Tori + Chris' Glamorous Gothic Inspired South Carolina Wedding!
Tori and Chris' love story reads like one of those romantic Hollywood films. Two people from nearby hometowns going to different colleges, but who have a friend in common, meet once, don't see each other for years, then one day, when timing is just right, they meet again and fall in love.. "He showed up that night with a long stem red rose— we had our first date, and we never stopped dating. After 5 months of long distance, I moved in with Chris in Connecticut, and a year after that, we moved to Greenville, SC. We bought our first home together in April 2018, 7 months before the wedding, and we are expecting our first child in July."
Tori looked amazing in our Nessa, a sultry crystal-beaded gown with a plunging neckline - a perfect choice for her glamorous gothic Southern wedding which featured moody blacks, dark reds, and golds. Scroll down to view the couple's wedding album and to read more about their wedding story!
How they met..
Chris’ best friend in high school, Katie, was my good friend in college. At the beginning of freshman year, Chris asked Katie who she had made friends with, and Katie told him about me. Chris immediately asked Katie if she would introduce us, and she agreed.
Chris went to a different college than us, but our hometowns were close, so on the next college break we all met up and went out for ice cream. That was the first and essentially last time I saw him for the next 4 years. I had a boyfriend throughout college, and the timing never worked out.
After college, I moved back home to New York and Chris moved to Connecticut for work. A year after graduation, he came back home to New York for Easter and we bumped into each other at a bar. He saved me from an awkward situation with another guy, and we continued to talk all night. At the end of the night, he asked me if he could take me on a date the following day. I told him that if he remembered that he liked me in the morning, I would agree to a date. The next morning, he texted me that he had remembered, and was ready for our date.
The proposal..
On Friday July 28, 2017, Chris suggested that we go out to dinner. I had a pretty rough day at work, so I declined, but he insisted and convinced me that it would make me feel better. We got to the restaurant, split a bottle of wine, and he sat for two hours, smiling and listening to me rant about my day. After dinner he suggested that we go for a walk to grab another drink at our favorite roof top bar.
Directly under that bar is an alleyway of beautifully strung lights. It’s a popular tourist spot in Greenville to have your photo taken, and though we've taken that photo for many people before, we never had one taken of us. Chris knew this bothered me, so when we reached the alleyway, he suggested that we take one. He called on a random couple walking by, and we got our photo taken.
Just as the woman was handing me my phone back, Chris requested one more photo. As I prepared to pose, he got down on one knee and just like that, the amazing (and nameless) woman switched my camera over to video, and captured the whole thing, as if she had been training for that moment her whole life. We are super thankful to her because to this day, neither of us remembers what was said. We were both so overcome with emotion that the only thing we can guarantee is that I said yes.
Following the engagement, we went up to our favorite bar, had a glass of champagne, and called our family and friends. Chris explained to me that he had asked my Dad’s permission 3 months prior, on a family vacation, and had been customizing the ring since. He only just received it hours before we went out.
What she loved about planning her wedding..
My current side gig is in the wedding planning industry, so planning my own wedding was very second nature. I had picked out a lot of the details and made a lot of the plans before Chris even proposed to me haha. I would say some of the best parts were finding my dress, after thinking it wasn't going to happen, and taste-testing all of the food.
Finding the dress..
Finding my dream dress was actually really tough! I started by flying to New York and going to Kleinfelds where I tried on a ton of dresses that were way out of my budget. Then I went to BHLDN and tried on a ton more dresses that were too bohemian for my style. I was a little discouraged that I didn't find my dress on the first try. A couple weekends later I drove up to Asheville, and went to 3 other bridal shops before ending up at Wedding Inspirations, which is this tiny, but glamorous dress boutique. I must've tried on 30+ dresses there, but none felt right. I finally surrendered to the fact that I just wouldn't be one of those girls who would put her dress on and sob, but low and behold, the very last dress I tried on, I looked at myself in the mirror and broke down. At that point I knew I had found my dress.
Her favorite memories of the wedding..
I would say our wedding vows. Chris and I chose to have a shorter ceremony where we wrote our own vows. I had spent months writing mine and really thought I knocked it out of the park (we had a little bet going on whose vows would be more romantic), but the moment Chris opened his mouth, I lost it, he lost it, everyone in the ceremony lost it. His vows truly blew us all away and I won't ever forget the words he said to me on that day.
Congratulations, Tori and Chris, thank you for making us a part of your amazing day!
Gown: Wedding Inspirations | Venue: Revel Event Center | Photography: Sophie Brendle | Floral: Statice Floral | Donuts: The Donut Experiment | Band: Steel Toe Stiletto