Beverly Young Burris and Steven Raymond Kropski met at a wedding! It was her college roommate’s big day; she was a bridesmaid, and he went to law school with the couple. They were both by the bar at the welcome party, and he pretended to be a crasher. “Being the gullible person (and great bridesmaid) that I am, I was about to tell him off, when the bride yelled to him from across the bar and blew his cover. I never thought I’d fall for a pickup line, but it definitely caught my attention,” says Beverly. Three years of dating later, and he proposed on the dock in their neighborhood of Charleston while on a walk with their dog, Riley.
Beverly actually saw her Oscar de la Renta dress for the first time on Instagram, a month after getting engaged. Once it was closer to her date, she tried on other gowns but couldn’t get that original one out of her head. It was sold out on Moda Operandi, so she went to Oscar de la Renta directly and received the dress a little too close for comfort to her April walk down the aisle. She completed the look with her “something new,” red Loeffler Randall shoes from Hampden.
As their city has become a top wedding destination as of late, the bride originally didn’t want to host her event locally, but after realizing a destination wedding in Provence meant dealing with a time difference and language barrier, she warmed up to the idea. “I am from Charleston, after all, and it has really shaped who I am. It’s also where Steve and I fell in love and built a life together,” she explains. To compromise on the Provençal vineyard, they had an intimate ceremony in a private garden downtown, and they held their reception at the South Carolina Society Hall. To help plan it all, they hired Haley Kelly Events, and the bride called her friend Megan of Vero Designs to do the florals.
On the day of, 12 guests gathered for the short service. “The only non-family member was our photographer, Anne Rhett, who has been my one of my best friends since birth, so she was also instrumental in helping me feel comfortable with a camera present.” Beverly’s father walked her down the aisle to a cover of Trampled by Turtles’s “Alone,” and after the two shared their first kiss as a married couple, they toasted with champagne.
The newlyweds arrived at the hall mid-way into the cocktail reception and led people upstairs for a delicious dinner, catered by Cru. “I was so nervous, I barely ate, but everyone else raved about it,” says the bride. The Bayside Tigers, a N.Y.C. band now known as Saved by the ’90s, played a subdued set during the meal and then cranked up the volume for the party. “We brought out face paint, and my mom bought sequin bunny ears (the next day was Easter). The band opened to Lit’s, ‘My Own Worst Enemy,’ and our guests went nuts.”
Toward the end of the night, the band called out the couple’s song request for “It’s All Coming Back” by Celine Dion, which they had learned for the wedding. “Obviously, Steve and I danced to it, and it turned into one of those special moments, when everyone was standing in a circle around us, holding each other and swaying, as they belted out the lyrics,” says Beverly.
For their exit, guests lined the staircase of Society Hall with streamers that went off, as the couple ran through. They then hopped in a rickshaw headed for the Blind Tiger—a regular after-wedding spot for locals.