McKinley + Adam – Charleston South Carolina Wedding Photography
“Once in awhile,
Right in the middle of an ordinary life,
Love gives us a fairy tale.”
— Anonymous
Wedding photography is an amazing field – It’s not all about what you do, it’s about what you CAN do. It’s all about getting out of your comfort zone and learning what you are capable of. Pushing boundaries, stretching your experiences, and applying it to something new and unknown. So when McKinley contacted about shooting her amazing Charleston SC Wedding…well I would have been crazy to not take that opportunity.
McKinley and Adam live in NYC, so at it’s core, this was a destination wedding. Destination weddings require a lot of planning and are far more difficult to pull off than standard weddings. But destination weddings still begin like all others – with the venues. Lets talk about their venues: Getting ready shots at a huge beach house right on Folly Beach, with the ceremony and reception at a gorgeous county park encompassing everything about Charleston and the Old South. Beautiful old southern live oak trees, spanish moss, marshes…Combined with the nearby beach, you have every natural setting that the coastal South is known for. Needless to say, there were endless opportunities for amazing wedding photography.
Now, let’s talk a little about the couple. Vibrant, full of life, and fun-loving, McKinley and Adam are the people you meet once and instantly feel like old friends with. They are the people that others gravitate towards like a magnet – everyone wants to be a part of their lives. Adam owns a custom furniture business (and does amazing work), while McKinley is a freelance digital stretegist – both located in New York City. Taking time out of their busy lives in NYC, they decided to get married where they met – the vastly different landscape of Charleston. It’s a beautiful story set in a beautiful location, and I was proud to be a part of it.
Like many of my clients, they were looking for a natural approach and disliked stuffy, awkwardly posed photographs. They don’t like to sit around waiting. They are a couple that lives for the reception – A wedding is a celebration for them, and they wanted to enjoy every second of it. So they told me from the beginning for me to just relax and do my thing. This is the greatest compliment I can receive as a wedding photographer – having a client trust me enough to turn me loose and approach things the way I wanted to. As a result, I took an entirely candid approach to their entire wedding – Aside from the family formals, you could count the number of posed photos on one hand. Their families and friends are extremely important to their lives, and they wanted special coverage of them as well. I met their family and friends, and now I understand why. Everyone I met was warm, friendly, inviting, and had nothing but pure positivity and optimism surrounding them. Because of this, their candids turned out perfectly! What they ended up with was nearly 1000 photos spanning two days; showing nothing but pure unspoiled moments, happiness, the reuniting of family and friends, and basically one epic celebration.
I always talk about how difficult it is to narrow these final shots down. I suppose it’s a good problem to have as a photographer, but choosing only 80 shots for this blog was excruciatingly difficult for McKinley and Adam’s wedding. Take a look at some of my favorites below. And to McKinley and Adam, I wish you a lifetime of happiness and success – you deserve nothing less.
Locations: Old Towne Creek County Park, Charleston SC and Folly Beach, SC
Caterers: Hugh Magnum (Mighty Quinn’s)
Caviar and Bananas
Deserts by Aunt Ellie’s Sweet Treats
Live Band: Palmetto Soul
*This wedding is featured in Fearless Photographer’s Real Weddings
