Photos by Paul Johnson
Stylish. Sophisticated. Stunning. These are the words to describe the wedding of Allison and Charles at Alys Beach. If you are looking for a wedding to inspire you, this event was the epitome of magnificent. From the gorgeous gown and hat to the breathtaking setting of Alys Beach, we can’t get enough of this stylish, dreamlike day.
How did you meet the groom?
I met Charlie on the tennis court. He walked up behind me and said “Hi, how are you? So good to see you again!” I had no clue who he was, so I ran up to my instructor and said “Who is this?! I need to be with this person!” Apparently Charlie knew of me because his dad and my uncle are best friends.
How did you choose your gown? Tell us about your gown.
I had been to numerous bridal boutiques and wasn’t finding anything I liked. I kept finding myself attracted to one designer, Galia Lahav, so after seven months of looking, I decided to find out which boutique in the country carried them. I found a store in Boca Raton and booked a plane ticket by myself. Then three weeks before I was supposed to fly down, I saw a 
new Galia Lahav dress on Instagram and it was just perfect! It featured a hat and had a slight Michael Jackson “Smooth Criminal” vibe. After trying on a few more designer gowns, I knew that dress was the one! There wasn’t a dress available for me to try on, so their seamstress took my measurements and we ordered it from Tel Aviv. Three months later they shipped me the dress and it fit like a glove! It was everything and more I dreamed it could be.
Tell us about your hat.
The hat was shown with the dress, and I’m a hat girl anyway, so that may have been the selling point. I ordered the dress so soon after it came out, that when they sent the hat it had a huge make up stain on it. We figured that was the same hat the model wore in the photo shoot, which was exciting. The hat reminded me of a 1920s Michael Jackson inspired gangster, 
and I was all in! I’m a huge Michael fan.
How did you choose your bridesmaids’ dresses?
The bridesmaid’s dresses were so tough! They might have been the hardest decision of the whole wedding. It took me six months to decide after many shipments of dresses. At first I thought I wanted everyone to be different, and since our scenery had white and gold pillars, I wanted them to be in white and gold. Those dresses turned out to be a disaster, so I went on gray because the guys were in gray. When I researched some more, I thought gray was too drab. I finally decided I wanted my bridesmaids to look like a bunch of little flowers around me. When I was trying on the wedding dresses, I thought mermaid fit was very flattering, so I wanted to wink at that with my bridesmaid’s dresses since I wouldn’t be wearing 
that fit. I ended up with a 1950s style Monique Lhuillier gown, and they felt like a little tulips all around me.
What did the groom and groomsmen wear?
I had always envisioned the guys in ivory shirts with ivory satin ties. I had seen it before and thought it always looks so elegant. Charlie found the suits in one day. He chose a gray Vera Wang suit for him and his guys to wear. The groomsman wore it with an ivory shirt and tie, and Charlie wore a white shirt and a gray tie to stand out. The male model in the picture of 
my dress was dressed the same.
What flowers and greenery are included in your bouquet.
My main flower choice was a long stem calla lily, but it took away from my dress so I had my bridesmaids carry them. My bouquet had peonies and some hydrangeas, but my girls were my statement.
Tell us about any unique details.
We had a vision of vintage with a modern twist – like 1920s but in present day. Charlie and I like very clean lines, so we didn’t want too much clutter around. We picked our venue to be 
the highlight of the event, so if it didn’t enhance the space, we left it out. The clear Lucite chairs were a definite because they sparkled like diamonds. Really, we just wanted to show people places that we had fallen in love with.
Here is a link to the wedding video https://vimeo.com/122856977