Anniversary Photos at Table Rock | Semeen and Shehzad

I spent a perfect spring evening with Semeen and Shehzad right before their one-year wedding anniversary. We took photos at one of my favorite South Carolina parks, and one of my favorite places in South Carolina: Table Rock State Park in Pickens. I love that Table Rock Mountain is so easily recognizable from a distance, and I love that we can take photos with both water and mountains here.

Semeen and Shehzad had met before Shehzad came to the US for grad school, but they stayed in touch from across the world. Over the years, they became very close, and they knew that they wanted to get married and live in South Carolina together. When Shehzad came back to India, he proposed to Semeen. With Covid regulations in place in India, they opted for a small wedding just a week after their engagement so that they could be married before Shehzad came back to the US. As the Covid situation became more complicated, Shehzad ended up not being able to fly back to the US for four months! They made the best of the situation and spent that time adventuring together around India and Europe until they could move to South Carolina.

We originally had a different state park in mind for these photos, but when it was time to go, it appeared this park was already closed for the day. Shehzad suggested Table Rock instead. This is one of my favorite parks and I even had my own family photos there, so I agreed. They decided to have one outfit that was more American-looking and one that was more Indian-looking. Shehzad wore a kurta, which is like a long shirt, and Semeen wore a dupatta, which is like a shawl. I loved the sparkle and color the dupatta added to the photos!

When I first met Shehzad through the photography club at Clemson, he had only lived in the US for a few months. He said he loved taking pictures of the trees in the fall because he had never seen trees change colors before and he wanted to show everyone in India how beautiful it was. When we got to Table Rock, there was a tree with beautiful pink blossoms that I knew I wanted to use in their photos, but of course Shehzad pointed out an orange tree along the water too.

Enjoy Semeen and Shehzad‘s anniversary photos at Table Rock State Park!

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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! 

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Elopement at Red Horse Inn | Heather and Scott

Heather and Scott were married in an intimate ceremony on a perfect fall day in front of the South Carolina mountains!

These days, there’s a lot of chaos and uncertainty that comes with planning a wedding with a large group of people, so Heather and Scott decided to embrace the idea of an intimate ceremony with just each other. Their ceremony took place on the veranda of the Red Horse Inn in Landrum—right off of Scenic Highway 11. I had seen photos of the inn on Instagram, but when I walked up to the ceremony site, I couldn’t believe how beautiful the view from the mountains was.  Their voices were the only sound breaking the silence around us. 

After they signed the marriage license, we got to meet Phinney, the venue’s mini pig. We were given Cheerios to feed him and his tail wagged just like a dog’s! After we took some photos around the venue, we went to their cabin, where they cut their beautiful cake. One of their cake flavors was almond, which is one of my favorites, and a flavor I never see anyone else have at their wedding. We had to take a few photos with their dogs, Brie and Beamer, who were waiting for them at the cabin. 

To finish, we drove about 5 minutes down the road to take some more of their wedding photos at Campbell’s Covered Bridge. This beautiful red bridge is the only remaining covered bridge in the state, and there’s some beautiful tall grass nearby. After we said goodbye, Heather and Scott had dinner together and enjoyed the rest of the perfect fall weather with each other and their dogs. 

Check out some of my favorite photos from this beautiful South Carolina mountain elopement! 

Vendors:

Venue and florals: Red Horse Inn

Officiant: Raya Jackson

Hair and Makeup: Kapelli Salon

Cake: All Good Things

Photo: Christine Scott Photography

Does this seem like the perfect way to spend a wedding day? Click here to get in touch so we can start planning a personalized and intimate ceremony!

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Clemson Bridal Portraits in South Carolina Botanical Gardens | Brittany

Brittany and I met at a wedding expo in February of 2020.  It was only a few weeks after she got engaged, and a few weeks before the world turned upside-down, which made it hard to set dates for anything in stone. We eventually scheduled her bridal portraits a week after her Clemson graduation portraits.  She totally lucked out on the weather—about 70 degrees and partly cloudy both days!

We started Brittany’s bridal portraits at the South Carolina Botanical Gardens, which is technically part of Clemson’s campus.  I love doing sessions here because it’s such a rabbit hole—there are obvious places that are pretty, but there are little pockets of hidden gems everywhere.  Since Clemson has so many different majors involving plants and wildlife, it’s no surprise that there’s so much diversity in the garden and it changes so much throughout the year.  On this beautiful day in May, the gardens didn’t have the pink and white blooms that it had when I did a session here in March, but there were some colorful flowers that weren’t there before, and a lot more green overall.  The garden was so quiet and peaceful, with the occasional splash in the pond or rustle through the bushes.  We caught the scents of different blossoms as we walked down the trail, including something that smelled like bubblegum! 

I loved that Brittany’s veil complemented her ruffly dress so well, and bridal headbands are some of my favorite accessories!  She found her dress at The Castle in Spartanburg.  She said she loved having another opportunity to wear everything—she loved feeling like a bride and she could know a few weeks before the wedding day how her whole ensemble felt. She was so smiley the whole session!

Brittany also wanted to have some of her bridal portraits at Clemson’s main campus, since it’s become such a special place to her and held a significant role in her relationship with her now-husband.  She wanted some pictures with Tillman Hall/Old Main, since she’s an education major and that’s where most of her classes are.  We spent a good amount of time at Sikes Hall, which both of us love.  I thought she looked like Cinderella in some of the photos we took on the steps at Sikes!

I’m so happy to have met Brittany and I’ve loved getting to know her at both her graduation session and her bridal portraits.  Check out a few of my favorites that I’ve been dying to share!

Are you thinking about having photos done at Clemson? Click here to check out some of my favorite galleries from Clemson, including wedding, engagement, graduation, and pageant photos! To schedule a session, fill out my contact form to tell me all about it!

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View Point at Buckhorn Creek Wedding | Chandler and Will

Chandler and Will were married on a perfect spring day at The View Point at Buckhorn Creek in Greenville, South Carolina! I’m so excited to share the photos from their gorgeous wedding day.

There were so many sentimental parts of this wedding day! Will proposed to Chandler at his family’s lake house in Georgia around Christmas. He gave her ring from the jeweler everyone in his family has used, so I got to have a picture with three of those ring boxes together. Chandler is the sixth person in her family to wear this wedding dress. It was really special to have her mom and sisters help her put it on—three women who wore this dress on their wedding days were helping pass it on to her! Chandler also wore her grandma’s necklace and Will’s grandma’s earrings.

The View Point at Buckhorn Creek is a gorgeous venue near Paris Mountain. It overlooks the Blue Ridge Mountains and the surrounding garden is so full of color. Will and one of his friends built the cross that stood at the spot in front of the mountains where they said their vows. Since they had an early afternoon ceremony, the reception was more like a late lunch. Music played through the garden that overlooks the mountains, which made for such a peaceful atmosphere on a perfect spring afternoon! They were given a sendoff of lavender and flower petals.

Check out some of my favorite photos from this day full of peace, color, and laughter!


Vendors:
Venue: View Point at Buckhorn Creek
Catering and ice cream: Good Life Catering
Cake: Strossner’s Bakery
Music: Alie and Trevor Springgate
Officiant: Dr. Brian James
Dress: family heirloom for ceremony, Lulu’s for reception
Florals: Shari Power
Hair: Mika Davis
Groom’s accessories: Brooks Brothers
Bee cookies: Etsy

Looking for a wedding photographer? Click here to read a little more about me and what I do, or click here to get in touch!

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Station Cove Falls | Lauren and Christian

Lauren and I connected through a local hiking group, where she saw pictures I took of a couple at Carrick Creek Falls. She said that she and her husband didn’t have photos taken on their wedding day and would love to have some done together. I asked her if she had anywhere in mind, and she told me the place that was at the top of my bucket list: Station Cove Falls! 

Lauren and Christian were married in front of the waterfall six months ago, with a few of their family members as witnesses. In the middle of an October with otherwise perfect fall weather, it poured the whole day.  A lot of the trail had flooded, and they had to choose a different rock to stand on for the ceremony itself.

A few days after their wedding, I took the trail for the first time and it went on my bucket list for places to take pictures. There are a few reasons why this stands out to me from other trails:

1. You can safely take a lot of different pictures with the main attraction.

2. It’s an easy trail, so it’s less likely that the couple would be sweaty or exhausted in their photos—or worse, you have to turn around before you get to the good part.

3. It’s a short trail, so we could plan to be at the falls when the lighting is optimal and still be off the trail by dark.

4. It’s not too crowded, especially on weekdays.

5. There’s enough of a variety of pictures we could take here—it’s not just three hours of hiking with one spot that’s pretty.

Eventually, we decided to move their session from the evening to the morning because there was a high chance of thunderstorms in the evening. It was so quiet, aside from some running water and birds singing. A dog ran up to us at the waterfall, shook water all over us, and dropped a giant piece of wood at our feet and waited for us to throw it. 

One thing I love about sessions with waterfalls is how loud the water is once we’re right up in front of it. We end up shouting to each other and making gestures, and it always makes us all laugh. We found the spot where Lauren and Christian stood where they said their vows, but we also made sure to get pictures at the spot they wanted to say their vows before they knew how much water would cover it. 

Enjoy the photos from Lauren and Christian’s session!

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River Road and Jasmine Houses and Gardens Wedding | Madison and Clay

It was so fun to be part of Madison and Clay’s wedding day, nearly a year after we did their engagement photos with light sabers in Greenville!  This is the third wedding I’ve shot for someone in their family, so it was fun to catch up with everyone again!

Madison and Clay met through the art program at Shawnee State University, so between them, their family, and friends, there’s a lot of artistic talent.  Madison made the invitations and helped with the light saber bouquets.  Clay built different light sabers for himself, Madison, and each of the groomsmen.  Clay’s mom made Madison’s veil and comb, their brother-in-law made Star Wars masks for everyone, including Han and Leia for Clay and Madison, and the groomsmen did such a cool job painting the car!

This spring wedding was held at River Road and Jasmine Houses and Gardens in Columbia, South Carolina.  The whole day, they were surrounded by a garden with palmetto trees and flowers blooming.  Madison wore her great-grandmother’s pearl necklace, which was a beautiful and sentimental touch to her overall ensemble.  The boutonnières had the Rebel symbol on them and coordinated with the yellow flowers in Madison’s hair.   Madison walked down the aisle to Leia’s Theme, which made for such a beautiful moment during the ceremony.   Clay, of course, incorporated a quote from Anakin Skywalker into his vows: “Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi’s life.”

After the sun went down, we took some photos in the dark with the light sabers, like we did for their engagement session.  You don’t have to be into Star Wars to be impressed with the quality of these light sabers, but if you are, you might recognize some of the different Jedi’s hilts.  Madison wanted hers to be modeled after Leia’s in Episode IX.  (Check out the video Crissie and I took behind the scenes with the light sabers, and be sure to turn your sound on!)

Keep scrolling to see some of my favorite parts of this wonderful day! 

Venue: River Road and Jasmine Houses and Gardens

Dress: Azazie

Catering: River Road and Jasmine Houses and Gardens

Donuts: Duck Donuts

Video:  Matt Bowden

DJ:  DJ Krystyle

Officiant:  From This Day Forward

Hair and Makeup: Studio B at The Old Mill

Light Sabers:  The groom himself (Clayton’s Customs)

Assistant Photographer: Crissie Carpenter

Almost everything else you see here was a collaborative effort between the couple, their friends, and their families.

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Lavender Wedding Styled Shoot | The French Cottage

This styled shoot (a collaboration between wedding vendors to show the world what they can do) was French themed, so as someone who took French for 7-ish years, what’s not to love?  We met at The French Cottage, an elegant little Airbnb hidden in rural Pickens County.  It was set up to look like a ceremony for a micro-wedding, so hopefully this will help you picture how your wedding day might look!  Not only was there lavender everywhere (including some of the models’ hairpieces), the whole color scheme revolved around it, so there was so much purple!  The flatlays were SO much fun to put together, and since I was by myself when I did those, I had the American in Paris soundtrack playing on my phone as I set them up. 

We had two couples and three brides.  One of those brides, Kristy, happened to be there to help with the models’ hair and ended up modeling herself when another model couldn’t make it!  Each bride modeled multiple gowns and I love how different they all were.

This was such a fun day and I’m so happy to have met all these other creatives!  Here are the vendors who made these pictures possible:

Host: Hills Photography Studios

Venue: The French Cottage, Pickens, SC

Floral design and rentals: A Touch of Essence

Hair and Makeup: Katey Atkins, Kristy Hyde

Lavender: Twin Creeks Lavender

Hairpieces: Blushing Gold Brides

Catering: Kyla Woodard

Stationery: Tiger Lily Invitations

Soaps: Christine Wagner McBride

S’Mores: Cavity Kitchen

Illustrations: Cirque 91 Co

Gowns: Aletta Bridal, Belle & Kai

Models: Erica and Brian, Kaylan and Willie, Kalyn, Brittanie, and Kristy

Cake: Batterific Bakery

Macarons and Cookies: SoBella Sweets

Chocolates: My Favorite Sweets

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