Two products on the schedule page
Southern Living Illumination Charleston runs December 4 and 5, 2026. The schedule page sells the two days as separate products, and those two prices are the only prices on the organiser site.
The Friday product is a Signature Experience titled Sweet Holiday Creations with Courtney Dial Whitmore. It runs at 12 p.m. or 2:30 p.m. at 28 Ann Street. The pass costs $225 and includes the Saturday event ticket.
The Saturday product is the Holiday Market and Festive Demonstrations at the Charleston Visitor Center on 375 Meeting Street. It runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The standard pass costs $125. Subtract the Saturday ticket from the Friday bundle and the workshop carries $100.
The registration page closes one of them
The registration page lists three registrant types. The Holiday Market at $125 carries no status mark. Both Signature Experience lines, the 12 p.m. session and the 2:30 p.m. session, read Sold Out.
A buyer who wants the gingerbread workshop has no route through the organiser. The terms close the resale route as well: passes are non-transferable and will not be replaced if lost or stolen.
Where the cancellation risk sits
The FAQ states that all ticket sales are final and non-refundable. It also states the event runs rain or shine in a tented outdoor space.
The terms add a weather policy. If the event is cancelled for any reason, as determined by Southern Living in its sole and absolute discretion, Southern Living may reschedule the event for a future date. The paragraph ends there. No refund term follows it.
A cancelled Saturday therefore produces a rescheduled date and no stated refund. A buyer who cannot attend the replacement date holds no published remedy.
The terms also take a licence over the guest. Attendance grants People Inc. the right to film and photograph the event and to use the recordings in advertising and editorial work. The document states that a guest who objects must not attend.
What the pass does not carry
Parking is unpublished. The FAQ states that event parking information will be provided closer to the event date, and prints no lot, no rate and no distance. That cost lands after the ticket is paid for and cannot be refunded.
The talent list names six people and adds a line that talent is subject to change. The names are Courtney Dial Whitmore, James Farmer, Terrence Hayes, Katie Lee, Ivy Odom and Michelle Wallace.
The vendors page carries a heading and no vendor name. The market's exhibitor list is not published.
Two venues 0.24 km apart
The Friday session and the Saturday market sit 0.24 km apart, from 28 Ann Street to 375 Meeting Street. One room covers both days.
The rate card the organiser does not control
The per-night comparison that exists for Charleston is the Charleston Conference card, which lists 24 properties with group rates on a group deadline of October 1. That deadline has passed, so the card stands as a published record and not as a bookable offer.
Most card rates print a day qualifier that leaves out the event nights. Homewood Suites lists $264 for Sunday to Friday. Hotel Bella Grace at 117 Calhoun Street lists $399 for Sunday to Friday. Hotel Emeline at 181 Church Street lists $335 for Sunday to Friday. The Ryder Hotel at 237 Meeting Street lists $279 for Sunday to Friday. The Vendue lists $339 for Sunday to Thursday. A Friday December 4 arrival falls outside every one of those bands.
Seven properties publish a figure covering both nights. Hampton Inn lists $274, Embassy Suites $294, Live Oak $269 and Courtyard $379 as flat rates. Meeting Street Inn at 173 Meeting Street and Indigo Inn at 1 Maiden Lane list $369 for Friday and Saturday. The Vendue lists $439 for the same two nights.
Two nights at those figures runs $538 at Live Oak, $548 at Hampton Inn, $588 at Embassy Suites, $738 at Meeting Street Inn and Indigo Inn, $758 at Courtyard and $878 at the Vendue.
Francis Marion lists $244 and carries a Sold Out mark on this read. Kings Courtyard Inn at 198 King Street and Fulton Lane Inn at 202 King Street list $285 to $342 with a three-night minimum, so a two-night stay cannot use either as written.
What to ask a property
The card prints a Sunday column and a Friday column on the same line for three properties. Meeting Street Inn lists $229 for Sunday to Friday against $369 for Friday and Saturday. Indigo Inn lists $299 against $369. The Vendue lists $339 against $439.
The event needs the two nights in the expensive column. The ask is a Friday and Saturday rate quoted at the Sunday step, and the published gaps are $140 at Meeting Street Inn, $70 at Indigo Inn and $100 at the Vendue.
One call covers two of them. The card prints 843-723-1882 against both Indigo Inn and Meeting Street Inn.
What the organiser does not publish
No hotel, lodging or accommodation string appears on the organiser site across the home page, the schedule page, the FAQ and the registration page. The Charleston visitor bureau event page names no property and no rate, and its hotel strings sit in the site navigation.
No group rate, promo code or partner discount appears on either. The two published prices stand alone, and the Friday tier is closed.
A buyer weighing the $125 Saturday pass holds one published number, one unpublished parking cost and no refund term for a cancellation. The room is the only line item with a printed comparison, and that comparison sits on a card the organiser does not control.
