We love traveling to new and exciting places to capture and create beautiful wedding stories.  This Spring we had the pleasure of meeting Carlin and Matthew and photograph their wedding at Moorespring Manor in Westfield North Carolina.  Carlin is the sister of one of our favorite people, Gracen who we photographed at Boone Hall Plantation a few years ago.  Having the chance to get to know the family, we were sure it was going to be an amazing day.

While I always say that Charleston is “like Disneyland” for photographers, as an artist it is also exciting to challenge our senses and experience new places with a fresh palette of colors and texture.  The venue is located in a rural area and a beautiful drive from nearby Mount Airy.  As photographers, we are always on the lookout for any interesting structures or places with natural beauty to use as elements for unique and artistic photos.  After scouting all the surrounding back roads and little towns we hit the jackpot by finding am amazing barn with richly knurled grain that was perfect starting place for bridal party portraits that were reminiscent of the rural location.  As with any shoot, the element of surprise can often lead to some of the most beautiful images from the day.  On the short half mile drive back to the reception, I noticed a field of beautiful wheat grass that was glowing with the setting sun.  We figured that we had some leeway with a bride in a  wedding dress and took the short walk into the field for these portraits.

We want to thank the Witt and Manning family for allowing us to spend the day with them celebrating this beautiful day.  We can’t wait for Gracen’s wedding at Boone Hall-just saying!

Rustic, fine-art farm wedding by best Charleston photographer Reese Allen

We had an amazing time with Jessica, Ryan, their friends and family celebrating this beautiful wedding at Lowndes Grove.  It was an absolutely perfect day and an amazing party.  We could go on about how much fun we had getting with everyone at the rehearsal dinner and wedding day, but we’ll just show you all the photos!

Special thanks go out to Christine and Carri from Mac & B. Events for making the day so much fun and beautiful.

Charleston wedding photographers, Lowndes Grove Plantation wedding photos

Wedding vendors:

Lowndes Grove Plantation is truly one of the most unique and photogenic wedding locations in the lowcountry!  We are always excited to shoot any event by Patrick Properties as we get to eat the creations of Fish Catering-they always have an eclectic menu and the pork shish kabob’s were awesome!

Hair and Make-up: Sarah of Lordis Loft Salon

Videographer: Family Friend-Thomas Sherrill (they even did a same day wedding video edit which was amazing).

Florist: Tiger Lily

DJ: Lee Edwards Entertainment (some great dance songs that you’ve never heard but were impossible to not dance too).

Wedding Cake (delicious): Sylvia-The cake Lady of Summerville.

We absolutely LOVE our home city of Charleston, but we also love destination weddings and feel fortunate to be invited back to Savannah to photograph Erin and Ben’s beautiful day.   This is our third wedding for their crew and also downtown Savannah. After hearing about Erin’s plan for the wedding, we were excited to have some new locations to explore.  Much to our surprise, every flower and wisteria bush in downtown Savannah was in full bloom.  The majestic Wormsloe Park has one of the most incredible Avenue of Oaks and was a perfect backdrop for creating the most romantic and artistic portraits! As soon as we arrived and began meeting both families and close friends, we knew it was going to be an amazing day.  The ceremony took place in the quaint Isle of Hope wedding Chapel and then moved to the marina for some down home cookin, a sunset and a little dancing?  Wrong…absolute mayhem broke loose on the dance floor!  As you can tell from the photos the energy was “off the chain”,  We have never seen such passionate lip syncing of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”!  It was so much fun to be a part of the fun and want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone for making our day such a blast. The night ended with the crowd singing “Piano Man” in chorus; however, apparently they do it differently in Minnesota?

Nina met Ryan met in the “laid-back” surf town of Nosara, Costa Rica.  She was a art curator from New York City looking for the simple life and he was a surfer and real estate investor in this off the beaten path paradise.  Once on the island, Nina started her own wedding planning business.  They have since purchased a piece of land in Northern Columbia and are pursuing their dream of developing an organic, natural resort specializing in unique and “green” weddings.

We knew after hearing about their wedding plans it was going to amazing to photograph!  I met up with them the week before the event as Nina and Ryan were busy putting the finishing touches on the decor including: antler chandelier, hand painted signs, a vintage lounge.  Almost every detail was created and hand-made including a cake plate that was painted and glued together using a martini glass for the base.  

Ryan put the “Southern”finishing touches on his suit choosing a feather bowtie from local Charleston designer Brackish Bowties.  These are the coolest accessories for grooms and Ryan decided on the Carolina Copper which is noted by the designer to “guarantee to garner you a heaping amount of attention, with an extra dose of wow factor”.  These ties ROCK!

Charleston is well known for its wedding venues, but Old Wide Awake Plantation is one of the most famous as it was the site of Reese Witherspoon’s wedding. Located just down the dirt road is a hidden gem that Nina fell in love with the minute see saw it called Wide Awake Park; I had no idea she would transform it into the beautiful wedding venue you see in the photos, but with her eye and experience it was the perfect venue.  As always, I scouted the location well in advance and knew every spot for the best photographs.

The wedding was beautiful and after seeing the style, I knew our post-wedding day shoot at Cypress Gardens was going to look like a Vanity Fair magazine spread.  I had a vision for the shoot since last year and went about planning to create the over the head rowboat photograph.  Of course, Nina came with her finishing touches and hand-painted “Just Married” sign for the back of the boat-NICE!

We hope you enjoy the photos as much as we did creating them and spending the day with Nina, Ryan and their families.

Still working on updating my portfolio of wedding images.  Rather than write all about every image and wedding, we just wanted to add a gallery of these for inquiring couples who are interested in seeing weddings from a few of the most popular Charleston wedding destinations.  The trees are starting to bloom and next we will begin updating the galleries with some beautiful Charleston engagement photography.  Looking forward to next weekends engagement session and proposal-we have some new ideas and locations we can’t wait to use for interesting backdrops.

We are going through last years amazing weddings from Legare Waring House, Thomas Bennett House, Isle of Palms and Folly Beach, as well as other beautiful and popular Charleston wedding destinations.  One of the many things that is essential for creating great wedding photography is getting to know each couple, find out their style and understand what makes them unique.  Here is a few images from recent weddings that will show the diversity and special character of a beautiful lowcountry wedding!