We are thinking of eloping to Charleston and are looking for ceremony location suggestions as well as hotel/b&b suggestions. Of course, romance is a priority! The ceremony will be VERY small: just the two of us and the officiant. I did a search on this topic and found a few responses, but they were all a few years old, so I thought I would throw this out there again and see if I can get some more recent opinions, perhaps from charleston natives or newlyweds. Thanks in advance!

OHH!! When will you be doing this? My suggestion would be at the gazebo at White Point Gardens at The Battery. There is a wonderful B&B, Number One Meeting, right acros the street. Then a private carriage ride decorated for your wedding then off to a fabulous dinner!

Sorry, I just did a search and it is TWO Meeting Street Inn www.two meeting streetinn.com

I am from Charleston and I did the huge wedding "thing" but if I had to do it again, I would do it just as I suggested to you earlier!!

Ack!, I'm batting zero today! It's www.meetingstreet.com. And check out www.cpcc.com for a wedding carriage!

And for a fabulous dinner... http://www.magnolias-blossom-cypress.com/cypress/ ...Particularly fabulous if you are into wine!

I just can't get it right today! I wish there were a way to delete a mispost! Here is the b&b website (and I swear this is the last time!) www.twomeetingstreet.com

I have to say that I am having a wonderful time planning your wedding in my head!! LOL!

For a little wedding cake, there is Normandy Farm Artisan Bakery. It is downtown so I am sure they wouldn't mind delivering it to your b&b or dining choice.

Also, if you would like a bouquet or some simple arrangements, Flowers by Murray www.flowersbymurray.com do a wonderful job. They are located in Mt. Pleasant but they do a lot of work downtown. I have to say that the only decorations I have ever seen on the White Point Gardens gazebo were some ribbons. I believe you have to get a permit from the city and they have some rules to protect it.

Ok, that's it! I have already gotten far too carried away with your wedding!!

jetprincess: thank you so much for your suggestions! that's just the kind of information I was hoping to get - I really appreciate your taking the time to post your thoughts. we will definitely look at two meeting street and your gazebo idea!

Oh, your welcome! I hope it comes in useful! You'll also need to know that you will need a marriage license. The office to get those is not downtown. As of several years ago, there was a 3 day waiting period for the application and license to go through. Your officiant would know more about those current logistical details though.

Nolagirl, what a beautiful spot to get married in. I was just there for the first time in April and fell in love with Charleston. And may I say that I think you are planning a very romantic wedding. Many wishes to both of you.

Thanks, LoveItaly, and Jetprincess again, too. We are getting excited about it, even though we have only just begun planning things. It's fun to research all our options. Hoepfully a few more people will share their opinions, too!

My wife and I were married in Charleston a little over a year ago. Our ceremony and reception were at the Lowndes Grove Plantation. It's a beautiful old plantation house that is now a bed and breakfast. It's located on the banks of the Ashley River, on the northwest corner of the peninsula. The only downside is that it's in a residential neighborhood about 10 minutes from the historic / market area and the drive to the Plantation is not the greatest. However, I'd recommend at least taking a look at it if you don't mind being a few minutes away from the busy part of the city.
Also, my wife and her family stayed there a few days leading up to the wedding and really enjoyed it.
Our first night together we stayed at the Harbourview Inn, which was very nice. It overlooked the Waterfront Park and was within walking distance of many restaurants and bars.
We used Ambrosia for our wedding cake and Tiger Lily for flowers. Both were excellent.

Thanks so much for your input, BKelly!

My suggestion would be to get married on the cupola at the Wentworth Mansion. It is the most romantic spot in Charleston.

I did a trip report with kinda detailed information on some of the hotels. You can find it if you haven't read it if you search for "GoTravel Charleston" and that should pull it up.

http://www.wentworthmansion.com/

It is rated one of the top 50 Inns in North America, the only 5 Diamond 5 Star in Charleston, and Circa 1886 (the restaurant) was just raved about by Wine Spectator Magazine.

They have a special for $745 per couple from now until September for two nights, three days, and dinner for two.

GoTravel, I just read your long trip report and it was wonderful.. thanks so much for all the suggestions!

Such coincidence! This post comes just before the post "Charleston With Kids".
It reminds me of the "Honeymoon with Virgin" post title.

I say~leave em home.

As a former carriage driver in Charleston, I have to say that the gazebo at Battery Park (White Point Gardens) is definitely beautiful and romantic, but a very HOT SPOT for weddings! I can't tell you how many weddings I've seen there. It is definitely not private as there are always tourists around. But beautiful, yes...I just didn't want you to expect some remote, private location. Two Meeting Street Inn is a very romantic place to stay; however, very hard to get into it unless you book very early. There are MANY other romantic and very nice B&Bs...it's been 10 years since I lived there so don't want to give recommendations based on ten-year old info. Do a search on it and I'm sure you'll come up with plenty. It's a beautiful city & you'll have the time of your life there! Best wishes!

My fiance and I are considering eloping to Charleston in September. Nolagirl, did you already elope? Any suggestions? Just curious if you had a good experience.

My husband and I had a very small wedding in Charleston and because we ended up changing the date at the last minute, we found a chapel in downtown that we loved. The site is www.charlestonchapel.com and they were fabulous. They handled everything for us and we could not have been more pleased.

Wentworth Mansion...great grounds and a top romantic restaurant "Circa 1886"........Rutledge House amd Number Two Meeting Street are great B and B's for romance......