South Carolina Mountain Engagement | Libby and James

Libby and James were engaged in November outside Williams-Brice stadium! They wanted their engagement photos at Pretty Place, or Fred W. Symmes Chapel at YMCA Camp Greenville. This chapel is right on the North Carolina border in Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, just down the road from Caesars Head State Park in northern Greenville County.

Since this was the one day Libby and James would be in the area and the chapel was closed for an event that evening, I suggested getting there at sunrise to get better light than if we went closer to midday. I had also heard from other photographers that it’s better to be there at sunrise because the chapel faces east, where the sunrise colors are. I was surprised, but happy, when they agreed to get there that early!

Well, apparently Pretty Place is the place to be at 7 AM on a Sunday, and it wasn’t as intimate as what we were hoping for (read: tons of people in the pews facing the exact spot we wanted in the background). We spent about 20 minutes getting sunrise photos there before we headed back down the road. Luckily, our other two locations only had one car there when we arrived! We took some photos at the Bald Rock overlook and in the trees there before heading to Wildcat Wayside for some waterfall photos!

Enjoy the photos from Libby and James’s sunrise session in the mountains of South Carolina!

For more information on Pretty Place, this post is for you. If you’re looking for a photographer, read about my elopement services and my engagement services.

My name is Christine (Scott) Gow and I’m an elopement photographer based out of Greenville, South Carolina. I’m a wife and a beagle mom. The three of us have visited beautiful places in every corner of South Carolina, to include all 48 of our state parks. Sometimes we wear hiking boots, sometimes we wear dress shoes, and sometimes we’re barefoot in the surf.

One thing I love about South Carolina is that it’s not just the beaches and colorful houses that you imagine when you picture it. Whether you’re looking for mountains, beaches, or anything in between; I can help you find the perfect place for the two of you and make it as smooth of a day as possible. No matter how you two choose to spend your day, I’m happy you’re doing it the way that you want.

I can’t wait to meet you!

Planning Resources

Proposal at Caesars Head | Melanie and Karl

I was so excited when Karl told me he wanted to propose to Melanie at one of my favorite places in all of South Carolina: the overlook at Caesars Head State Park!

Melanie and Karl live on the coast and planned to come up to the upstate for a weekend to hike in the mountains. They had heard Caesars Head was beautiful, so they wanted to check it out. Karl and I talked on the phone a few weeks before and came up with a plan for the proposal. I helped him choose a pretty trail near the Caesars Head visitor center that wouldn’t wear them out too much or take too much time. Since it’s hard to get phone signal in that area, we had to make sure we were on the same page beforehand, so I sent him a photo with what I had in mind for where he should get down on one knee:

Note that this was from the first attempt at my very first engagement session. We got all the way up there and the clouds/fog covered EVERYTHING, so we decided to come back a different day. I just sent him this one because it was the widest shot I had of the overlook.

After Melanie and Karl hiked to the Raven Cliff Falls observation deck, they came to the overlook at Caesars Head. Since it was right before Thanksgiving, there were a ton of people on the overlook, so I just stood right there taking pictures like everyone else was. Melanie waited for some people to clear away from the railing so she could take a picture on her phone. When she turned around, Karl was on one knee! The amount of happiness radiating from them in these photos is contagious, and I was smiling so much while I was editing these.  

Karl remembered that Melanie had shown him her Pinterest at one point, and that there were rings on there. He looked her profile up and chose a ring that was similar to the ones she had pinned. I thought that was a pretty good idea! I also like the red box that it was in. 

I had so much fun with these two and I hope you love their photos!  If you’re looking for a photographer, click to read about the engagement experience and the elopement experience!

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My name is Christine (Scott) Gow and I’m an elopement photographer based out of Greenville, South Carolina. I’m a wife and a beagle mom. The three of us have visited beautiful places in every corner of South Carolina, to include all 48 of our state parks. Sometimes we wear hiking boots, sometimes we wear dress shoes, and sometimes we’re barefoot in the surf.

One thing I love about South Carolina is that it’s not just the beaches and colorful houses that you imagine when you picture it. Whether you’re looking for mountains, beaches, or anything in between; I can help you find the perfect place for the two of you and make it as smooth of a day as possible. No matter how you two choose to spend your day, I’m happy you’re doing it the way that you want.

I can’t wait to meet you!

Planning Resources