Nikki Bolton and Brad Ellis’ wedding from July 2 of last year was featured in Charleston Weddings. The title could not be more appropriate, it was absolutely True Blue! Thank you Charleston Weddings for another great article!

http://www.charlestonmag.com/weddings/feature/true_blue

Meet Brooke and Katie, our fabulous new summer interns! Brooke is finishing up at USC this December and Katie will be a senior at USC this fall, both majoring in Hospitality Management with a concentration in meetings and events (yes.. they’re perf!)

Brooke’s favorite food is scallops with risotto and asparagus (omg YUM), her favorite color is blue, and she has a beta fish named little guy

Katie’s favorite food is pasta, her favorite color is pink (YAY), and….. she can wiggle her ears- HAHA!

We are SO happy and lucky to have them around this summer!

This, in a funny sort of way, reminded us here at Southern Protocol of the Hunger Games…the future 2013 brides in a battle to secure the best wedding date.  Weddings are the most important days in a woman’s life, & while waiting in line for days to secure a spot at a venue is not as dramatic or as important as fighting for your life, it’s pretty dang important if you ask me!  Not only is “fighting” for a venue one of the only comparisons, but while the brides are standing in line their friends, bridesmaid’s & mothers are coming to relieve them in order for them to leave to gather themselves.  These are what I feel to believe, true supporters.  In the Hunger Games Katniss & Peeta form a bond & stick together to try & support & protect each other, like the mothers & friends are doing for the bride.  As the movie goes on Peeta & Gale both seem to have a undeniable crush on Katniss that we all look forward to seeing how it plays out in the upcoming movies.  When it comes down to it, it is a love story just like a wedding, but sometimes…

it IS just like the HUNGER GAMES!! (:

Ari Seth Cohen has captured style in his new book in a way that many of us forget about. The fashion of our elders is what makes clothing today so fabulous. Taking a look at the timeless beauties featured in this book gives a new meaning to aging gracefully. Advanced Style is available May 22, but Ari Seth Cohen’s blog is available at advancedstyle.blogspot.com.

kate & paul’s wedding

passports and pancakes

what an amazing weekend. i am so glad i have some photos to help me describe how lovely the past couple days were, because words just wouldn’t be enough!

champagne and white wine to welcome the guests at the reception; pretty roses and peonies in shades of pink and white; beautiful porches added to the charm of the william aiken house; a 3-man band to start the party; picturesque white pergola/vine-covered bring wall backdrop; guests entering the reception and heading to the cute bar (with an hor d’oeuvre menu written on an old window pane); and hanging lanterns/globe lights near the band.

kelly, kristin, and i at the reception; the mcafee family; the gibson family (our generous hosts/hostesses for the weekend); ryan/me and kristin/walker; hope/katie and eilidh/lucy (kate’s childhood friends from belgium!); brett, turner, & ryan; cheeky cocktail napkins.

wedding party candids (how beautiful is the bride?!)

mr. parks’ (father of the bride) speech to the newlyweds; i couldn’t get enough of the beautiful flowers everywhere; pretty wedding cakes (and a birthday cake for kate’s brother); the birthday boy toasting kate & paul; cake cutting!

father-daughter dance; the groom with brett and walker; some of the salvagable candids that ryan sneakily took while we were all dancing.

the happy couple and their sparkler sendoff!

sorry for the long post, but these were my favorites of the 200ish photos from their wedding night (!). kate & paul, i wish you nothing but the best on your newly married journey! love you both!

We can not be more excited that LulaKate has brought back their ready-to-wear clothing line!  The classic, sleek lines that we have all fallen in love with in the bridal collection will be fabulous in tops, skirts and dresses. It will be wonderful to pop in and grab the perfect outfit for an upcoming event. Everyone looks good in the ruffle neckline and a-line skirts which we hope is a staple in the new collection. We look forward to the reveal of the new line and spending way too much money!

*Summer Sangria:

1 bottle of white wine
3 cans of Fresca
fresh cut fruit (grapes, peaches, strawberries)

If you are making larger quantities, just remember to add 3 cans of Fresca for every bottle of wine

*Peach Lemonade Coolers

2 medium sized, ripe peaches. peeled, halved, & pitted
1/2 cup lemonade
1 ounce vodka of choice

Puree the peaches & lemonade in a blender until smooth.

If you’re wondering why we haven’t been blogging every day, that would be because of the amazing weddings we’ve had the past few weekends!

Two weekends ago, we had Anna and Eric’s wedding at The Legare Waring House. Both being Broadway lovers, we made sure to have the music alive all over! The beautiful day is featured on Elizabeth Anne Designs today, so be sure to check it out for all of the details and pictures!

This past weekend we had Lindsey and Brandon’s wedding at William Aiken House. Imagine this : Coco Chanel hosting a fabulous, fancy party in her cabana, on the shore – in the South of France in the 1920s. Are you visioning it? It was fab. The picture above is just a sneak peak – note the amazing patterned draping.

I had to blog about Alice and Keith’s wedding this past weekend, I just couldn’t help myself. It was quaint, sweet, beautiful, intimate, adorable and fun – if you can imagine all of those things put together…

Their surprise exit on a tandem bike was the icing on the cake and my personal favorite part! The bike theme flowed all the way through the wedding, from the invites, to the programs, to their ADORABLE cake, and to the very last moment of the night as they rode through sparklers on their bike (appropriately decorated with white cans on the back, of course)

What a fun night! Congratulations Alice & Keith

If you haven’t looked yet, you must look at Style Me Pretty’s feature today on our lovely Annie and Craig!

The wedding ceremony was at the American Theater, followed by the reception at The William Aiken House, which was then followed by an after party at O-ku. What a day! And every single minute was amazing.

Every aspect of this wedding was personalized just for Annie and Craig. Starting with the ceremony at the American Theater for Annie’s dancer/broadway style, to the cocktail napkins that were personalized with “The Winston” (see above), to the wedding’s theme (May Love Grow) adorn all throughout the William Aiken House – everyone knew they were at Annie and Craig’s wedding.

As always, Anne and her team at Charleston Stems did an amazing job with the flowers and they really helped set the mood and theme that we were going for. Peonies, garden roses, sweet peas in mini topiaries – so sweet – whats not to love?

Lizz did an amazing job, we are so proud of her! And we are so happy that we got to work with this lovely couple. We are so happy for you Annie and Craig!

Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have used the word bootcamp, its kind of scary. But, I can assure you, its not scary and I think its safe to say that pretty much every bride dreams of being in tip-top shape on their wedding day! Thats where our wonderful friend Ryan, a certified strength and conditioning specialist, comes in…

Ryan is an in-home personal trainer (you may have also seen him at the Gold’s Gym on James Island) who is young, energetic and fun! Most importantly, he understands that brides want to look good on their special day, and they want to have fun in the process of getting there. As a result, he is offering packages that include personal training, nutrition guidelines and just about whatever it takes to look good on your wedding day!

How fun would this be to do with your bridesmaids or even with your fiance so that everyone is looking smashing on the big day? ; ) If you are interested all you have to do is e-mail us here at Southern Protocol and we can send you one of Ryan’s packages. We’re so excited we may have to throw on our cute work out clothes (perfect excuse to work out those lululemons) and do it, even if we’re not getting married any time soon…

People Against Rape was established in 1974 to assist adult victims of sexual assault in the tri-county community covering Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley counties. It has expanded over the years as it now serves child and adult victims of sexual violence and abuse.

What better way is there to support a charity for our area? The entire store is going on sale anywhere between 20% – 70% and 100% of the proceeds from PAR’s ticket sales will stay with PAR.  Any organization can participate by selling tickets, which you can buy directly from PAR.  All of PAR’s proceeds go to their Victim Relief Fund that helps support victims of sexual assault.

We hope you will support PAR with us girls here at Southern Protocol!

Well we tried to keep this website a secret, but, its just too amazing to hide.

The website is called IO MOI — www.iomoi.com and they have every type of accessory a girl could ever want in any pattern a girl could ever want. I love all of the chevron prints, of course, and I love the monkeys that remind me of my Mother’s hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil monkeys. And I love “James the Fox”. I first discovered the website because of its fabulous stationary. My aunt has done her Christmas cards from IO MOI for the past couple of years and I finally looked at the website. Not sure if that was best thing thats ever happened to me, or a huge mistake : )

They have everything from stationary, to i phone cases, to coasters and custom trays, to canvas bags and shoes. It has become my go-to website for gifts and it would make a great place to find some cute and different bridesmaids gifts!

p.s. IO MOI was also featured in the latest issue of Elle Magazine in an article for Rebecca Minkoff’s home. love.

We are so excited for Skirt! Magazine’s ReDo Party tomorrow night!  We love Skirt! here at Southern Protocol (it is one of the first things on our minds on the 1st of every month) and when else do you get a chance to re-wear your gorgeous, expensive, fabulous, special dress from the big day? Never.

The party is to benefit the Skirt! College of Charleston Scholarship Fund, and what a fun way to support the cause. We can’t wait to see all of the beautiful, or not-so-beautiful, wedding and bridesmaids dresses, the crazy hair and pretty shoes. And not to mention what is inside those fabulous “swag bags”. Hope to see everyone there!

We haven’t tried it yet, but, luckily, Sara’s Mom is bringing some to taste when she is town next week The flavor is yummy vanilla almond cake with hints of smooth, rich buttercream frosting — sounds absolutely amazing and perfect for any event leading up to the special day.

We will have to keep you posted on delicious it is…