This Charleston wedding at The Cottages on Charleston Harbor was full of magic and a matchmaking scheme worthy of a modern fairytale.
How it all began
Much ado has been made about the way Eli and Patrick met, and with good reason. Patrick’s mother, Susan, having grown weary of waiting for him to find someone on his own, asked her hairstylist, Luke, if he had any single friends. He said he didn’t, but…. there WAS this one really cool girl. Luke had been doing her hair for years, and she had become a close friend. She had recently ended a relationship. She definitely wasn’t looking for anyone. But MAYBE she could be persuaded to at least meet Patrick.
So: A blind date set up by the guy’s mom and her hairstylist, and on the day after Christmas? Eli was dubious, wondering if it was maybe a little weird. But after polling her friends, they told her she might as well go meet him – who knows?
Seeing this beautiful blonde girl walk into the restaurant in black leather pants, Patrick was smitten from the get-go. And Eli says she knew very early on that this was her future husband. These days, Susan is feeling pretty smug about her success as a matchmaker. But even more so, she’s excited about her newfound potential for grandmother-hood.
Their Charleston wedding
We had a blast watching Eli and Patrick make it all official with a wedding at The Cottages on Charleston Harbor. These two rarely stop smiling, and made sure to find each other often during the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception, to get a few kisses in. Their connection is palpable, their positivity is contagious, and they are just the kindest, warmest people.
And there’s magic everywhere
The magic I mentioned? One of Elizabeth’s friends, in her rehearsal dinner speech, described Elizabeth as “magic.” And then I saw over and over again through the weekend what she meant by that. Eli walks into a room, and it’s like the sun comes out. Moods are brightened, and everything feels fun and lighthearted. People feel loved and cared for. She is basically a Disney princess on the outside, with the brains of an educator and author.
Patrick is the one who takes care of everyone (ingrained in him from his hospitable parents, who own the longstanding Murphy’s restaurant in Atlanta). And that is where a lot of the magic comes from as well – Patrick creates it by caring so much about everyone and the experience they’re having. From the rehearsal dinner on a boat to the enormous bottle of champagne that exploded on them to the Vespa that carried him and Eli away after the wedding – it was all a delight to their guests, something different they don’t experience every day.
So the moral of the story is, listen to your mothers. But also listen to your heart. It might lead you down some weird paths, but that just makes the adventure more fun, right? And as you’re following your heart, make sure to notice the bits of magic along the way. And if you don’t find any magic, make your own.
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