Melissa graduated from the College of Charleston in 1996 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. 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. Over her 21-year career, she was recognized with multiple, coveted planning awards and had countless featured publications both online and in print. She devoted herself to her business and single handedly helped hundreds of families over the years to plan their most monumental life moments. As an alumna of the College of Charleston, 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. In her honor, A Charleston Bride will continue to host interns from the College of Charleston each year and additionally, in partnership with her beloved friends and family, have established a scholarship to celebrate her legacy. 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 Photo: @timwilloughby