Testimonials

A Fairytale Setting for Our Daughter’s Wedding.
Our family chose OWA for our venue over several other options and were VERY pleased with that decision. OWA exudes Lowcountry charm from the moment you first drive in under the alley of oaks dripping in Spanish moss. At OWA the venue is yours for the entire day which provides flexibility in scheduling for everything that has to occur on your special day. Our planner quit three weeks before our black tie wedding. Margaret McKenzie, the venue manager and wedding planner extraordinaire, stepped in to save the day. If you are booking OWA, I highly recommend having Margaret as your planner! OWA worked with us to make our vision of the day come to life. Our caterer CRU did an absolutely AMAZING job of catering – from fabulous food and drinks to a precision style of serving. Many guests told us they felt like they were at a State Dinner. We received SO many compliments on OWA as a wedding venue that emanates Southern charm and hospitality.

Old Wide Awake was the perfect backdrop and partner for our wedding. Having Margaret as our fearless wedding planner was an added bonus. She was so knowledgeable about the property, and knew how to make every last detail work: from timeline to reception layout, getting ready to guest arrivals, all the way to our departure. All of the staff at OWA were so friendly and easy to work with, and as one of the first weddings under new ownership, it was absolutely seamless. We were so honored to be under their care, and they truly gave us one of the best and most memorable days of our lives. I hope one day we get invited to another OWA wedding just so we get to experience the magic again!

Our September wedding at Old Wide Awake exceeded our expectations!!! The property offers multiple distinct spaces for the ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing, with the historic home and beautifully landscaped grounds as the backdrop. Margaret was wonderful to work with from the start. She accommodated multiple site visits after booking and follow up locations to plan layouts and logistics with ease. Partnering with Cru as the owner/bar manager and preferred food service vendor added tremendous value; their communication (shoutout to Sabine and Reilly) and execution were seamless. The venue’s all-day access from 9 AM to 10 PM is a standout feature compared to many Charleston options that limit time or charge extra. While located about 30 minutes outside downtown, we easily accommodated guests with a downtown room block and shuttle service, and others enjoyed Airbnb stays in Seabrook and West Ashley. That way our guests could enjoy downtown Charleston as well. About 90% of our guest list traveled from out of town. Finally, the bridal suite is stunning and provided the perfect setting for getting ready and photos. This venue is truly a rare gem for couples seeking flexibility, beauty, and exceptional service.

Old Wide Awake is the kind of venue that instantly takes your breath away–especially the first time you see it in person. As the mother of the bride, I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect setting. The historic home and beautifully kept grounds created an unforgettable backdrop and the photos are absolutely stunning! Getting ready there was an exceptional part of the day—the rooms were lovely and spacious enough to accommodate a large wedding party along with the hair and makeup team. Margaret was professional, responsive, and consistently supportive throughout the entire process. She worked seamlessly with our wedding planner and the vendors. From the ceremony to the farewell, the whole experience felt warm, joyful, and genuinely magical! The wedding was October 12, 2025, and our hearts are still overflowing with the memories, and our guests are still raving about the day—it truly left a lasting impression.

My husband and I got married here on October 18, 2025 and to say it was a dream would be an understatement!!!!! Everything from start to finish was such a smooth process. Our property manager on the day of was a gem – she was amazing vibes and so helpful. All of our vendors worked together so easily here. The set up was perfect and our guests were amazed by the beauty of this venue. Thank you for our dream wedding Old Wide Awake, we will cherish this place forever!

OWA was the perfect venue for our wedding! We absolutely loved the space and its southern charm. Margaret was so accommodating too, especially with the unexpected snow that we had on our wedding day. OWA let me come a few weeks before the wedding and do my bridal portraits on site for free and they let us use some of their heaters the day of, which we were extremely grateful for! Thank you a million times!

Book Old Wide Awake, you won’t regret it! From the beginning, the staff was so wonderful and helpful to work with. Margaret answered all our questions and made the planning process seamless. As a wedding planner, I thoroughly enjoyed working at this venue for my clients wedding and would absolutely love to work there again. From the gorgeous getting ready rooms/balcony upstairs, to the updated catering area in the back, to the endless beautiful locations to take photos, to the built in bar under the house, this venue has it all! You won’t be disappointed with this venue!

We got married at Old Wide Awake on 9.21.24 and it could not have been a better venue for our special day. Margaret is wonderful to work with. She is professional, quick to respond, caring and compassionate. She put us at ease throughout the whole planning process. Every single guest was in awe of the venue. It is the perfect tucked away hidden gem and made the perfect back drop for our southern garden party wedding. We cannot recommend Old Wide Awake enough!!

My husband and I got married here in May after having to reschedule our wedding due to Covid. Booking this venue and choosing Margaret McKenzie as our planner was the best decision we ever made! Margaret felt like family from day one and we simply could not have done it without her. She guided us throughout the entire planning process, even making the date change as smooth a process as possible. On the day, she expertly orchestrated every moving part and I could totally relax knowing she had it all taken care of. There is no place better for a wedding and no better planner! We love you Margaret!

Our wedding at Old Wide Awake Plantation was absolutely perfect. The venue is gorgeous with moss covered oak trees lining the gravel driveway all the way up to the beautiful, historic house that sits next to a small pond with a lovely fountain. It’s got quite the Southern charm! We chose to have our ceremony on the venue grounds right in front of the pond where they’ve built an arbor and it was picturesque. The house itself was the perfect setting for our cocktail hour and reception with its wide wrap around porches and large patio on the ground floor that could accommodate all of our guests. The house was also great for getting ready as you have access to it all day. The upstairs has very large rooms which are perfect for the bride to get ready in. The upstairs also has a wide wrap around porch that overlooks the grounds and was great for our bridal lunch the day of the wedding.

We hired Margaret McKenzie, the venue coordinator, to be our wedding planner and that was the best decision we made! She helped us pull our wedding off without a hitch despite having to reschedule three times due to the pandemic. She truly wants your wedding to be all that you want it to be and all that you hope it will be and she works tirelessly to make it happen. She is very knowledgeable about vendors in the Charleston area and provided us with great suggestions. She is also very organized and meticulous and will help you plan your wedding down to the very last detail which truly gave us peace of mind and the ability to simply enjoy every moment of our wedding day. We are so grateful that we chose Margaret and cannot thank her enough for everything.

Margaret McKenzie and Old Wide Awake Plantation are exceptional. The quiet, magnificent house set just before the marshes and the park to the Stono River is stopped in time. I loved each piece of my experience. I grew up down here- it is difficult to find a place that is not tacky or overdone for the sake of tourists. The house and the land are reminiscent of every experience I had as a child- a soft silky breeze, the fresh smell of the river and flowing water nearby, and the vendors know exactly what to do and where to be. We had an amazing experience provided by Margaret. She is a stunning coordinator. I am certain, as with any large event, there were hang ups. I didn’t see a single one. Every detail and minutiae was handled without a shred of evidence that it was anything but effortless. Her grace, poise, and elegant nature are exactly what any bride needs. My Husband and I had a spectacular day with brilliant sun which I am fairly certain Margaret also conjured as it rained every day around the wedding.

Our son, Brendan and now daughter-in-law, Katti were married at Old Wide Awake Plantation last December under the guidance of Margaret McKenzie as our wedding planner. As a wedding planner, Margaret is a “maestro” . She conducted and shepherded us through a detailed and compelling planning process and expertly coordinated all the moving parts the “week of” and “day of”; the wedding took on the dimensions of a world class symphony orchestra whose music was as fragrant and graceful as the setting of the Old Wide Awake Planation. She plans weddings held at OWAP as well as at other wedding venues around the Charleston area. I worked with all the vendors behind the scenes on behalf of the wedding party, learning that securing a place on Margaret’s “rolodex” of vendors is a coveted goal as her planning and communication/connection skills are second to none in this global class wedding venue of Charleston. May I join the chorus of others who endorse her planning practices

This wedding venue was stunning! It embodies the southern charm of Charleston while also being in a quiet location! Margaret McKenzie manages the site and was wonderful to work with! She made the venue available to us at all times during the planning stage and even let us bury a bottle of bourbon on the property as a southern tradition for no rain on your wedding day! (It definitely held back some rain on our big day) As a bonus to the venue, We actually hired Margaret as our wedding planner since she made booking the venue such an easy process. She helped us pull off a wedding in less than 6 months while everyone was also rebooking COVID weddings at the same time. She offered great vendor suggestions and managed our vendors excellently on our wedding day. On our wedding day, the venue was immaculate! The bridal suite was a great area for the bridal party to get ready in while letting the guys run wild downstairs! The grounds keeper also executed the ceremony perfectly by making sure no cars entered down the long driveway during our ceremony. Needless to say this venue made our day special and we will always cherish the help Margaret gave us to execute/create a perfect wedding! I would highly recommend the venue and Margaret to anyone looking to plan a wedding in Charleston!

I couldn’t have had a better wedding experience anywhere else. Old Wide Awake Plantation is truly breathtaking. Every inch of the grounds is beautiful!! You will undoubtedly have the most beautiful wedding pictures to look back on. There are a few different ceremony site options and a huge patio perfect for your reception. Margaret was such a pleasure to work with. She is so sweet and incredibly knowledgeable on all things Old Wide Awake and wedding related. She is super quick to respond to any questions you may have and is such a joy. I would 10000% recommend this venue to all brides. You will not regret it.

Old Wide Awake Plantation is the perfect southern venue right outside of Charleston, SC. When my husband and I saw this venue, we knew immediately we wanted to get married there. After talking to Margaret, it was a done deal. Margaret and the entire staff at OWA are a dream to work with. They will make you, your bridal party, and guests feel like family. I highly recommend this venue to anyone looking to have a southern wedding.

We could not have had a better wedding thanks to Margaret! I loved her from the minute we met, and she bent over backwards to plan a COVID safe wedding for us. There are not enough compliments I could give to Margaret. She is attentive, has a great eye for detail, extremely qualified and so personable. Everyone at our wedding loved her and we didn’t want the wedding to end because we loved her so much! If you are getting married, you HAVE to use her as your wedding planner!