Hilton Head Monthly Voice Voice of the Lowcountry 
Kelly (Schuler) Hackman’s biggest wish for her wedding was that it take place outside. She and her groom, Dan Hackman, chose Colleton River Plantation Club — and the Lowcountry in general — for its breathtaking backdrops and gorgeous greens, which the Northern Kentucky natives were familiar with after vacationing here for many years.
But 2015 was a rainy year on Hilton Head, and the couple’s June 29 nuptials were nearly washed out.
Tracey Mancini has been a wedding coordinator for 25 years. She’s seen countless brides walk down countless aisles. But some weddings — like Hayley and Jake Jackson’s — stay with her long after the “I dos” have been done.
“There are certain ones that absolutely stick out that I fall in love with, and Hayley and Jake’s wedding was one of them,” says Mancini, senior wedding and events specialist for Celebrations Catering & Events. “Hayley is beautiful, she was a stunning bide, but also so organized in the planning that she made it heavenly easy for me.”
Kendra Collins was on Bluffton High School’s golf team when she met J.D. Allison, a native of Houston who was attending the International Junior Golf Academy on Hilton Head Island.
“He said he saw me and fell in love with me,” says Kendra, who married her high school sweetheart at Windows on the Waterway in Hilton Head Plantation.
She fell in love with Hilton Head Island in the summer of 2008 when she came to visit her then boyfriend, Mike. His passion, genuine interest and respect for the natural beauty of the area were evident – to the point of being contagious, says Jill.
“Whether we were riding bikes on the beach (which I personally love because you are not allowed to ride bikes on the beach in New Jersey where my family vacations!), gawking at the wild armadillos of Pickney Island, or sharing a cocktail at Coco’s on the Beach – we were always having fun.
With every glance at the forecast leading up to her nuptials last March, Lindsay Finger thought she might be facing every bride’s nightmare: A rainy wedding day.
“The weather forecast called for stormy weather on March 14, and we even went to the extreme of renting a tent because it didn't look like the weather was going to cooperate,” says Finger, who married Hilton Head Island native Mark Finger that spring day at Belfair Plantation. “The morning of our wedding, I woke up, looked outside and saw the sun shining for the first time in three days.”
Love in the Lowcountry
Allison Wessel and Nick Cuca wanted to treat their guests to an authentic Lowcountry wedding. Though Wessel grew up in the Lowcountry, her groom was from Chicago, where the couple lives, and for many of their guests, the wedding would be their first time on Hilton Head Island.
“We wanted to make it feel like you weren’t just anywhere, you were in the Lowcountry,” said Wessel, 28, a digital manager for the McDonald’s Corporation. “There’s no better place for that than Honey Horn. It being an outdoor venue was just perfect.”
All About Family
What’s your favorite part of a wedding? When asked this question, so many people love to answer: “Seeing the groom’s reaction to his bride.” The look on the groom’s face when his bride walks down the aisle says everything, doesn’t it? With all the focus on the bride, sometimes it’s so spectacular to see what the groom has to say.
Coastal Elegance at Sea Pines
Three words describe the wedding of Maria Curran and RJ Williams: classic, beautiful and coastal. Isn’t that every Hilton Head Island bride’s dream? A destination wedding of sorts for Curran and Johnston, who reside in Raleigh, North Carolina, but who frequent Hilton Head because of a family home, this wedding reflected the natural environment of Hilton Head and the beauty of Sea Pines. Of course, it was also reflective of the love the couple share and their families.
Love at First Sight
In the summer of 2007, which many of their close friends and family call “The Summer of Love,” Ryan Olson and Abby McDougall met at a fish fry at the McDougall home. Olson's brother, Erik, had just moved in across the street and he was visiting for the summer. To this day, Olson claims there was a light shining specifically on McDougall’s head when he first saw her. It’s his version of love at first sight.
