Where did Blake Lively get married? Answered

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have gone from being one of Hollywood’s favorite pairs, with a romance worthy of a thousand movies, to becoming one of the most controversial celebrity couples — more than once. However, the internet is known for its short memory, and even controversies are quickly forgotten.

Lively and Reynolds seem to have a bulletproof strategy for dealing with cancel culture: let enough time pass and remain lovable enough that people eventually forget about your past. So far, this has worked. So much so, that the very controversy that nearly cancelled Reynolds and Lively for good appears to have been forgotten by the internet, and that’s none other than the place the actors chose for their wedding.

What was the controversy around Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds marriage?

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ wedding was highly controversial for one specific reason: they chose to marry on a plantation. The couple intentionally selected Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens in South Carolina for their wedding on September 9, 2012. This decision understandably upset many fans who were aware of the history not only of plantations in general but of Boone Hall Plantation specifically.

The history of Boone Hall dates back to 1681, when Theophilus Patey gifted the land to his daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, John Boone, as a wedding present. The plantation, named after Elizabeth’s husband, became known as Boone Hall. It was secretly used by Boone as a trafficking site for enslaved Native Americans and later, in the 19th century, as a brick-making enterprise that relied on the labor of hundreds of enslaved African Americans.

These bricks were later used in the construction of many houses and public spaces in downtown Charleston, — which were also built by enslaved workers. In general, this plantation is lasting proof of the hardships, abuse, and slavery that thousands of African Americans suffered across generations, as are most plantations across the United States.

In 2020, though, Reynolds finally addressed the controversy surrounding their wedding. “It’s impossible to reconcile,” Reynolds told Fast Company in an interview. “What we saw at the time was a wedding venue on Pinterest. What we saw after was a place built upon devastating tragedy.”

The couple also made a shared Instagram post apologizing for the incident and made a hefty $200,000 donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. You live and learn, and Lively and Reynolds clearly know that — or at least, we hope they do.