Honoring Our Founder's Life and Legacy

Melissa Williams

Melissa graduated from the College of Charleston with a degree in Business Administration and quickly found her love of event planning. She founded A Charleston Bride in 2001 and was one of the first full service planners in the area, a true trailblazer in the industry. What started as a fun side-hustle in her twenties, planning events for friends and family on her weekends, soon grew into a full blown passion. The established company you see today all began with her love for bringing others together and celebrating their most monumental life moments. Her ability to create strong relationships with everyone she crossed paths with is the backbone of her business legacy. From clients and vendors that turned into lifelong friends, to the team members past and present that attribute their successes from her impact, she left a lasting imprint on everyone around her. She was a pioneer in design and logistics, creating original and authentic designs backed with flawless execution for each of her clients. Over her 21 year career, she was recognized with multiple, coveted planning awards and had countless featured publications both online and in print.

Numerous event professionals credit Melissa and A Charleston Bride for giving them their first opportunity in the industry.

With an abundance of amazing event talent in the Charleston wedding sector, it certainly speaks volumes to Melissa’s success and approach that so many others would often lean on her for advice - both professionally and personally.

Celebrate Melissa’s life with us

As an alumna of the College of Charleston with a concentration in Business, Melissa felt very passionately about her community involvement with the school and their curriculum. She was a guest speaker on numerous occasions to the students in the hospitality program and aspiring event planners. To further her support and share her knowledge, each year she partnered with the college to offer both a Spring and a Fall internship opportunity with A Charleston Bride. She helped dozens of interns over the years gain more event experience and gave many students the ability to get their foot in the door of the industry with permanent job opportunities. As a company, we will continue to host interns from the College of Charleston each year and plan to make an annual contribution to the scholarship fund being set up in her name. If you would like to honor Melissa and celebrate her life with us, donations can be made in her memory to the Melissa Corbin Williams Scholarship Fund with College of Charleston by visiting https://give.cofc.edu/Melissa-Corbin-Williams.

Carrying on Melissa’s legacy

Melissa’s confidence, attention to detail, and high expectations of all of those involved, set the standard of flawlessly executed events in the Lowcountry. Her streamlined techniques and systematic approach to planning are the fundamentals that our team follows today and will continue to follow in years to come. She turned her passion into a career and helped hundreds of families over the years. She worked vigorously to develop solid planning processes, cultivate strong vendor relationships, go above and beyond for her clients and face every obstacle with grace and perseverance and we will continue to do the same in her name. Her loss is immeasurable but, looking ahead, we are honored to carry on the legacy that she built. She will forever be celebrated by us as the life of every party that we produce.