114 Steps to “I Do”: Elizabeth and George’s Lighthouse Wedding

On May 8, 2021, while much of the world was still postponing everything, Elizabeth and George Amaryants climbed to the top of the Harbour Town Lighthouse and got married.

Their story did not start in Harbour Town. It started in a Charlotte apartment complex in 2016, shortly after Elizabeth moved down from Buffalo, New York. One evening her dogs bolted across the lot toward a man climbing out of his truck. “The rest was history,” the couple says. Charlotte is still home.

A destination wedding, redrawn

The original plan was Grenada. Then came 2020, shifting travel advisories, and a wedding date that kept moving. It was Elizabeth’s mother, hunting for alternatives, who thought of Hilton Head Island — a place the couple already loved, and a place Elizabeth had been visiting since childhood.

Then they learned you can get married at the top of the lighthouse.

“Once we learned that there was an option to get married at the top of the lighthouse, we were delighted and knew it was the right choice,” they say. “It is such a wonderful and iconic venue. Plus, it is fun to tell everyone that we got married at the top, and especially fun to point it out on TV during the annual Heritage golf tournament.”

Family and friends did not need convincing. After a year of canceled plans, everyone was glad to have a reason to travel again — especially somewhere like this.

The morning of

The day before the ceremony, at the rehearsal, the wind came straight off Calibogue Sound and did not let up. On the wedding morning it settled, and the sky turned clear and sunny.

“The morning went by in a blur as we got ready for the day,” Elizabeth remembers. “We were especially grateful that the wind had died down.”

George’s morning began with an ambush. “As soon as the day started, Elizabeth’s sister brigade greeted me in the lobby, ready to carry out their mission: ‘Where is she?!'”

Then came the part of the story they still laugh about. After their first-look photos at the Inn & Club, the couple slipped away for one quick cocktail to steady their nerves — and discovered that their entire wedding party had already left for the lighthouse. Including their ride.

The Inn & Club concierge team stepped in and drove them over themselves. “It definitely added a little unexpected excitement to the day.”

114 steps up

Ask them about the climb and they draw a blank. “We honestly don’t remember the climb up, because we were so nervous — and slightly late for our ceremony.” What they do remember is the walk along the marina, looking up, and seeing their families leaning over the rail at the top of the lighthouse, waving them in.

Because of the postponements, the guest list had shrunk to immediate family and closest friends, all of whom made it. They stood close together on the observation deck, 90 feet up, with the yacht basin, the water, and the golf course spread out behind them.

“Everything was beautiful,” the couple says. “It was especially meaningful to see our family gathered closely around us at the top of the lighthouse.”

The descent, they remember perfectly. After the last guest had gone, the two of them came down the 114 steps alone with a bottle of champagne — husband and wife for the first time. The reception was a few steps away at the Harbour Town Yacht Club.

Planning a wedding in 2021

None of it was easy. Guidance changed weekly. They worried most about their older relatives. And there was the small matter of coordinating a face mask with a wedding outfit.

Asked whether they would trade that small, unusual day for the big wedding they first imagined, the answer is immediate: “We wouldn’t change a thing. Our wedding was incredibly memorable, and it reminded us to celebrate love and the important moments in life, even during a time of so much uncertainty and chaos.”

They did get Grenada in the end. It became their honeymoon.

Back at the top, with Archer

Elizabeth and George come back to Hilton Head at least once a year, often more, and hope to live here one day. This year’s visit was different: their son, Archer, was finally old enough to climb all 114 steps.

He already knew the lighthouse well. Reaching the top was another thing entirely — and the light itself made the biggest impression. Nadia sent him back down with a few treasures from the shop.

“It was incredible to relive such a special moment and show him where we had our wedding.”

Their advice to any couple considering it? “Absolutely, it is a must. Who wouldn’t want to get married in a lighthouse?”

And they had one more thing to add — a thank-you to the lighthouse staff, and to Nadia in particular, “whose incredible energy, warmth, and commitment to service contributed so much to making our wedding day special.”

Every day, visitors climb these 114 steps for the view. On one sunny Saturday in May 2021, two people climbed them to get married.