Clemson Elopement | Jenna & Chris

Jenna and Chris decided to elope in South Carolina Botanical Gardens on Star Wars Day, May the 4th.

They knew they liked the idea of eloping in a garden because they like spring scenery and colors. After looking through some pictures on my blog, they determined that they could see themselves getting married in the South Carolina Botanical Gardens. When we had our Zoom call, I walked them through what the scenery might look like at that time of year and some possible places to have their ceremony.

It started pouring rain right before we arrived, but we all had clear umbrellas. Jenna and Chris chose the pavilion at the duck pond for their ceremony, which is covered. The rain also drove away all the people who came to the gardens to take prom photos, so we almost had the garden to ourselves, and didn't hear much besides the rain and waterfalls.

There were so many wonderful smells in the garden, from the herbs to the flowers. We couldn't pinpoint what smelled like bubblegum and what smelled like fruity candy. Jenna and Chris heard that smell is an important trigger for wedding day memories, so Jenna picked out a cologne for Chris, and Chris picked out a perfume for Jenna. They also picked out each other's rings. Chris's was galaxy-inspired and can glow in the dark if it's had enough sun exposure!

Since Jenna and Chris like ice cream more than they like cake, they decided to get a bowl of "wedding ice cream" to share. We stopped at Andee's Ice Cream in downtown Clemson, where everyone was so excited to see newlyweds buying ice cream together. They shared a bowl of ice cream outside the shop before we headed to Lake Hartwell for sunset.

"Clemson sunset" was a big buzzword while I was a student because orange is a special color to the community and we like to see it in the sky. Lake Hartwell is one of the best places to see a Clemson sunset, and even though it was so rainy when we met up, we had the most beautiful orange sky over the lake!

They haven't lived in South Carolina for very long, but they knew they wanted to elope in a garden. This was their first time visiting Clemson and the South Carolina Botanical Gardens, and they're already planning a trip back to see more of it! I hope you enjoy my photos of Jenna and Chris's elopement at Clemson!

For more information about eloping, check out some places to elope in upstate South Carolina, and read more about the elopement experience!

Shoutout to everyone who helped make Jenna and Chris’s elopement day so wonderful!

Locations: South Carolina Botanical Gardens and Lake Hartwell

Officiant: Debbie Eliopulous

Hair and makeup: Meg and Jake with Cotton Rouge and Company

Dress: Evelyn's Bridal

Ice cream: Andee's Ice Cream

Photography: Christine Scott Photography

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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 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!

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South Carolina Mountain Engagement | Leah & Dejour

Dejour and Leah met on Instagram through their love of poetry. This shared love for poetry shined through at one of the most precious moments they've shared together: when Dejour so beautifully asked Leah to marry him. They had seen photos of Pretty Place on Instagram and decided they wanted to check it out next time they visited Dejour's mom in North Carolina. They had a dinner reservation in Greenville, so Leah knew to dress nicely. What Leah didn't know was that there was also a reservation for them at the chapel, and dinner was to celebrate their engagement.

When I saw Dejour and Leah walk in, they were immediately blown away by how beautiful and serene the view was. Since it was April, there were bushes at the front of the chapel with pink flowers blooming. The sky was clear, and there just so happened to be a hawk quietly flying behind the cross as they came in. They walked down the stairs together to the cross, where Dejour proposed.

Dejour found me while looking up information about Pretty Place, and decided that he should reserve the chapel. Since Pretty Place only shows the visitation schedule two weeks in advance and Dejour needed more time than that to plan, this was the only way to guarantee that it would be available for them. The other benefit to reserving the chapel is that nobody else was there, so it was quiet and not crowded at all. We got to take pictures all over the chapel without worrying about blocking anyone's view, having anyone else in the background, or having strangers watching them.

After we finished taking photos at Pretty Place, we drove down to Caesars Head State Park, which was along the way back towards Greenville. Even though the forecast had said there was a 0% chance of rain, we had a little bit of a sunshower while we were there. We took some photos at the overlook as the wind blew through the trees--a perfect place to be when you're feeling on top of the world.

Enjoy some of my favorite photos of Leah and Dejour's engagement at Pretty Place!

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Miss Clemson University 2024 | Ella Kate

Ella Kate was crowned Miss Clemson University 2024!

This was my 8th time doing photos for the annual Miss Clemson University pageant, and it's always so fun to take photos with the winner afterwards. Ella Kate had a really fun Bruno Mars tap dance for her talent, and she wore a beautiful white evening gown, which helped her win the evening gown award. Her only prior experience with pageants was when she won her high school title and used that to compete for Miss South Carolina Teen, so she was surprised and excited to be crowned Miss Clemson University.

The day of Ella Kate's portrait session was a beautiful spring day, but also kind of windy. Since this isn't an actual pageant day, sometimes the winners borrow a dress that they wouldn't normally wear for a pageant, and we can get creative with them in the photos. Ella Kate had borrowed a really cool sparkly purple evening gown from Dressing Dreams for this session, which was perfect for photos at Clemson! We took some photos around the stadium, where the lighting was so beautiful. Since the stadium is so big now, we went up to the porch at Mickel Hall to get some photos of the whole scoreboard, overlooking the stadium. We took some photos at Sikes Hall, one of my favorite places to take pictures at Clemson, before Ella Kate changed into her orange dress. Since it was the beginning of April, the flowers in President's Park were in full bloom, making for the perfect spring photos!

I had so much fun with Ella Kate and I hope you enjoy her Miss Clemson University portraits!

Read more about Miss Clemson University here, and check out some of my other favorite photos I've taken around Clemson!

My name is Christine (Scott) Gow and I’m an elopement photographer based out of Greenville, South Carolina. I graduated from Clemson in 2015 and got married there in 2017. My husband, my beagle, and I 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 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!

More Photos from Clemson

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South Carolina Mountain Engagement | Sydney & Dyce

Sydney and Dyce met in Charleston while Sydney was a student at College of Charleston and Dyce was a cadet at The Citadel.  Dyce remembered Sydney telling him about Pretty Place, a chapel close to where she grew up.  When they made plans to spend Easter with Sydney’s mom, Dyce decided he wanted to propose to Sydney at Pretty Place at sunrise. 

Pretty Place can be notoriously difficult to coordinate, especially for a proposal, where one person has to be unaware of what’ll happen there.  When I talked to Dyce to go over a plan for the proposal, I made sure he was well aware of how crowded Pretty Place might be, especially since it would be a Saturday and the day before Easter.  He followed my advice to get there close to when it opened, even though sunrise wasn’t for more than an hour, and he agreed that we should go take pictures at Bald Rock afterwards.  Still, there were more people there than I’d ever seen at Pretty Place, everyone was standing up to take photos, and there was even a small praise band playing.  Dyce and Sydney waited until more people had cleared out before they got in line to take pictures with the cross.  Lots of people jumped up to take a photo when Dyce got down on one knee, but I managed to still get a photo without Sydney noticing me!

After taking some photos at the small overlook next to the chapel and in the trees, we drove down to Bald Rock, where there were a lot less people and there was a lot more space.  When I took a closeup photo of Sydney’s ring, I noticed a date on her bracelet, which she told me was the date that she and Dyce started dating–super cool that she happened to be wearing it that day and it just so happened to be in a photo with her engagement ring!

Check out some of my favorites from Sydney and Dyce’s engagement at Pretty Place and Bald Rock!

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Clemson Engagement | Jenna & Luke

Luke and Jenna aren’t just any Clemson Tigers.  They were THE Clemson Tigers.  As in they were the ones in the Tiger and Cub costumes at the football games.  

I always love working with Clemson couples.  My husband and I met while we were Clemson freshmen and we got married there, and over the years, I’ve enjoyed hearing other Clemson couples’ stories about how they met and what memories they share there together.  Luke said that he wanted to propose along the dikes at Lake Hartwell because he and Jenna used to go running there together.  Even though I’d been to the rowing center many times as a student, I apparently had never actually been to the dikes.  It’s a bit of a steep walk from the parking lot, but there’s a beautiful view of Lake Hartwell on the other side.  When I found the spot that I thought would work best for spacing and lighting, I texted Luke a photo, and then pretended I was just taking pictures of the pretty lake on a nice day.

The day that Luke proposed was a beautiful spring day, the day before Easter.  He told Jenna that they would meet one of his former professors at Clemson for lunch, and since it was a nice day, they could walk along the dikes.  He stopped at the spot I’d sent him a picture of and proposed!  Jenna was so caught off guard, and even though she said “yes,” she also kept saying “I’m so confused!”  Luke said that he had schemed with Jenna’s sister to figure out what kind of ring Jenna would like, and Jenna couldn’t get over how beautiful it was.

After we took some photos at the lake, we went down to the football stadium.  They both mentioned wanting photos with the cub statue at the back of the stadium.  We also got some photos at Tiger Walk, which was still pretty new, and gave us a cool view of the back of the stadium.  There happened to be some purple flowers next to Tiger Walk that made for a great spot to take photos of all of their rings.

Enjoy some of my favorites from Jenna and Luke’s engagement session at Clemson!

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Proposal at Lake Lure Flowering Bridge | Molly & Joe

Joe and Molly were engaged at the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge in Chimney Rock, North Carolina on a beautiful evening in the early spring!

Molly and Joe met one day in downtown Clemson while they were students there. After they graduated, they both moved to the Charlotte area.  On the day that Joe planned to propose, they had decided to have dinner at Burntshirt Vineyards in Chimney Rock so that he and Molly would both know to dress nicely. Molly was wearing a flowy white dress with blue flowers. Joe told Molly they’d be stopping at the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge beforehand. The Lake Lure Flowering Bridge is a special place to Joe because his grandma used to be one of the volunteers who helped maintain the garden. When Joe and I talked through a plan, he decided to propose at the section of the Flowering Bridge that overlooks Lake Lure. I got there early and sent him a photo of the angle I thought would be best. Even though it was a small space, Joe stopped in the perfect spot to get down on one knee and I stood off to the side to take some photos!

On the day of the engagement, Chimney Rock was significantly colder than Greenville and Charlotte. Somehow, we had sun, wind, and the slightest amount of rain at the same time, all within the time that we were taking pictures. At the end of February, we still mostly had bare trees and some of the winter decor on the bridge, but some of the flowers had started blooming, so it kind of felt like we were between seasons. Molly said that she felt like they had spring engagement photos, but also had photos they could use for Christmas cards later.

Check out some of my favorite photos from Molly and Joe’s engagement at the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge!

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Proposal in Downtown Greenville | Lily & Clark

Lily and Clark met almost three years ago when they came to Greenville for college. Clark had seen photos of Cancer Survivors Park in downtown Greenville and decided he wanted to propose to Lily there. We talked on New Year’s Eve and worked out a time to go a few weeks later.

I went down to Cancer Survivors Park a week beforehand around the time that we had planned to be there. First of all, I wanted to see where the light would be at that hour so we could plan for the best spot. Second of all, I saw some pictures of how places near it had gotten totally flooded a few days earlier, so I needed to make sure it wasn’t destroyed before we planned to be there. Third, I didn’t know how many people are there at 8 AM on a Saturday in the winter—thankfully, it was mostly empty. I sent Clark pictures of three spots that I thought would be good for the proposal and he told me which one he liked the best. I told him, “Hopefully it won’t be so cold and windy next week!”

Well, it wasn’t windy on the day of the proposal, but it was even colder than it was the day that I checked it out! In order to get to the spot we had chosen, we had to walk past a digital billboard, which told us it was sunny and 20 degrees. Lily was wearing a pretty blue trench coat, which was perfect for this winter day. When Clark proposed, we pretty much had the park to ourselves, so it was nice and quiet for them. They celebrated afterwards with brunch at Tupelo Honey Cafe.

Check out some of my favorite photos from Lily and Clark’s proposal in downtown Greenville!

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2023

2023 had a lot of wins after a lot of slowness, so I’m gonna share some of the things that helped turn things around, plus share some of my favorite photos from 2023. I hope this helps anyone who is running a small business!

Contact Form

One quick fix was that I added a phone number option to my contact form on my website. I’d gotten a lot of responses a long time later saying, “Sorry I didn’t see this earlier, it was in my spam folder!” Most of the time, I just never got a response and assumed this is what happened. But if someone happened to give me their phone number in their initial inquiry, I would text them to say that I emailed them all my info and to check their spam folder. Those people were much more likely to respond. Once I made it an option on my contact form to add a phone number, most people did it, and I saw a huge decrease in the number of people who never responded to me.

Blogging

I focused really heavily on my blog this year, since that’s been helping me connect with more people for a couple years now. For every blog post, I put the location wherever I can, like the title, the URL, and the filenames of the images. I usually have 3 variations of titles that I use in a given blog gallery, just whatever I think people are googling. I make a blog post for every couple I work with, but I also do this for my informative posts.

My goal was to average 2 posts per month without going one calendar month without a post. I ended up with 32 posts for the year, and 8 of those were in November. Those 8 were all clients (I’m not kidding when I say Fall 2023 was insanely busy) but a lot of the rest were things I want people to read before they reach out to me. Some of them were questions I always find myself answering, so I don’t have to keep saying the same thing over and over.

Locations

A lot of these blog posts were specific to locations. I made a blog post a few years ago just for engagement photos at Clemson, since that was most of my clientele at the time and I wanted to give people ideas. This year, I started making blog posts with locations I’d shot at more than once so that people could see what kind of scenery was in a given place. I made a blog post at the beginning of the year highlighting different places in downtown Greenville, since there’s so much of a variety of scenery and I wanted to have photos of all of it in one place to show people. I felt like I kept describing all these places to people, so I put all the photos of different places there into one post. Now, if someone wants to propose downtown, I can just send them a link to that post and we can talk about which places stand out to them.

The post I made for Pretty Place was mostly to help people coordinate getting there in general, since it’s closed for weddings so often and apparently people come from all over to see it. I kept getting inquiries for Pretty Place that never panned, which I think is because people were trying to coordinate a big trip there and then realized they couldn’t guarantee it’d be open when they were in the area. I made that post in March and it quickly became my third most-viewed post for the rest of the year, behind my posts about where to take engagement photos and where to elope. I ended up with 5 engagement sessions there in 2023, and 3 were in the same week. 4 of these couples were from out of state and 4 of these couples had never been there before.

I only had 4 couples this year who had already chosen a location I’d never been to before, and those were all wedding venues. 1 couple chose a location that I’d been to before, but had not done photos at. Some people found me because they chose a place and my photos came up when they googled it. Some wanted my advice in choosing a location and I sent them blog posts with lots of photos from specific locations. Sending videos I’d taken there also helped them get an idea of where to stand and what spacing looked like, especially if it was a place they’d never been to.

Organizing Posts

I also got better at linking my blog posts all over my website. I have all my informative posts in their own category at the end of each blog post and on my homepage so they’re easy to find. If I have a post for a location I’ve shot at multiple times, I link other blog posts from that location, and the blog post with all the info for that location.

Blogging Workflow

I made a “demo” blog post as a draft that I can duplicate every time I book a new couple. This has the formatting I want so I don’t have to do it from scratch every time. After I set the date with the couple, I duplicate that post and change the title and URL to have the location in it. Once I’ve taken the photos, I can write a blog post as a note on my phone whenever I feel like it (like in waiting rooms or on plane rides) and then paste the text into the post when I’m done with it. Then once I’m done editing the photos, everything else in the blog is already done. I choose the photos I want for the blog, resize them, save them as a PNG, rename them to have the location name in it, and then upload them to the blog. You can make a Photoshop action to automate resizing the photos and saving them as a PNG. I usually resize to 6x9 inches and 200 PPI, but that’s just what works for me, I’m not computer savvy enough to know if that’s what works best for other people.

My Laptop

An investment is worthwhile if it helps save you a lot of time and peace of mind. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t upgrade things until it’s absolutely necessary. I had my laptop for almost 6 years, and 6 years of editing photos took its toll on it. It got to the point where I had to set aside a lot of time to do ANYTHING on my laptop because it was so slow. As soon as my busy season started, it was clear that my laptop had reached the point where I was wasting more time than I was being productive. Dan and I decided that we would upgrade my laptop on Black Friday to get it for a lower price. But when I sat at my laptop for half an hour without getting anything done, I knew I couldn’t wait until Black Friday. I activated my editing software on Dan’s desktop computer until the new laptop arrived, and I couldn’t believe how much faster everything was going. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d spent another day trying to work around such a slow laptop.

Time Off

And if you have a full-time job like I do—use your time off. I’ve taken a few days off this year to do sunrise sessions, then I come home, sleep, and get stuff done. I feel a lot better coming back to work after taking a day to rest and get things off my plate.

So there you have it—some of the things that helped me pivot in 2023. I hope this helps you get un-stuck, and feel free to message me if you have any questions!

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Falls Park Engagement | Batare and Femi

Femi came to visit Batare in Greenville on Batare’s birthday. Before they went out to dinner at Halls, they took a walk through Falls Park. They stopped by the Carolina Foothills Garden Club Sanctuary, where Femi proposed!

Femi and Batare first met during a medical school trip in Dominica, and they couldn’t believe they’d never met before. They spent most of their lives in the same city, they were undergrads at the same school at the same time, and they’re both Nigerian. Once they started a relationship, they moved around together until they were placed in different cities for their residencies, about 6 hours apart. They still visited each other often and found a lot of places they love in both cities.

When Femi and I talked through the proposal plan, we decided to have the proposal in Falls Park. It was close to everything else in Greenville, and Femi could easily get Batare dressed up by telling her they had a dinner reservation at a nice restaurant. Femi made a reservation at Halls Chophouse, a place they both like. We ended up choosing the Carolina Foothills Garden Sanctuary because it’s a little bit more private than the rest of Falls Park, but the scenery is still really pretty.

We had some really pretty light since a lot of the trees had already lost their leaves. Since their session was so close to the winter solstice, golden hour was pretty early in the day, so most people were still at work and not hanging around downtown while we were taking photos.  Since Christmas was only a few days away, we got some photos with one of the big and beautiful Christmas trees downtown, and we heard the musicians playing Christmas music. Batare was so shocked in the first few minutes, but the shock became spontaneous laughing and hugging. You can just feel their happiness in these photos!

Check out some of my favorite photos from Femi and Batare’s engagement in downtown Greenville!

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Chimney Rock Engagement | Molly & Ethan

Right before Christmas, Molly and Ethan had come down from Indiana to explore different cities in North Carolina. After spending a couple days in Asheville, they headed towards Charlotte, and decided to stop at Chimney Rock State Park. They liked the idea of the big rock overlooking everything, and they don’t see a lot of mountains where they live.

Chimney Rock is a unique area—some scenes from Dirty Dancing were filmed around here, and Chimney Rock State Park itself was one of the filming locations for The Last of the Mohicans. To get to the overlook, there are about 500 stairs, but there’s also an elevator that goes 26 stories through a mountain. Since it was December, the tunnel leading to the mountain had red and green uplighting, giving a Grinch-looking effect, and the railings leading to the overlook were decorated with wreaths, bows, and garlands.

It was a cold morning, but it quickly warmed up because it was sunny and there was no wind. I knew I was the first car to park at the bottom, so I watched the parking lot from the overlook until I saw Molly and Ethan drive in. I took pictures at the top until Molly and Ethan got to the top, and then I pretended to just take photos of the scenery. They looked out over Lake Lure together to take in the view, and Ethan got down on one knee. He gave her a beautiful vintage-looking ring!

After taking some photos at the overlook, we headed down to the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge to get a change of scenery. Since it was a Tuesday morning in the winter, there was nobody at all in the park or at the Flowering Bridge, and we had both places all to ourselves! After we finished taking photos, Molly and Ethan got to spend the rest of the day celebrating their engagement!

Check out some of my favorite photos from Molly and Ethan’s engagement at Chimney Rock!

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Bent Creek Farm Wedding | Ashley and David

I met Ashley and David in June for their engagement photos in the South Carolina Botanical Gardens, so I was excited to see them again for their December wedding!

Ashley and David were married on a 70-degree day in December at Bent Creek Farm with about 20 family members and friends. Since they met while playing World of Warcraft, they walked down the aisle to World of Warcraft music, and they quoted it in their vows.

Ashley opted for a green dress instead of a typical white one, and I’m not sure whether she looked more like she belonged in a Disney movie or in White Christmas. She paired it with a burgundy cloak, which made me think of Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. Thankfully, both of them have seen that movie and knew what I meant when I said it!

David chose to wear a kilt to honor his Scottish heritage. He chose a tartan to fit the color scheme they chose, rather than the tartan for one of the clans his ancestors belonged to. He had a cane with a sword in it, which was super cool.

They kept their reception pretty low-key since it was only about 20 people. I loved watching their nieces and nephew dance around together. Ashley made the party favors and table decor herself, including the same fabric she used as a scarf during the engagement photos. The red and green decor paired so well with everything they chose to wear, and it fit the Christmas scheme so beautifully.

Enjoy some of my favorite photos from Ashley and David’s December wedding at Bent Creek Farm!

Venue: Bent Creek Farm

Photography: Christine Scott Photography

Hair and makeup: Collective Beauty

Officiant: Evan Welcher

Bride’s attire: Amazon

Groom’s attire: Kilt Renal USA

Catering: Laurenda’s

Desserts: Publix and Whimsy Cookies

Invitations: Truly Engaging

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!

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