Aug 25, 20212 min read

Fall 2020 Cover in Sotterly

STYLED SHOOT | PHOTOS BY COSTOLA PHOTOGRAPHY

LOCATION: SOTTERLY, SOUTHERN MARYLAND

In 2018, Alex and Kristen Suplee were married and had their reception at Historic Sotterley Plantation. It rained.

Fast forward to 2020 and Alex and Kristen came back to Sotterley... This time during a pandemic.

Despite these trials, both were an absolute delight to work with, acknowledging the situation with levity and grace. For Kristen, she was at home at Sotterley, as she grew up just a few miles away in California, Md. Her parents got married at Sotterley as well.

Kristen’s father actually stopped by during the shoot to add some colorful commentary, but it was clear how much he cared for his daughter and the attachment he felt towards this location.

Back in 2018, Alex and Kristen participated in the southern wedding tradition of “burying the bourbon,” which dictates that exactly one month before your wedding day, you go to the site and bury a bottle of bourbon to “keep the rain away.”

Although the rain didn’t stay away and Alex humorously noted that they never found the burial site to dig the bottle back up (the second part of the tradition), Kristen said that they didn’t consider any part of this to be bad luck, quoting a Hindu idea that “a wet knot is harder to untie.”

“You’re so pumped about the person you’re marrying, the weather doesn’t matter,” Kristen said.

The evening of the photo shoot was lovely and filled with mirth. It was perfect timing, too, as many of our vendors had not had much of a chance to fully express their creative spirit due to the many postponements that the coronavirus brought to the industry. Yet they were ready.

Led by wedding planner Heather Miller, founder of The Hitched Company, everything was neatly organized and beautifully presented. She ran such a tight ship that at one point I leaned over to our regional advertising manager Brook Ash — a U.S. Navy veteran — and asked how her structure compared to the military.

Heather had it all so neatly coordinated that the night went off “without a hitch.”

Sotterley were remarkable hosts, allowing the creativity to shine. It had the joy and delight of an actual wedding. Alex and Kristen may have been models for the day, but their love and affection was as genuine as on their wedding day.