Touching noses - Oak Allee - Night of a Thousand Candles - Brookgreen Gardens

Brookgreen Gardens wedding on the Night of a Thousand Candles

I always love photographing weddings at Brookgreen Gardens. However, I’ve never had the opportunity to shoot a wedding during the Night of a Thousand Candles. During these special evenings in December, thousands of lights hang from the trees, and hand-lit candles light the paths and pools around the gardens. It’s a beautiful time to be in Brookgreen. We were fortunate enough to have a private moment after the wedding ceremony to capture some breathtaking photos of Riley and Hunter, the bride and groom, under the lights before the gardens opened to the public. Getting ready pictures in the Holliday Cottage …

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Three Surprise Proposals in Myrtle Beach

So many surprise marriage proposals in November in Myrtle Beach

It seems like there is something special about this November in Myrtle Beach. I’ve had so many couples doing engagement portraits and surprise proposals recently. After coming out of Covid, everyone is now making their big plans for the future. I’ve never had a year so booked up with weddings as I have with 2022. I decided to make a blog post with three recent surprise proposal photo shoots that highlight three great locations. Of course, if you want to see even more recent portrait and engagement sessions, make sure to follow me on Instagram. Surprise proposal during the Night …

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Bride and groom under the moss on the Riverwalk - Conway Riverwalk

Emotional wedding at Brookgreen Gardens Holliday Cottage; Groom wore a Scottish Kilt

I always love weddings at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet. It’s located about 30 minutes south of Myrtle Beach, across from the Huntington Beach State Park. My family portrait clients are always asking me about the origins of the Atalaya Castle. I end up talking about the sculptures in Brookgreen Gardens and I’m surprised how many people have never heard of it. It’s a really beautiful area and one of the nicest things to visit when in Myrtle Beach. Hilleri and Tom had their wedding at the Holliday Cottage area in Brookgreen Gardens. I always love the upstairs area in …

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Kiss under the moss - Live Oak Allee - Brookgreen Gardens

Small summer wedding at the Holliday Cottage in Brookgreen Gardens

I always love going to the Holliday Cottage at Brookgreen Gardens for weddings. The gates, leading to the “Youth Taming the Wild” statue, is such a beautiful location for a wedding ceremony. This Monday afternoon wedding was planned from the beginning to be a small event, with only family and close friends in attendance. This was a second wedding for both the bride and groom so they wanted to keep things simple. They even planned to have the small reception back at thier home in Pawleys Island. All of these original plans worked out perfectly with the current social distancing …

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Showing off the cowboy boots - Brookgreen Gardens

Spring wedding at the Brookgreen Gardens Holliday Cottage and Dance Floor Lighting

It’s been a while since I photographed a wedding in Brookgreen Gardens. Weddings at the Brookgreen Gardens Holliday Cottage are always beautiful, so it is nice to be back. It’s always great to work with DJ Wayne Cribb and Gigi Noelle Events. I arrived a little early at the location to get some detail shots around the cottage and ceremony area. The bride and groom had put special attention into decorating the Live Oak Allee gates that lead to the “Youth Taming the Wild” statue. The gates were covered in beautiful flowers, which made a fantastic background for the ceremony …

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Kiss by the flowers in the Palmetto Garden - Brookgreen Gardens

Surprise marriage proposal in Brookgreen Gardens

I had a lot of fun photographing a recent surprise marriage proposal in Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet. April is a great time of the year for taking pictures in Brookgreen. The springtime flowers are blooming and they also have extended hours until 8pm. Normally the gardens close at 5pm so it would be impossible to get the beautiful light from the sunset filtering through the trees. This man did a great job with keeping the proposal to his girlfriend a surprise. He met his uncle in the bathroom at the entrance to the gardens to get the ring from …

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Wedding party pictures after the ceremony -

Wedding ceremony at the Holliday Cottage gates in Brookgreen Gardens with a large bridal party

I met with some clients today who are having an upcoming wedding at the Brookgreen Gardens Holliday Cottage area. I’ve done many weddings at this location, so I was showing them my most recent one as an example, even though it was from last summer of 2012. I realized that I never posted about this wedding on my blog. I think it was just my busy time of the year and many weddings miss out on a storyboard. However, with this one, in particular, I realized I needed to put a post about it. I especially loved the picture of …

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Beautiful spot for a wedding - Holiday cottage walkway at Brookgreen Gardens

Another beautiful wedding at Brookgreen Gardens

I had another wedding at the Holliday Cottage area in Brookgreen Gardens.  This ceremony was at the iron gates at the end of the Live Oak Allee. I always love going there. You just can’t beat the background and lighting that you get with lots of trees and a garden.  The weather had been so nice that several flowers were in bloom. This is always great in the background of a picture.  This wedding was for the bride that I recently did the fun bridal portraits for, you can read about that a couple of blog posts down from here.  …

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Fun bridal portraits at Brookgreen Gardens, Holiday Cottage

It was nice going to the Holiday Cottage in Brookgreen Gardens without actually being there for the wedding ceremony.  I always get some nice shots of the bride at the cottage area, but it’s nice to have a whole hour just to concentrate on the one thing without being rushed.  This gives me enough time to be able to switch lenses and set things up a bit more, for example using my 50mm f1.4 almost wide open.  The bride featured here is actually having her wedding in Brookgreen so we were allowed to do pictures in the area without any …

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