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Thursday, October 08, 2020
By Erin Rose Photography LLC
Abigail and Gavin Leonard, Kiawah Island Wedding
This year has been "THE YEAR" for small weddings, beach weddings, elopements, and for good reason I think. My hope though, that instead of the big wedding most couples wished they had, they instead got an even better, more intimate union.
Tammy first called me to chat about her daughters upcoming wedding after seeing my work online. They had actually aimed to have a small wedding from the beginning, but the pandemic just justified their reasoning and made them sure this was the right choice. They had a house rented on Kiawah Island and had actually planned to have it there, on the docks as the sun set. But after having lunch at The Ocean Course while they were here, they fell in love again, with the location! Truth be told, I had actually never been to The Ocean Course. I didn't really have reason to since most of my clients usually have their portraits taken close to their rentals, and I don't play golf. But after this gorgeous wedding and view, I think I'll be back. It was the perfect spot for a sunset, which is actually hard considering we're on the East Coast.
The entire week leading up to this wedding I had several portrait sessions that had to be moved and even one shot IN the rain because it was just one of those weeks. With Hurricane Sally spinning in the Gulf and making a turn towards our coast we never really know how our weather will be effected and most of the time we just have to work with what we have. The benefit of a small wedding however, is that you can control your time frame making it much easier to adjust if needed. I had talked to Abigail on the phone to ensure her that I would be keeping a close eye and would make adjustments to my arrival and their ceremony as needed. They must have cashed in lots of favors with the big man upstairs, because by Saturday morning the skies had cleared and the sun was finally showing through.
When I arrive on site to a wedding the first order of business is typically the meet and greet, then the details. This house had the perfect sun room for detail shots so I grabbed a coffee table and got to work. It's important that I have everything there to try to create compositions from your details. These are the perfect opening to a wedding album and really highlight all the things you don't usually see throughout the wedding day. But we all know, the details are what every Bride loves and spends the most time on.
I loved every little detail that went into their wedding, from the artfully crafted bouquet to the amazingly detailed yet interactive invitation. Abigail even had their wedding date embroidered into her dress! All the little things, it's sometimes what you don't see that tells more of their story.
Abigail's aunt Stephanie did her makeup and assisted with her hair as her little cousin, Payton, sits and watches in awe of her beauty.
We ran a little behind with hair, makeup, and dressing, so some quick Bridal Portrait grabs of Abigail on the back porch had to suffice as we didn't want to lose too much light for their ceremony. I'm so glad we did though, these are just too magical not to have!
Lesson learned about The Ocean Course, it's about a 20 minute drive pas the Main Gate on Kiawah Island. So needless to say, we were hustling!
The thing they don't tell you about a beach wedding, is how windy it can be. As mentioned, with the passing of hurricanes or any storm in general comes higher wind gusts. This is something really hard to plan for, but, I think everyone did their best as controlling what we could of the situation. Sometimes, you just have to go with the "flow" of the wind.
Abigail's grandmother preformed the ceremony which featured a prayer and sand unity while surrounded by their loved ones and pictures of those no longer with us.
Together with their families, we introduce Mr. and Mrs. Gavin and Abigail Leonard!
Congratulations and Best Wishes to the happy couple!