Wedding in the courtyard at 21 Main Events at North Beach

I recently had another wedding in the beautiful courtyard at 21 Main Events at North Beach in North Myrtle Beach. This wedding was for friends of mine, Cori and Jon, that I know from working out at Crossfit Asperitas. The groomsmen were getting ready in an apartment close by the ceremony location so I started out taking the guys pictures there. I got some really cute shots of Jon helping his baby son get dressed in his little suit for the wedding. Next I went to the girls dressing room inside 21 Main Events for some pictures. This is a pretty small room for a large bridal party to get ready. However it does have a nice large mirror and some doors that make a good background for pictures.

The courtyard at 21 Main Events is a very pretty spot for a wedding ceremony with its many columns, brickwork and garden greenery. The only problem is the light is very tricky. It’s very difficult to shoot on manual because the wedding party walks quickly from the bright sunlight into the shade of the ceremony. I’ve usually found, in situations like this, it’s best to shoot on aperture priority and then adjust the raw files for a little under or over exposure later. There is also a mirror right behind the ceremony. I had to make sure I wasn’t visible in it while taking pictures. I still caught myself in a couple of the wide angle shots but it’s not too noticeable. The sunlight also reflects off the back windows and then into the mirror which caused some issues as well. I do think it would be better if they replaced the mirror with something less reflective. It’s just something to keep an eye on if shooting a wedding in the courtyard.

After the ceremony we did bridal party pictures and family pictures in the courtyard. We then headed on a golf cart down to the beach behind North Beach Plantation. This is a very pretty beach area that only takes a few minutes on the golf cart to travel to. I would recommend, if you are having a wedding at 21 Main Events at North Beach, that you leave some time to go to the beach for pictures as well. The only problem was we arrived a little early for sunset so the sun was still harsh. Even though we didn’t get the ideal sunset we still got some pretty pictures with the blue winter ocean in the background. This also left us some extra time to do pictures on the cute gazebo in front of North Beach Plantation before the sun went down.

Everyone had a great time at the reception. The food is always great at 21 Main Events at North Beach due to it being a real restaurant. It’s a lot better than the food at many wedding event venues. Eyecon entertainment was the DJ for the evening and did a good job getting everyone on the dance floor. A lot of the guys at the wedding were long time friends and had been drinking quite a bit for the wedding toasts. I got a lot of fun reactions of everyone laughing and having a great time from the stories told during the toasts. I didn’t stay for the entire reception, but by the time I left, I had pictures of a lot of dancing and partying. Unless a client is doing something special like a sparkler exit, it might not be necessary to hire me to stay all the way until the end. Of course, if you choose too, I’m happy to stay. I hope you enjoy the pictures below!