I love hearing the stories of how amidst the thousands of people we all meet, there will be that moment when everything changes.  For Brett, that moment occurred on her birthday with a craving for pizza.  She found herself in Anthony’s Italian restaurant and now years later, following a helicopter proposal in downtown Charleston at Battery Park, they gathered with their family and friends for a beautiful wedding at The Cottages in Mount Pleasant, followed by an amazing reception at No. 5 Faber St.  We feel honored to have been able to share the day with their beautiful family and friends.  We have a special Thank You to Lisa for being there with us through the day; we couldn’t have done it without you.  Here are some of our favorites from the day…

Charleston downtown weddings

Wedding season in Charleston is in full swing and we have had an opportunity to meet some amazing new friends-and photograph some truly beautiful weddings this past month.

Having been a wedding photographer in Charleston for years, the one thing we are reminded every time we photograph an event, is how unique each wedding day is to document.  Stacie and Joe’s beautiful Pepper Plantation wedding was no exception.  Rather than write a few paragraphs about how stunning the dress and decor looked, how awesome Mike Winship Productions did at transforming the barn or how much love was felt during the day, we’ll just show you the photos!  

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!

Maggie and Drew Artistic Wedding Photography

Maggie and Drew tied the knot at Alhambra Hall on August 4th.   With so many downtown weddings under our belt, this was our first at Alhambra Hall in Mount Pleasant.  While we could wax poetic about their amazing families and friends, we think that seeing the pictures will tell the whole story of this beautiful wedding.  We wanted to share this one in it’s entirety so we hope you enjoy the slideshow.  There was a record number of “keepers” from the event-over 3,000 final images.

A special thanks to all the professional talented colleagues who made the day an awesome experience for our team; of course, a big shout out to Rod and Tara at Red Shutter Studio for being awesome!

Wedding Cooordinator: Connie from Synders was everywhere and made the day go on without a single hitch!  It is great working with professionals and as MOB says, ” Connie took multi-tasking to a whole new level”!  http://www.snydereventrentals.com/

Catering:  Low Country Eats- Elaine made it difficult to photograph food because everything looked so delicious it was hard not to sneak a bite.  This was one of the most beautiful presentations of food we have seen in a long time.  But more important, the food tasted amazing-thanks for feeding the team like royalty.  http://www.lowcountryeats.com/

Wedding Cake- Amy from Village Bakery-one word, delicious!!!!  http://www.dinewithsal.com/village

Floral:  Paula from By the Bunch- You can see the unique and perfectly accented arrangements in all the photos.   Mom loved the lavender roses worn by the guys and even more she had nothing but praise for Paula’s ability to “figure out what you want and express it with flowers”.  Great work.  http://www.buythebunch.net/

Band: Mike and the Mixers-Rocked the House.  They can play everything note for note.  The bride and groom were both theater majors so I am sure this was an unusual and eclectic mix of songs.  I heard everything from from Gershwin (I think that’s who it was) to the Commodores, “Brick House”.  It is easy taking pictures when the dance floor is “off the chain”-Thanks Mike!  http://www.mikeandthemixers.com/