Stefanie Raines and Russell Firestone's Wedding
I have had the privilege to photograph some very special weddings and this was my favorite. Katie Huebel at WED ( http://www.charlestonevent.com/ )recommended me to Stefanie and Russell when they started planning their wedding, and I am grateful to her and to them for choosing me to photograph the wedding. When I first met Stefanie and Russel the day of their rehearsal, I immediately liked them. They are warm, gracious and have a wonderful connection with each other. They decided to have a very intimate wedding with only their closest family and friends. There was a total of 40 people at the wedding which was held at Palmetto Bluffs in Bluffton, South Carolina. ( http://www.palmettobluffresort.com/ )If you are looking for a relaxing vacation you need to visit Palmetto Bluffs. the accommodations and service and fabulous and the grounds are peaceful and lovely and my favorite thing is that most people ride around on bikes!
Anyway, here are some photos of the rehearsal and the dinner this past Thursday night.
Stefanie and Russel met because of their dogs Abbey and Boone. The dogs are a very important part of their lives and were the ring bearers at the wedding. 
The rehearsal dinner was held at the Moorlands which is on property but very isolated. You feel as though you are at summer camp right on the river. They served oysters that were steamed on an open fire pit. There is a fabulous tree house that overlooks the grasslands and river that is HUGE. It makes you want to build one yourself!
There is a wonderful sculpture on the lawn made by Patrick Daugherty http://www.stickwork.net/news.php that was made over a three week artists in residence. The artist gathered the wood and encouraged locals to come and help him construct his art piece. I did a lot of the portraits there because it was magical inside of it. When Stefanie and I were going to do her portraits the church choir was walking by the structure. I persuaded them to came over and sing for us while we did our bridal portraits. It was TRUELY magical. Stefanie loved it because it was so relaxing and I did also because it made me feel wonderful too. Later when I was shooting Russel and Stefanie the light had changed but is was still wonderful there. 
If I were planning my wedding again I would DEFINITELY get married in a small chapel and have a choir singing. They chose the Voices of Deliverance and they made the atmosphere so wonderful inside of the church. They were singing on the porch as guests arrived and then proceeded into the church singing lordly and beautifully. After Stefanie and Russell walked out they guided the guests out of the chapel and over to the lawn for mint juleps.
Whenever I shoot small weddings I love to do a group shot of all of the guests. I love this one on the steps of the chapel.
Then we went back to Patrick Dougherty's twig structure for some family shots. The chapel steps were beautiful but it was blistering hot and the sun was directly in everyone's eyes. Here is one with both set of parents that I really like.
One of the lovely things about Stefanie and Russell's wedding was the fact that they decided they were going to make this a wonderful experience for every guest that came. In addition to a gift bag that included all kinds of snacks, a bottle of Clos du Bois, sunscreen and bug spray, they made sure EVERYTHING looked beautiful! Here are some details of the wedding that Katie from WED created to make the wedding even more special. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed making them!!!
The linens for the 7 tables were custom made with a hint of blue at the corner seem.
The candy bar was full of the bride and groom's favorite treats. (Luckily they were some of my favorites too.)
Their invites, save the dates, menu's etc. were letter pressed with the palmetto tree theme.
Katie created a white leather lounge area that I want in my house.
Each setting had a guest nametag tied onto one of the wine glasses. The names were written by the same calligrapher who addressed the invitations.
The cake, which was phenomenally decorated and tasted just as good, sat on a lovely linen tablecloth with their initials on a corner.
Their first dance.
Finally, Russel made the boutonnière for his father-in-law and himself. He is an avid fly fisherman and took the time to add this special touch.
I could keep going on but I think you can understand the beauty of this wedding. I had a wonderful time and always am so happy to be able to make my living doing something that doesn't feel like work.
Anyway, here are some photos of the rehearsal and the dinner this past Thursday night.
Stefanie and Russel met because of their dogs Abbey and Boone. The dogs are a very important part of their lives and were the ring bearers at the wedding. 
The rehearsal dinner was held at the Moorlands which is on property but very isolated. You feel as though you are at summer camp right on the river. They served oysters that were steamed on an open fire pit. There is a fabulous tree house that overlooks the grasslands and river that is HUGE. It makes you want to build one yourself!
There is a wonderful sculpture on the lawn made by Patrick Daugherty http://www.stickwork.net/news.php that was made over a three week artists in residence. The artist gathered the wood and encouraged locals to come and help him construct his art piece. I did a lot of the portraits there because it was magical inside of it. When Stefanie and I were going to do her portraits the church choir was walking by the structure. I persuaded them to came over and sing for us while we did our bridal portraits. It was TRUELY magical. Stefanie loved it because it was so relaxing and I did also because it made me feel wonderful too. Later when I was shooting Russel and Stefanie the light had changed but is was still wonderful there. 
If I were planning my wedding again I would DEFINITELY get married in a small chapel and have a choir singing. They chose the Voices of Deliverance and they made the atmosphere so wonderful inside of the church. They were singing on the porch as guests arrived and then proceeded into the church singing lordly and beautifully. After Stefanie and Russell walked out they guided the guests out of the chapel and over to the lawn for mint juleps.
Whenever I shoot small weddings I love to do a group shot of all of the guests. I love this one on the steps of the chapel.
Then we went back to Patrick Dougherty's twig structure for some family shots. The chapel steps were beautiful but it was blistering hot and the sun was directly in everyone's eyes. Here is one with both set of parents that I really like.
One of the lovely things about Stefanie and Russell's wedding was the fact that they decided they were going to make this a wonderful experience for every guest that came. In addition to a gift bag that included all kinds of snacks, a bottle of Clos du Bois, sunscreen and bug spray, they made sure EVERYTHING looked beautiful! Here are some details of the wedding that Katie from WED created to make the wedding even more special. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed making them!!!
The linens for the 7 tables were custom made with a hint of blue at the corner seem.
The candy bar was full of the bride and groom's favorite treats. (Luckily they were some of my favorites too.)
Their invites, save the dates, menu's etc. were letter pressed with the palmetto tree theme.
Katie created a white leather lounge area that I want in my house.
Each setting had a guest nametag tied onto one of the wine glasses. The names were written by the same calligrapher who addressed the invitations.
The cake, which was phenomenally decorated and tasted just as good, sat on a lovely linen tablecloth with their initials on a corner.
Their first dance.
Finally, Russel made the boutonnière for his father-in-law and himself. He is an avid fly fisherman and took the time to add this special touch.
I could keep going on but I think you can understand the beauty of this wedding. I had a wonderful time and always am so happy to be able to make my living doing something that doesn't feel like work.
posted by Melanie at 11:03 AM
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