A Charleston Wedding Weekend

It should be no surprise that between the rehearsal dinner / welcome party Friday night and the actual Saturday wedding that I took more than 300 photos this weekend while in Charleston. But hey, for once it was not just my photography hobby that had me clicking away but actually an ask for the Father of the Bride – he wanted photos more quickly than a few months later for a family brunch and I was happy to oblige. I plan to share with you more shots from my four days in Charleston, South Carolina but today I just want to focus on the beautiful outdoor wedding of two of my amazing friends.

By four pm all of the guests were seated in wooden chairs in the backyard of the Governor Thomas Bennett House in downtown Charleston facing a chuppah decorated in lush greenery. The wedding was non-denominational and the groom’s brother actually officiated but the chuppah was a nod to his Jewish background. The ceremony was sweet and short but my favorite part was that the bride could not stop grinning ear to ear. The picture below when Matthew had just stomped on the glass and the entire crowd was yelling “Mazel Tov” might be the happiest I’ve ever seen her!

After the ceremony cocktails were served the actual mansion but before heading into the house I got a few shots of the gorgeous setup in the outside tent before everyone descended an hour later. After taking these shots I was so wrapped up in getting a glass of champagne (#priorities) and catching up with friends that I forgot to take any photos of the inside of the Governor Thomas Bennett House but luckily their website has some great one of this house that dates back to 1825 which you can see here.

The bride looked absolutely stunning as you can tell in the photo of us above and I was really pleased with my choice of gowns for this black tie affair – this Jill Jill Stuart V Neck Gown in Viola . The color is so unique and I definitely did not have the same dress as anyone else! After cocktails we headed back to the outdoor tent where the part really got started. Once seated I really saw all of the adorable DIY details the bride added to the beautiful day but the highlight was really the food. In between dancing we dined on she-crab soup, Summer squash, and buttermilk fried quail – YUM! Considering the bride won an episode of Cooks vs. Cons on the Food Network earlier this year it was not a surprise that the food was good but still, wow.

And the night continued with an adorable first dance – moving speeches by the Best Man, Maid of Honor, and Father of the Bride – followed by hours of more of dancing with a great live band and terrific singer. You may have thought the 85 degree heat and 100% humidity would have stopped us but the girls pulled up their dresses, put their hair back and danced the night away!

The last photo of the the night, the very happy couple with the bride in her second dress, a traditional Chinese one. The red color was gorgeous on her and it was a bit more practical as when the reception ended at 10pm we got straight into stretch limos and headed to King Street to keep the party going!