Charleston Women Spring 2021

www. Char l es tonWomen . com | www. ReadCW. com | www. Facebook . com/Char l es tonWomen CW T o say 2020 was a year of the unexpected is, perhaps, the understatement of the decade. But of all the things I didn’t expect to occur this year, becoming an ad-hoc wedding planner and internet-ordained minister was so far outside of the realm of reality that if a future version of myself came back to tell me about it, I would have certainly laughed and done a spit-take with my home-crafted cocktail — because we’re all experts at those by now, right? Still, when your baby brother implores you – with the most endearing smile while holding his bride-to-be’s hand – to perform their marriage ceremony, you say yes and figure the rest out later. Like many couples this year, Camden and his fiancé Sophia found themselves engaged and facing the uncertainty of a worldwide pandemic that threatened to derail their plans of a traditional wedding surrounded by family and friends, good food, libations and dancing well into the night. Everything was up in the air except their deep and enduring love for one another. Thankfully, as a military family, we’re no strangers to amended plans. Throughout the years, we’ve celebrated special occasions early or late to accommodate deployments and temporary duty assignments, so it was only fitting, I suppose, that my brother’s nuptials were also fast-tracked to occur in advance of his impending enlistment in the Air Force. When the decision was made to move ahead with the ceremony, we had just six weeks to pull the event together for a Labor Day weekend wedding. With a very small budget in mind and virtually no time to plan, we first sought out a free venue to serve as backdrop for their vows. As a nod to our local military history, we landed on the gorgeously landscaped grounds surrounding the Old Officers’ Quarters at Riverfront Park in North Charleston. Then came booking a photographer, which should BY MERED I TH HAGEN “I now pronounce you…” Beautiful Words I Never Expected To Say Photo by N. Mickle Photography.