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WEDDING GIVEAWAY WINNER'S BLOG
About the couple
Jaime and Erik first met as cast mates on CBS's Survivor: China, even
though they grew up only 20 minutes away from one another in upstate South
Carolina. This past June, Erik proposed to Jaime on The Battery overlooking
the Charleston harbor. Jaime and Erik now reside in Nashville, TN where
Jaime devotes her time to helping women at Mercy Ministries, and Erik
pursues his passion of making music in the rock band, Florez.
About The Charleston Wedding Giveaway Blog
Jaime and Erik are blogging their experiences leading up to the wedding
in Charleston. Check back often, or use one of our subscription options to
keep up to date with their latest stories, video, and more!
By jaime
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December 9, 2008 – 3:52 pm |
Well unfortunately Erik and I have a slightly different taste in music. We both tend to love good ol’ 90’s rock (you know Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Weezer) but we seem to disagree in the country and rap categories. I pretty much love country and rap and Erik, well let’s just say he doesn’t! I would be completely content breaking down with the Soulja Boy dance and a little line dance here and there but that is not Erik’s forte.
Luckily for us we have a wonderful compromise, Joe Clarke’s big band. Joe Clarke tends to play the old classics, you know the songs your grandpa thinks he can sing and assures himself he sounds just like Frank Sinatra. Yes, I am sure my Papa Bradshaw is going to be thrilled when he can sing along to the good ol’ classics. To add a little craziness to the celebration we have also decided to have a DJ during the bands breaks and to close out the evening. That way we can here all of our favorites, old and new, and I can convince Erik to give me a little Tim Mcgraw, Outkast, and possibly Lil Jon here and there.
Right now I am trying to compile all of our favorite songs for the play list. If anyone knows of a few great wedding songs to play, please send them my way. If you happen to be one of my lovely guests, send me several of the songs you will here and I will add them to the list for the DJ.
By jaime
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November 20, 2008 – 3:10 pm |
 Meeting with Sara at the CACVB. This past Friday I flew into Charleston and met with Sara from Something to Celebrate and the ladies at the CVB. We discussed all of the details of the wedding (and there are a lot!). It was fun to start brainstorming about the wedding theme, colors, and menu! I knew I wanted a “southern” wedding but I didn’t really know how to make that thought a reality.
After we discussed several possibilities, I decided on a Charleston theme. It is the heart of the low country and the essence of southern nostalgic charm and hospitality so I thought it would be perfect! Sara is going to help come up with ideas for the menu and décor, which will tie into the Charleston theme.
When I think about southern cuisine, shrimp and grits immediately comes to mind. I would love to have a shrimp and grits station at the reception. Erik jokingly said a while back that he wanted to have Mac N Cheese (his favorite food of all time) at the reception. Well when I told him it might be possible to have a Mac N’ Cheese bar he lit up like a little kid! We’ll see how Wild Dunes’ version stacks up against his mom’s Southern crock pot recipe! All in all, it will be fun to see how Wild Dunes can bring our country favorites up a notch and make them suitable for a classic wedding reception.
I have no idea how they will use the theme for the décor. If anyone has any fun “Charleston” decoration ideas please let me know. I have a feeling Sara and the ladies at the Charleston Flower Market will come up with some great ideas. I can’t wait to meet with them over Thanksgiving weekend!
By erik
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November 17, 2008 – 4:29 pm |
We have begun planning for our wedding already, but I will finally get to meet some of the vendors on Saturday, November 29 in Charleston. Jaime has been coordinating with our wedding planner, Sara Cavallon, Something to Celebrate, who has set up a schedule for the day. I am so thankful to have a planner to assist us with the wedding. First off, Jaime will be much less stressed, and secondly, we don’t have much time before the big day!
On that Saturday we will first be meeting with the Charleston Flower Market to pick floral arrangements. They will be providing all of the flowers for our wedding weekend. Then we will head over to Ashley Bakery to look at wedding cakes (I’m pretty excited about this, especially if we get to taste some of them!). Also during that afternoon we will go to Dulles Designs to pick out stationery for the wedding. And then as a finale to the afternoon, Jaime will go to Maddison Row, along with both our mothers, to look at wedding dresses. I am excited about that for Jaime. It should be a fun time for her and our mothers to bond and have some girl time. This will be a shopping experience like no other! Meanwhile, the dads and I will sneak away to watch the Clemson-USC football game and just hang out. This should be perfect timing for a diversion, as every guy knows that as much as he may want to help with certain things, he inevitably runs out of steam during any process that involves many details. I’m sure the ladies will understand! To end the evening, the CVB is providing one room at the Mills House Hotel, which is also where Jaime and I will stay on our wedding night (in the presidential suite!). Overall, it should be a very productive afternoon, and I think it will be fun to see our wedding day starting to take shape!
By erik
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November 10, 2008 – 3:46 pm |
As the wedding planning begins, I am slowly realizing that I’m not exactly cut out for picking flower colors or napkin patterns. So Jaime and I decided I should focus my efforts elsewhere.
While she is hard at work with the wedding planner on the details of the wedding, I am planning the after-party – THE HONEYMOON! Don’t get me wrong… I am above all else excited to get married to Jaime. But I can’t deny that I’m very excited to plan the honeymoon!
There are so many amazing places that we could visit, but we are looking at Bora Bora, Mexico, Hawaii and Thailand. Right now my top pick is Hawaii. Jaime and I have never been there, but we have always wanted to. And you can’t beat the perfect weather all year-round! Jaime really wants to go parasailing, and I would definitely like to scuba dive or snorkel… so the beach is a must. We will definitely want some relaxation after the craziness of the wedding, but we don’t want to miss out on a little adventure.
We are only in the beginning phase of honeymoon planning, so I’m still doing my research. If anyone, has suggestions for honeymoon locations, activities, or accommodations, please feel free to let me know!
By erik
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November 6, 2008 – 2:32 pm |
The month of voting for this wedding contest seemed to last a year. Each day leading up to the end started dragging more and more. So by October 17, Jaime and I were not only anxious but also exhausted! And then we still had to wait several days for the official vote tally. Needless to say, we were on the edge of our seats.
I received a phone call from the CVB on Wednesday October 22, letting me know that we had won the contest. I was thrilled! And I was even more excited that Jaime didn’t know yet, and the plan was to surprise her with the news. So I met up with a camera crew and we made our way to Jaime’s office at Mercy Ministries. When we walked into her office, she was obviously in the middle of work. I immediately started telling her the news, and it was awesome (and hilarious) to watch her facial expression change from the work face… to curiosity… to excitement… to REALLY EXCITED. I guess I’m all about catching surprises on camera this year!
During the voting process, we tried to come up with creative ways to get votes. Not only did we email, call, and text all our friends, but we tried to share our story with complete strangers. Thankfully, we had a lot of Survivor fans help us with votes, and supporting their favorite Reality couple. My mom posted flyers with our photo, a short story, and the voting link all around my old neighborhood in Greenville, SC. My parents both created Facebook accounts just to stir up votes for us! And I know Jaime’s Mom also put up flyers and created a Facebook account. I had a good time handing out the cards after FLOREZ concerts and getting people to vote. Most people loved hearing our story and were very happy to help.
Winning this wedding is such a blessing. I feel blessed just to have Jaime and such loving family and friends. And winning this amazing wedding is the icing on the (wedding) cake. Not only will the wedding be amazing but also this will help us financially and hopefully give us the opportunity to buy a house, which is our next dream.
I can’t think of any place I’d rather get married than Charleston. It is not only beautiful and charming, but it is located so close to my family. And most importantly, I know Jaime has always wanted to get married there. Knowing that her wedding dreams are coming true and seeing her face lit up on our wedding day is about the best gift I could ask for.
By jaime
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November 6, 2008 – 2:31 pm |
I am heading to Charleston on Friday morning to meet with the CVB and my wedding planner, Sara Cavallon. Sara started her business, Something to Celebrate in 2003 and has been helping brides plan their special day ever since. I checked out other weddings she has done in the past on her website, http://www.mysomethingtocelebrate.com, and they were amazing! I can’t wait to meet her and start discussing details about our big day!! It is going to be great to finally start the planning process and to hear about the amazing vendors that will be helping make this wedding possible.
I have already picked my bridesmaids dresses. My friend, Hadley Britt, helped design them and I am working with a seamstress out of Columbia, SC to custom make the dresses. They are a beautiful sea green and I think they will look great on the girls. They are cut right above the knees and I think the style will be perfect for a spring wedding. I am excited to see how we are going to tie in the dress color to the rest of the wedding.
I can’t wait to hear Sara’s ideas about the wedding theme. Having a wedding planner is going to take away a ton of the stress that comes along with planning a wedding. Erik was thrilled when we found out the giveaway included Sara’s services. I have already spent countless hours on wedding websites and scrap booking ideas for our wedding so having her help and expertise should give me an opportunity to relax.
After the meeting, I am headed to meet up with my friends for my first bridal shower. My sister has been planning it for the last month. I can’t wait! It will be so great to have all of the girls together again. A few girls moved away after college and it has been over a year since I have seen them. One of my bridesmaids is flying in from Ft. Lauderdale and another is flying in from Boston. It means so much to me that they are willing to travel and come celebrate this special time with me. It is going to be a fun reunion. I am excited to see them and tell them all about the wedding! I am ready to head down South and get this party started…
By jaime
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October 30, 2008 – 10:47 am |
When Erik walked through the doors at my workplace, Mercy Ministries, I was completely caught off guard. He told me that the Charleston Area Visitors Bureau had called and we won the wedding giveaway. My heart starting beating so fast and I was thrilled to hear the news. It was such a relief. We had to hold out on all of our wedding planning during the contest so we didn’t have a great backup plan. We already knew that we wanted to get married in Charleston sometime in the summer of 2009 but most of the dates were already booked solid. So winning this contest was such a blessing and was better then anything I had ever imagined! My entire workplace was cheering and clapping.
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