Karly & Nolan || The Trillium Venue

The Proposal

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Karly & Nolan

Nolan and Karly met while attending Clemson University. It was the fall of Karly’s freshman and Nolan’s sophomore year, and they decided to get involved in a campus service organization. The pledging process lasted an entire semester, with interviews and quizzes and many late nights with their 20-something other pledge brothers- aka Karly and Nolan spent a lot of time with each other and 16 of their fellow pledge brothers. Karly’s first memory of Nolan was walking into the organization’s lounge for a pledge meeting and seeing him squeezed onto a couch with 3 other people, chowing down on Taco Bell- he was basically a man after her own heart right then. Their friendship didn’t truly start to develop until late that summer/early in the following fall semester. Karly had a solid group of friends with our other pledge brothers and thought Nolan should be included- he had been pretty aloof up until that point, and she thought he could be a cool guy to hang out with. It would appear that Nolan felt the same because he would text Karly every Thursday or Friday asking what she was up to that weekend, and she would invite him to every group event they had going on. Karly would tell her friends, “wow, isn’t it great! Nolan wants to be our friend!” And they would look at her and roll their eyes; she was absolutely clueless. Finally, many events and instances culminated in Nolan asking Karly out on a date; she still didn’t believe he was into her. After consulting with his aunt, who worked on campus, Nolan took her to one of the most excellent restaurants Clemson had to offer and to a movie afterward. They ended the night picking friends up from a sorority event (I’m telling you, clueless) and sharing a sweet kiss when he dropped her at her door. They’ve been basically inseparable ever since. Karly and Nolan fell in love over their mutual enjoyment of fast food, Clemson football (+ their Clemson football tailgate), and their blind dog Sam. The rest, as they say, is history.
Karly and Nolan moved to Cincinnati together after graduation, but they still hold Clemson season tickets, so they go down to campus about 4-5 times a year. Because of the pandemic, they didn’t get to go to Clemson at all and were pretty sad about it. They had a trip to the neighboring city, Greenville, planned for the weekend of December 11th, 2020. Nolan suggested touring campus before visiting his aunt (the same one with the perfect restaurant recommendation for their first date). Karly and Nolan parked at the top of campus and walked down to the football stadium during the golden hour before sunset. They talked about their memories and how much they missed campus. They admired the stadium glows during the evening and expressed hopes to attend games again next year. Nolan suggested they check out the old tailgate spot they visit for every game. When they got to the place, Nolan turned to Karly, dropped to one knee, and told her he always knew she was special. Neither of them really remembered the rest- their crying drowned it out. They said yes to forever together and can’t wait to see how that history plays out.

The Wedding

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Karly & Nolan

Nolan and I booked our wedding at The Trillium before it was even finished. We stepped one foot onto their amazing patio and knew this was where we wanted to commit our lives to one another. Because of the gorgeous scenery, we decided to book our wedding for April so we could have a spring wedding and hoped for good weather and a beautiful spring sunset. The day of, the weather had other plans. We experienced every single season throughout the day, starting with a white-out snowstorm in the morning, freezing our booties off during the ceremony, and ending the night with mild temperatures and the most beautiful sunset we’ve ever seen. It was a wonderful, emotion-filled day. I shared an intimate first look with my dad, where we did a unique shot, and then Nolan and I shared a very emotional private first look where we exchanged our vows for the first time. We were both so anxious to start the day, but the second we saw each other for the first time, everything melted away except pure joy. Finally, it was time for the ceremony, and I stood at the end of the aisle for a few seconds before I ran to the love of my life. The view of Nolan at the end of the aisle with the mountains in the background will forever be burned into my soul- it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. After crying some more during the ceremony and kicking off the reception, we shared a special first dance to No One by Alicia Keys, the song Nolan sang to me driving home from our first date. We then had special dances with my dad and his mom and got the reception going. When we looked outside and saw the sun setting around the mountains, I jumped for joy- it was indeed the most beautiful sunset we’d ever seen. Surrounded by our family and friends, we enjoyed the evening and then danced the night away, so thankful to finally be married!

Karly’s

Bridal & Formal

Experience

I’m so so glad I chose Bridal & Formal!! The whole experience was so easy and fun- I could tell every employee in the store was fully committed to ensuring every bride found their dream dress and felt beautiful in it. The day I bought my dress was the kickoff to feeling like a princess during the wedding planning season. They made every part of the process easy, from booking appointments to dress pickup to find a seamstress. I will be referring all my friends to Bridal & Formal when it’s their turn to get married!
My consultant, Sandra, was AMAZING! I think she knew immediately what I wanted when I walked through the door and helped me try on a few dresses so that I could figure out for myself what she already knew. When I put the last dress on, my friends and family cried, and Sandra smiled, knowing this was the dress for me all along. I’d never felt more beautiful, and I’m so glad she helped me find it!