Jacquie Marshall and Marcus Siegmund met as sophomores at Princeton, when they both joined the same eating club, and started dating almost immediately. “We actually had the ‘Most Likely to Get Married’ paper plate award!” Jacquie says. After six years together, he proposed on the beach at Sea Island.
“Marcus had asked my dad at the beginning of March at a friends’ wedding in Cabo. He wasn’t planning on proposing for a little while but wasn’t sure when he would see him again, since we don’t live in the same place,” she says. “Little did he know that the following week, we would all end up in Sea Island together, and he would spend three months in quarantine with him!”
While in quarantine, Marcus was working remotely, and Jacquie was in classes via Zoom. One morning, on a usual early walk, he got down on one knee. “I was so surprised!”
Since Jacquie’s family has had a house at Sea Island since she was little, and it’s become a special place for her and Marcus, she always knew she would get married there. Because they were quickly planning for a June wedding during the pandemic, their ceremony would just be family, and the two booked The Cloister Chapel, which Jacquie loved but wouldn’t have considered previously because of its small size. To help plan everything, the bride contacted Augusta Cole right after she got engaged.
At the time when Jacquie was ordering wedding dresses, all stores were closed because of COVID-19, and some retailers had major shipping delays or were holding orders. She managed to order several tea-length options from Net-A-Porter Hong Kong and went with a beautiful Self-Portrait design. Marcus decided on a deep blue, textured blazer and light pants that he already owned with a small pink boutonnière to match the bride’s bouquet from The Vine.
On the morning-of, the families met at Jacquie’s house for brunch by the pool, and then the ladies went to The Cloister to get ready with hair and makeup artist Claire Balest. “My bridesmaids—for our big celebration in the future—surprised me on zoom with a video of them all doing the same TikTok dance all over the world,” the bride says. “It was hilarious.”
At 7:00pm on June 27th, Jacquie walked down the aisle with her father to “Ode to Joy,” and then the ceremony began right outside of the chapel’s doors with Reverend Purdy. After the intimate service, the small party strolled along the river walk to cocktails. “It was total golden hour perfection, especially because there was a Saharan Dust Cloud in the air that made the light even more beautiful.”
Just as the sun was setting, the families sat down to a six-course, Italian-inspired dinner. “We had so much fun deciding on linens and tableware,” the bride says. “When you only have seven guests, the sky’s the limit! We ended up choosing a John Robshaw fabric for the tablecloth—I have always loved his fabrics and had them in all my bedrooms growing up—and we paired it with fun Themis Z plates and added a pop of pink for the napkins.”
As Jacquie looks back on everything now, “the day couldn’t have been more perfect.” “We haven’t stopped smiling and we keep reliving it through the pictures,” she says. “We’re just so grateful to our families for being there and to all the vendors who made our day so magical.”
