Meredith West, founder of design company A La Mere, and West Owens, a criminal defense attorney, met in Raleigh, North Carolina through mutual friends. “We were out one night—I was with my girls, and he was with his guys—at an old favorite bar with a fun band,” Meredith explains. “I was enjoying myself dancing on stage—probably too much—and he leaned over to one of my best friends, motioned towards me, and said, ‘Who is that?’”
After three-and-a-half years together, he proposed around her birthday in Wrightsville Beach. On the way to an early celebratory dinner, her sister and roommate were “running late,” so they decided to check out a dock, West claimed that they hadn’t seen before. “We walked up towards the park on the water, where I saw a note and flowers and quickly realized what was happening,” Meredith shares. “I also saw Amanda, our photographer, hiding in the bushes which was hilarious and made it all the more real!”
For their wedding, the engaged couple decided they wanted to share one of their favorite places, Bald Head Island, with their guests. “We wanted the aesthetic to feel easy and light, like an endless summer—tailored but not overdone,” the bride explains. To help plan everything, they hired Courtney and Sally of Kickstand Events.
West wore a custom white dinner jacket, and the bridesmaids wore patterned dresses that Meredith lovingly designed herself. “I designed each fabric and had it printed through Spoonflower,” she explains. The bride also designed fabric for the table runners, pillows, and band backdrop panels and created the custom signage, welcome bag goodies, and her rehearsal dinner outfit.
It took Meredith some time to find exactly what she wanted for her wedding dress. “With a background in textiles, admittedly, I was a little picky about the fabric—not too thin, breathable, and wouldn’t crease easily,” she says. One of her bridesmaids sent her an Instagram photo of a dress that was similar to what she had been envisioning, and after messaging the bride in the picture, Meredith found out the designer was Romona Keveza.
However, no one in North Carolina carried the gown. The sweet owner of Nitsa’s in Winston-Salem managed to order a sample from New York for Meredith to try on. The bride and her mom instantly fell in love with it, but she opted to remove the organza overskirt and paired it with Alexandra Grecco’s Quinn Veil. On the day-of, Meraki Beauty made her look naturally effortless for her trip down the aisle.
On the lawn of Old Baldy Lighthouse, Meredith walked with her father, as steel drum band Sea Pans played “What a Wonderful World.” “Once we got to the end of the aisle, I couldn’t stop smiling,” the bride says. “It felt so surreal, and it was beyond everything I thought it would be.”
After being announced as husband and wife, everyone took golf carts to the Shoals Club on the southeastern most point of Bald Head Island. Cocktail hour began on the veranda, overlooking the pool, and then guests moved to the side pavilion, where there were bars, food stations, and the band under a clear tent.
Sleeping Booty Band opened with “This Is How We Do It,” and the dance floor was packed for the rest of the night. The newlyweds had their first dance to “Cruisin’” by Smokey Robinson, and at one point in the evening, Meredith’s father joined the band with his harmonica for “Play That Funky Music.”
The newlyweds left their reception in the island’s famous Rolls-Royce wedding golf cart and laughed and cried all the way to the condo West had rented for the weekend. “We did not want the night to end!”
