This Couple's Chapel and Golf Club Celebration in Savannah Featured One of Our Favorite Wedding Trends—Moss Décor

Lexie and Everett met in Austria on a study abroad trip in 2014. “We sat adjacent to each other in Austrian Cinema class, which was quite the snoozer at 8 a.m., but I remember catching glances at Everett and I think that kept us both awake,” Lexie says. The two started dating six months later and did long distance for a year and a half before they both moved to Atlanta for work. There, Lexie moved in with roommates—and four years later, Everett told her he was taking her hiking and ring shopping. Instead, when she opened the front door to leave, he was standing there asking her to take off her backpack. Before she knew it, he was down on one knee and proposing. 

The couple held their wedding in Savannah, Georgia, where they both grew up. Their ceremony took place at Our Lady of Good Hope Chapel; Lexie and her family spent Christmas mass there for many years during her childhood. “After Covid, we also realized that an intimate ceremony was important to us,” the bride says. “We invited our wedding party and family to the ceremony, while the rest of our guests enjoyed a beautiful September Saturday and then met us at Savannah Golf Club for the reception.”

They invited 225 guests to a party full of their favorite foods, signature orchid ice ball martinis, and garden-inspired, sage green décor. Read on to see the details of the church, tent, and ballroom celebration planned by Tara Skinner in pictures from Meredith Campbell Photography.

Lexie and Everett worked with Lowcountry Paper to create their invitation suite. They went with a classic design on handmade paper with sage green envelopes (sage was the main color seen in their wedding day décor).

When Lexie went wedding dress shopping, the first gown she tried on was a silk mikado number from Sareh Nouri. When she kept comparing other options to the first one, she knew it was the right wedding dress for her. “It was also very simple and timeless which is what I wanted and it just felt like me when I put it on,” she says.

She borrowed her cousin Margaret’s hand lace veil and wore Loeffler Randall shoes and her grandmother’s diamond tennis bracelet as a way to keep her close on the wedding day. “I am pretty picky when it comes to my hair and knew I wanted it pulled back in a sleek bun,” she says. “Tyler Lively totally understood what I wanted and delivered so well.” She held a bouquet of all-white florals, including some wax flowers she was able to keep. “They were really sweet and now always remind me of our wedding day,” Lexie says.

Lexie and Everett shared a private first look before the ceremony. “I knew I was going to be nervous and we both wanted a first look to help calm the nerves,” Lexie says. Everett made his big-day debut in a J. Crew tuxedo with a Sid Mashburn shirt, bow tie, and pocket square. He monogrammed the pocket square with his initials and also gifted them to his groomsmen. Cobbler Union shoes and cuff links, a wedding gift from his parents, completed his look.

Lexie asked her childhood best friend to be her maid of honor, while Everett's dad stood by his side as his best man. The bride chose sage green cowl neck midi length slip dresses from Show Me Your Mumu for her bridesmaids, who also held miniature versions of her bouquet. The groomsmen matched in black tuxedos with single button jackets.

When the couple walked through the chapel with their florist, they decided to embrace the church’s charm and add a minimal amount of décor. “Kim with August Designs created a square floral wreath that hung on the outside front door and fern and delphinium flowers in the potted urns leading to the front door,” the bride says. They also added tall palms on either side of the altar inside the church with hydrangeas embellishing the base.

As guests were seated and the wedding party walked down the aisle, a duet of musicians sang “The Prayer." Lexie then processed down the aisle with her dad to "Canon in D," which was played on the piano. The couple chose special readings for the ceremony that they first heard (and admired) at other weddings they've attended. Once they were pronounced husband and wife, they celebrated back down the aisle to a piano version of “Handel: Arrival of the Queen Sheba.”

At the reception, the couple wanted greenery, branches, and floral elements to act as a focal point, a vision that began in the vestibule just outside the dining room, where a lush, green and white tree brightened up the entryway. Before guests entered into the reception space, they shared their well wishes for the couple in a garden-themed coffee table book nearby.

The festivities kicked off at cocktail hour, where the couple served their favorite foods, like oyster shooters, dumplings with soy sauce droppers, smoked salmon spoons with creme fraiche and caviar, and fried pimento cheese balls. They also offered orchid ice ball martinis, which were served at Lexie’s cousin’s wedding, too. The venue set up a private tasting for Lexie and Everett as guests arrived at the cocktail hour. “It was so special and exciting being newly married and trying all of the different appetizers and foods we had been imagining for so long—we were so giddy,” Lexie remembers.

The couple and their guests enjoyed dinner in the club’s ballroom, where tables had alternating nude and cream linens and were paired with bamboo chairs—one of Lexie’s favorite touches. The tables were decorated with extravagant branches of greenery, potted plants, pops of white flowers, tea candles, and white taper candles in glass holders. The chandeliers were also draped in greenery, which provided additional texture overhead. Some place settings featured rattan chargers with white dishware, while others had glass chargers featuring pressed flowers and leaves.

After dinner, guests joined the couple inside a tent for dancing. Following Lexie and Everett’s first married spin, the bride shared a dance with her father to “Your Smiling Face” by James Taylor and Everett danced with his mom to “Days Like This” by Van Morrison. They strung cafe lights and added starburst light fixtures to the tent for a fun touch. 

Lexie and Everett served a white tiered almond wedding cake decorated with florals and greenery. The cake was displayed on a live moss orchid cake table—but the duo incorporated moss throughout other elements of the day’s décor, too. “My mom and I made decorative moss panels that were attached to the panels on the front of the outside bar under the tent,” Lexie says. “We created it together the week of the wedding and it was so much fun and sweet bonding time before our family came to town and things got busy.”

The couple hired Atlanta Party Band to keep guests on their feet at the reception. They passed Krystal burgers around the dance floor as a late-night snack, which was a nod to Everett’s extended family from Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the burger franchise started. They also brought in a cigar roller for guests to enjoy. They offered custom sage green matchboxes with their wedding date and married name.

At the end of the night, guests gathered outside to wish the newlyweds well as they took off in a friend’s convertible before jetting off to their honeymoon in Antigua.

To couples planning their big day, Lexie and Everett recommend staying true to your vision. “Be intentional about what you  both want for your day and don't feel like you have to do what everyone else does or whatever is ‘traditional’,” Lexie says, “Being untraditional in some senses is how you make your day unique and able to reflect you both as a couple.”