Jeff & Cari | South Carolina Boone Hall Plantation Wedding

Oct 13

Wow. This wedding was outta control. A hurricane really has a way of really spicing up a wedding day!

We first met Jeff & Cari at their cousin's wedding, and we thought they were a striking couple (the kind you just hope will be together forever, much less call you later on to photograph their wedding). We were over-the-moon excited when they chose us as their photographers, especially since it was going to be a destination wedding in Charleston, South Carolina.

We flew to South Carolina in the midst of all the Hurricane Joaquin flurry, and by the time we got there, the pouring rain had settled in. Good thing we love hanging out, because we were stuck in our hotel for three days! We didn't get to explore Charleston much, but we had a great time watching Netflix (especially Fixer Upper and The Walking Dead...) and drinking chocolate milk, with the occasional walk in the POURING, tropical-feeling, romantic-movie worthy rain. The news kept looking grimmer and grimmer for the wedding day--at one point it had a list of the places with the highest rainfall. Guess what? Boone Hall Plantation was #1. Flash flooding, closed roads, unrelenting rain--definitely what every bride wants to hear for her wedding weekend!

It's really pretty miraculous how things just work on a wedding day. There have been so many times there are about 100 reasons for things to get ruined, and somehow it all converges and it's a magical day. The rain on Monday was minuscule compared to the torrential weekend, the flooding had started to go down, and everyone stayed safe on road detours and the PARTY BUS we all rode on between everything. There was still plenty of excitement--wet sand everywhere, tarps for people to stand on, dress malfunctions, underwater dance floors (it cleared in time for the first dance!), the roads to Boone Hall blocked by police cars.

Jeff & Cari were the perfect couple for the challenge. Jeff drove people from the airport, dropped off cars, and sturdily did all the extra hassle that came with the territory. Cari bought red rain boots and called it good. They asked to wade out in the flooded road at the end of the night for photos. Basically they are our heroes.

They rented beautiful houses right on the beach in the Isle of Palms. Absolutely stunning.

Their ceremony was held at St. Luke's Chapel in Charleston. The sun even broke through the clouds right as they were getting married!

When we showed up at Boone Hall Plantation (it had started raining again), the entire dock was underwater! The main areas were pretty clear, so we managed to get some photos, with the help of her brother (her man-of-honor) holding her dress, dragging around a tarp for her to stand on, etc. The plantation was incredible. Wish we could have shot there for hours!

Adam & Nicole's wedding was one of our favorites last year. Jeff is Nicole's cousin, which makes this the fourth wedding in the same top-notch family that we've been able to photograph. These grandparents are the best ever--we have a blast with them every time. And Adam & Nicole now have a beautiful baby girl!

Cari's dress was a stunning, belle-of-the-ball gown, but it gave her no end of troubles. She ended up having to change into a different dress by the end of the night! Still looked like a million bucks, of course!

Also: the food was fantastic! True southern--barbecue, mac & cheese, greens, and gallons of sweet tea. Nobody up here quite understands sweet tea like the South does. My late-night energy boost was definitely courtesy of all that delicious sugar and caffeine. And there were tiny chicken & waffles for a snack!