upstate sc microwedding

South Carolina Mountain Elopement | 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

Ready for your best day ever?

Photo by Shehzad Ziaee

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 47 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 Greenville is that it’s everything you DON’T think about when you picture South Carolina, but it’s still picturesque. Whether you’re into mountains, waterfalls, lakes, 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!

Elopement Planning Resources

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Clemson Bridal Portraits in South Carolina Botanical Gardens | Brittany

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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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Station Cove Falls | Lauren and Christian

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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 I like this trail:

  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!

Ready for the best day ever?

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. We love being outside, but we also love being at home and watching Pixar movies on the couch.

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

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Clemson Elopement | Katie and Matt

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Katie and Matt knew they wanted their wedding day to be unique and intimate. A year and a half after I did Katie’s Clemson graduation portraits, she told me they were planning to elope and asked if I could do their wedding photos. Since so much of Matt and Katie’s story takes place around Clemson, it felt like a perfect fit for them. They said they shared a lot of memories at the amphitheater, so we made a plan for them to get married there on New Year’s Eve.

Katie, Matt, and I met up at the amphitheater with my friend Rebecca of A Different Officiant. Since it was New Year’s Eve, there weren’t hardly any people around, and only the bells of the clock tower broke the silence around them. Even though there was a high chance of rain for the whole day, none came down while we were together! We went through so much of campus that day, even through some of the botanical gardens. Since there were no guests, Katie and Matt could spend their wedding day wherever. They popped a bottle of champagne together on Bowman Field, which made for plenty of laughs as it sprayed everywhere. They even cut their wedding cake right in front of Death Valley!

Katie and Matt spent years walking this campus with no idea that they were passing by the place where they would someday get married. This was such a fun day that was totally centered around them and their story. Check out some of my favorite photos from Katie and Matt’s wedding!


Special thanks to Rebecca Inman of A Different Officiant for making it possible for Katie and Matt to get married in a place that was so special to them. Their cake came from Sugar Mama’s Cakes and Desserts in Seneca.

Ready for your best day ever?

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 Greenville is that it’s everything you DON’T think about when you picture South Carolina, but it’s still picturesque. Whether you’re into mountains, waterfalls, lakes, 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!

Elopement Planning Resources

The Venue Asheville Wedding Styled Shoot

I got to spend an evening in downtown Asheville with some other photographers showing off what some other local vendors can do! 

One of the rooms had ANOTHER French theme!  While the one I did two days earlier was French lavender themed, this one was French countryside themed.  The ceremony space had a hand-painted backdrop that complemented the pastel pink and blue in the bouquet, macarons, and cake.  The delicate colors make me think of Cinderella!  I loved the off-the-shoulder dress and the pattern at the end of the cathedral veil!  Sarah and I took turns tossing the veil for each other and running out of the frame so we could get some pretty pictures of it floating.

The other theme was a woodland theme, with greenery and wood and a color scheme of mostly deep green and burgundy.  For this setup, we had two grooms, a bride, and a sweetheart table.  I loved the way the grooms’ suits, ties, and boutonnieres complemented each other! 

Organizer: Ashley Ricci

Venue: The Venue Asheville

French Countryside

Floral: Elena- Luxe Wedding Designs

Cake:  Emma - Verbena Cakes

Macarons: Beeswax and Butter

Mobile Bar: Bryce -Jack’s 47 Mobile Bar

Hair: Jenna- Atlas Beauty

Makeup:  Powder Me Pretty

Invitations:  Erin -Pretty Words By Erin

Rentals: Nikki -East West Vintage Rentals

Dress:  Amy -Maggi Bridal

Designer: Sincerity Bridal

Suit:  Asos

Custom ceremony Backdrop:  Abby- Abby Lynne Art

Models:  Lucy + James

Woodland

Floral: Lissa- Flora

Cake:  Cakin’ It Up

Hair: Jenna- Atlas Beauty

Makeup:  Powder Me Pretty

Invitations:  Pretty Words By Erin

Rentals: Nikki- East West Vintage Rentals

Dress:  Amy- Maggi Bridal

Designer: Lillian West

Suit:  Mitchell’s Tuxedo

Models: Shane + Mike (couple), Corey (bride)

Ready for wedding photos like this?  Check out some of my other work below or click here to get in touch!

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

 

Does your Pinterest board look like this? Check out some of my other work below or click here so we can start planning for your own photos!

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