Southern Bride and Rosewood Manor

March 15, 2017 by Carl Kerridge

Who doesn’t love a southern bride and how she plans her wedding?!

Alison kept traditions in more than one way and they were nothing short of elegant. One of the most thoughtful was the memory of Alison’s mother sewn into her dress. She took her mother’s wedding dress, and had a section monogramed so that she could have it with her as she walked down the aisle. Just beautiful.

Picking a venue in the heart of old South Carolina, Rosewood Manor hosted a grandeur atmosphere for the Scruggs and their guests. Dr. Gary and his staff go above and beyond to create unforgettable memories at their plantation home, it was simply exquisite.

To add to the authenticity of the occasion, Alison and Jamie were wed in Marion’s First Presbyterian Church. It is a classic establishment with warm hues that dance against wood shutters. Not to mention an impressive organ sits behind the alter, overlooking each ceremony that enters its doors. Jamie’s father conducted the ceremony and he choked before pronouncing the couple as husband and wife. With a laugh the couple kissed and began their new chapter together.

A 1977 burnt-orange corvette sat outside the church, ready to take them back to Rosewood Manor to celebrate with family and friends. The Vistas Band performed in fantastic blues-brothers-style and performed pieces that had everyone giggling. Who could forget the duet with the little flower girl? It was a great celebration to ring in the holidays.

Once there, the crowd partied until the cold encouraged everyone to retire and go inside for a night cap. But before Jack Frost could have his say and as every southern bride does know, the night could only end with a sweet tribute to Sweet Home Alabama.

Wachesaw Plantation Wedding

September 14, 2016 by Carl Kerridge

I’d almost forgotten just how beautiful Wachesaw Plantation is… it’s breath taking.

It’s one of Myrtle Beaches hidden gems for weddings. The Wachesaw Plantation with it’s huge Live Oak trees that drape shade for visitors, with Kimbel’s Restaurant sitting quietly to the side ready to host an event. The scent of the Waccamaw River plays at your nose as the moss dances in the wind.

I’ve known the groom, Scott, for quite some time now. I was thrilled and eager to tease him that I’d seen his bride all dressed up before him. We shot her bridal portraits earlier this summer and with her permission created an image that had to be timed perfectly. Arriving right before low tide when the sand bars were showing, we scooted down the river bank to photograph Kelly at the water’s edge. It was a stunning portrait right beside the river, framed with Cypress tree knots and roots that would normally be underwater. Setting up the canvas portrait on their wedding day, I made a few people promise me they wouldn’t let him peek at the framed art piece. He desired all the emotions of the first look and she was breath taking too. As she walked across the lawn in the classic and form fitting dress from Little White Dress Scott choked up as he saw his wife. The ceremony was lovely and picturesque set beneath the spanish moss of the live oaks and we were all thankful for the light breeze on a warm summers day as they exchanged their vows and rings. Their marriage was celebrated with a symbolic kiss, then it was time to switch gears.

Though lovey-dovey was in the air, our couple was ready to boogie! Scott and Kelly couldn’t wait to finish with traditional wedding portraits. Entering the reception banquet, everyone knew what time it was and everyone intended to dance until their hearts were content. Little Harper, Scott’s 5 year old daughter ran around, smiling, and dancing with Scott and Kelly all evening. With the reception ending at 11:00, I laughed as everyone piled in cars. They were heading down to Murrells Inlet to continue the festivities and good times.

There is a beauty in the surrender this couple gifts each other. I know Scott will always hold his wife by his heart, under his arm, and with gentle hands. Kelly will always do likewise.

Congrats guys, completely love your calm and crazy and all its charm!

Vendors:

Location and Catering: Wachesaw Plantation and Kimbel Restaurant

Event Coordinator: Brayer Surratt

Hair:Maggie Williamson with Cheveux

Makeup:Kayla Mitchell with Madison Ave Salon & Ulta

Wedding Dress: Little White Dress

Cake: Cocodots Cake Shop

Florist: Nature’s Garden

Entertainment: Broadway Jake Productions

Successful Wedding: 10 Confessions

April 1, 2016 by Carl Kerridge

So it starts, lovers are engaged, family are planning the day, and you are romanticizing about new amazing adventures made for two. But what does it really take to plan a successful wedding?

We here, at Carl Kerridge Photography, are starting a series of basic tips and information to help plan and answer questions on how to have a successful wedding! No, we don’t have all the answers, but we’re willing to help jump start your research, encourage your uniqueness, and provide entertainment along the way.

To kick off our collection, we got in touch with some of our lovely brides from the past wedding season and interviewed them for their confessions leading up to a successful wedding day and the aftermath. We did this for fun so if you just recently got engaged, have been engaged, or thinking about your future wedding, we wish you the biggest of congratulations and invite you to check out the interview below!!

Does spending time with each other’s family add more value to the marriage?

[BRIDES]: “In our case, yes…It really brought us all so close…Making time for each other’s family adds value because we really enjoy their company…Fortunately he fit right in with not only my family, but my friends too. It was like he was meant to be there all along.”

How long should the “wait” period be after the engagement? What shaped your opinion of this?

[BRIDES]: “An engagement is the impetus to getting married. I guess it depends on the couple. Looking back we waited a bit longer than I think most people do. We had more time to make decisions without feeling rushed, we had more time to save up some money. That helped us plan a ‘successful wedding’. We had little trouble booking our venue, photographer, and band. It gave us plenty of time to get our honeymoon planned and paid for too.”

How did you know you were ready to get married?

[BRIDES]: “I was ready to NOT be his girlfriend anymore lol. Joking aside, the same vision for a future together is really important. It wasn’t a question of ‘should we get married?’ just ‘when do we want to do it?’ Our whole relationship we’ve taken slow and moved along at our own pace – that worked for us. We always knew we wanted to get married, but weren’t in any hurry since we knew this was forever, whether we had the paperwork or not.”

How did you get everything planned just the way you wanted it?

[BRIDES]: “Decide ahead of time what type of wedding you both want. Stick to the plan you both decide on, especially when it comes to cost and quality. My tip for a successful wedding, keep notes. I wrote everything down. I think it also helps to try to concentrate on one thing at a time. There are apps that are great planning tools too. They’ll give you deadlines on when things should be done and a checklist to keep you on track. Such a lifesaver! Trust is huge when picking vendors. We opened ourselves up to a connection with these people and then trusted them to do right by us no matter what and it worked out fine. Lastly, keeping those lines of communication open kept us sane. If we thought of a question we forgot to ask, we just emailed whoever we needed to and got the answers we needed.”

How did you handle anything that stressed you out?

[BRIDES]: “A certain degree of stress is going to be inevitable, but we kept in mind that this is going to be a celebration and fun filled event – for us and our guests. If it was something for the wedding day and it was causing me stress, there were times I just eliminated it from the plan. My husband is very chill so talking to him was a huge help. Another trick is to talk to friends that have already gotten married. Again, communicating with everyone we were working with was a huge stress reliever and key to a successful wedding. Getting the answers I needed right from the source and knowing we were on the same page kept me level headed.”

How did you determine your guest list, vendors, and location?

[BRIDES]: “Write down everyone you want to invite. Then go back over the list and do a method of “elimination,” if you end up with too many people. Someone is always going to be hurt that they weren’t invited, but we all have a budget. Pick a location where you have experienced the most wonderful food, times, and fond memories. Friend-referrals and people we knew were how we chose a lot of our venders. At the end of the day, we invited and hired the people we knew we wanted to share that day with. Who you share the experience and memories with is equally important for a successful wedding.”

Does the relationship actually change after you get married? How is it different in general?

[BRIDES]: “Honestly, our relationship hasn’t changed at all. If anything, it’s more exciting now. I love to call him my husband when he calls me his wife. We’re closer now than we’ve ever been, but marriage was such an easy step for us that our relationship hasn’t changed, it’s just grown. We are moving in the same direction we always were, but now we are moving as a married couple, which is nice.”

Do you get to a point where you stop discovering things about each other and it gets boring?

[BRIDES]: “Not yet. People in relationships in general, tend to become complacent with one another. I think this is a comfort and we must assure one another that we are just that instead of feeling insecure. Talking is the big winner! We were friends first and are best friends always so that keeps things in perspective. Keep doing things for one another, take action, and don’t forget to surprise.”

Being with someone forever you’re bound to have arguments, how do you learn to not hold a grudge?

[BRIDES]: “If we fight, we give each other some space until one of us breaks, then we talk it out, agree to disagree and move on with our life. The best way to prevent a grudge from forming for us, is to not let things stew too long. Always remember that you fell in love with the person because of who they are, so stop trying to change them.”

You’re two separate people, how do you learn to balance your likes with your partners so neither of you have to give up on your personal interest?

[BRIDES]: “We’ve always had separate interest.This is something you should look for in a person prior to marrying them, so that when you are together it does not become an issue – it’s already understood. It’s important to be receptive and keep an open mind. Although we do like a lot of the same things, we are pretty open about each other’s interest that we don’t always share [like 90’s hip hop music]. If somethings isn’t working for us, we don’t push it, but also don’t discount it until we’ve at least given it a chance.”

If you had to do it all over again, would you do anything differently? Why or why not?

[BRIDES]: “Looking back, I don’t think I would have put so much pressure on the guest list. I also would have taken a minute during the reception to stop and look around. Someone told me before the wedding that this was the best advice they had been given before they got married. Stop and look around. Stand somewhere out of sight and look out on your wedding. Take it all in. Notice how much fun everyone is having – eating, drinking, dancing, catching up with old friends and family; all to celebrate you guys. I really wish I had done that but found myself so immersed in what was going on around me that I truly forgot to step back for a minute. It was great advice and if I could go back, I would have made time for it.”

Pop quiz! You have this best friend who you adore and she changes her mind about everything when it comes to her jewelry. Her partner just came to get advice from you about the ring, he’s going to propose in the next few days. You know this needs to be perfect for her, so how would you help the groom-to-be pick out the most meaningful ring?

[BRIDES]: “I’d find some way to be browsing jewelry either online or in magazines and ask for her input. I would tell him to listen to his gut instinct. If you love someone and you know it’s right then the perfect ring will present itself. Look with your heart and trust your gut. In the event that your gut fails you, keep your ears open…always. Girls have a tendency to voice their preferences when it comes to things they really want. Last resort, I’d tell him she’s the girl you take to go ring shopping. Take a drive, give two dozen roses and make it romantic. Ask the question before you get to the jewelry store, then take her in to go ring shopping.”

If there’s more you would like to know about having a successful wedding or other info you want us to research and include in future sections of this series, drop a comment below!

We also encourage you to check our Wedding Day Packages and please don’t hesitate to let us know if we can help with your photography needs

Wedding and Romance on the River in Myrtlewood

November 13, 2015 by Carl Kerridge

An Epic Wedding: Beach, bubbles and Daddies’ hot red mustang!

I remember when I walked up to the bride’s room for pre-wedding photos, Sarah met me in her dad’s shirt. I should have known then that he was going to be the main character of the day.

Hilariously, the bride and groom were getting dressed in the room next to each other but made it very clear that they were not to see each other. Before sneaking out of the hotel, we made sure to hide the groom in the bathroom. Well, maybe we didn’t get to that extreme, but we were making sure to keep him well away from the windows as we headed ocean front at the Myrtle Beach Hampton Inn for the bridal portraits.

Painting the setting for the ceremony? A hard wood compass pointed the bride and groom towards their next heading. As guests strolled in they left their thumb prints in the family tree book, and they exited with a bubble walk to the bride’s father’s cherry red mustang. With a giddy looking smile the Father of the Bride pulled away with an extremely thirsty couple in the back…and it was paramount for Dad to stop at the next gas station for Mountain Dew and Diet Pepsi.

Having been a wedding photographer for 15 years in the Myrtle Beach area, I knew the reception extravaganzas were going to be tailored to my style of wedding photojournalism. Myrtlewood danced with lights and festivities for this romance on the river. However this day celebrated more and more the longer I stayed. I found out that the couple was sharing their special day with the bride’s cousin. It was his 21st birthday and the Father of the Bride took full advantage. He encouraged everyone to party like crazy, handed the cousin take his first shot of Tequila and was the poster child for promoting mischief. It was awesome to spectate!

How could we forget the element of surprise, the stunning view, your husband borrowing one of your bridal accessories, the MJ dance moves or all the laughter! I mean we had an epic cake smash – a bold move, he got her first.

Scroll down for the favorite photo of the day that captured the love and playfulness between husband and wife.

The Wedding Umbrella and The Dunes Club

November 5, 2015 by Carl Kerridge

It was back in 2005 that I shot my first wedding at The Dunes Club and recently, I have been refurbishing film images to create a digitally mastered photo album for that first wedding client (yes people do order albums ten years on).

The Dunes Club is one of the most classical an authentic locations in Myrtle Beach. The club house sits on top of a large lawn nestled by our beautiful ocean and with one of the Grand Strands finest golf courses it offers amazing natural backdrops, shady over-hangings, and playful ideas for the couple. That is, until the rain nymphs decided to tease and play with us, yep you guessed it, it poured with rain all day long.

As wedding photographers we have be be able to improvise and get creative, working with whatever location and lighting that we have available to us. We had the locker rooms, a hallway, and then the mother of the bride brought out umbrellas. Thankfully the mentality of this couple – a “can-do” attitude – was clearly able to adapt and overcome. Two people who were happily together no matter what obstacles were put in their path.

Before the ceremony, I hadn’t seen such a physical display of “bubbling over” from one of my brides, but Emily…she was too excited to contain herself! At the alter, the pastor couldn’t read the vows quick enough. At the reception, one male guest come up to her and exclaimed, “I think you were the happiest bride I’ve ever seen!” and I believe we all would have toast to that.

Though the weather taunted and played its tricks all day, it wasn’t long into the reception that the evening colors peaked through the clouds, bringing a wedding gift in the form of a mini rainbow. I rushed our bride and groom across the soggy lawn to capture the image but the fleeting moment had passed, leaving nothing but a sweet memory and a stormy looking sky.

The overall emotion between the couple was contagious, their happiness emulated in everyone they choose to share their special day with. I wish them much more for their future for I know, “every morning they will wake up with the intention of making the other happy” for the rest of their lives.