reception ran seamlessly,” Katherine says. “They treated our wedding event with the same care and attention as they would their own wedding. Mac & B. are not just your typical wedding planners; these Southern belles set the standard for the Charleston wedding coordination business.”