Happy couple walking out of the cathedral in black and white - Cathedral of Saint John Charleston

Downtown Charleston wedding with a reception at the historic Francis Marion Hotel

I love going to the historic downtown Charleston area for weddings. The city atmosphere gives me an opportunity for a different style of photography from my typical garden, golf course, and beach weddings. This winter wedding with Sarah & Alec on February 10th was so much fun, with perfect weather for pictures. The ceremony was held at the Saint John the Baptist Cathedral, and the reception was at the historic Francis Marion Hotel. We also went to Chalmers Street in downtown Charleston to use the cobblestone road for fun pictures with the bridal party. Ceremony at the Saint John the …

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Bride and groom with rim light from the sunset on the gazebo - The Pavilion at Pepper Plantation

Summer wedding at The Pavilion at Pepper Plantation in Charleston, SC

I always like to make a blog post when I photograph a wedding at a new location. This was my first time visiting The Pavilion at Pepper Plantation near Charleston, SC. This lovely venue has a large, rustic barn-style reception hall with hanging lights, exposed wooden beams on the vaulted ceiling, and wood planks on the ceiling and walls. It also has a large lawn and fence overlooking a lake and fountain. A boardwalk leads out to a large gazebo on the lake. It was a great place for sunset pictures after the ceremony. I first met Brigette and Preston, …

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Kiss on the white bridge with reflection in the water - Magnolia Plantation

Wedding portraits on the white bridge at Magnolia Plantation

I always love weddings at the Carriage House in Magnolia Plantation. Cassie and Caleb are a really sweet and easy going couple that was great to work with. Their wedding was on August 28th, so it was a really hot and humid day in Charleston. Thankfully, there is lots of beautiful shade under the mossy oaks. They also have some great AC in the Carriage House and bride’s cottage. I tried to not get anyone too hot and sweaty before the ceremony started. When I arrived, I started with pictures of the bride and bridesmaids in their cottage near the …

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Family of three after the wedding - Folly Beach - Charleston

Intimate wedding with family at the Tides in Folly Beach, Charleston

Nicole and Adam found me through WeddingWire, back before we knew anything about Covid-19. They were having a small wedding ceremony on the beach, with just a few family and friends, on September 10th of 2020. This actually worked out perfectly, since most weddings in 2020 ended up being scaled back from the original plans. They were having a separate larger reception later on in NC. They only had me there to take pictures up until dinner time. I was actually glad to not have to stay late since I had another wedding in Charleston the very next day. This …

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Portraits of bride and groom on the red bridge - Magnolia Plantation - Charleston, SC

Summer wedding at the Magnolia Plantation Carriage House in Charleston

It been a few years since I had a wedding at the Carriage House at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC. It was great to be back for the wedding of Taylor and James on September 12, 2020. The Carriage House is a beautiful venue surrounded by live oak trees on the Ashley River. The ceremony area is setup on a huge lawn facing the Ashley River and in front of a huge old oak tree covered in moss. It’s also a short walk to the main gardens area, with lots of fantastic locations for photos. When I arrived, I met …

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Bride walking down the downtown street with bridesmaids  - Charleston, SC

Wedding in downtown Charleston with a reception at the Daniel Island Club

Since it’s my slow time of the year, I’ve been updating my website, especially for some of my past weddings in Charleston. This beautiful wedding from back in 2013 needed an updated blog post. I added some ceremony pictures that were missing and made some extra adjustments as well. I looked at the photo metadata to see what equipment I used back then. These were all taken with a Nikon D3 and Nikon D800, and I’m still using the same Nikon 85mm f1.4 lens I used back then. So the main difference between my photography now and back then, my …

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Wedding at the Carriage House in Magnolia Plantation, Charleston

This was the second wedding I’ve had this fall at Magnolia Plantation, this time, it was at the Carriage House lawn area. It’s nice to expand out a bit to do some weddings in Charleston, I hope to keep it up in the future. I think it would be really nice to do something in downtown Charleston eventually, but if I don’t I’m happy shooting around the beach. For this wedding, it was a pretty cloudy day most of the time. I didn’t get as many shots with sunlight coming through the trees as I would have liked. The clouds …

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Beautiful portrait of bride and groom reflecting in the lake - Magnolia Plantation

First wedding at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC

This was the first time I’ve been to the Magnolia Plantation area in Charleston for a wedding. I’ve done some engagement pictures here, but never a full wedding. The first time to a new site is always exciting, I do a lot of looking around trying to find some spots with good lighting and background details. We also had a golf cart driver that took us around to some popular spots. The young bride and groom had a beautiful ceremony in the gardens with a unique circular setup of the chairs for the ceremony. After the ceremony we went to …

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Engagement portraits at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC

This is my first time visiting the Magnolia Plantation.  It’s a very nice area. It reminds me a lot of Brookgreen Gardens.  Unlike Brookgreen, we were allowed to go wherever we wanted to do the pictures and spend as much time as well.  I had a lot of fun walking around for an hour or so with the couple and finding places to do shots.  The first time to an area takes a bit of experimenting and exploring around. We had some pretty strong early afternoon sunlight which can be difficult at the beach or in an open area, but …

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