It’s been a while since I photographed a wedding in Brookgreen Gardens. Weddings at the Brookgreen Gardens Holliday Cottage are always beautiful, so it is nice to be back. It’s always great to work with DJ Wayne Cribb and Gigi Noelle Events. I arrived a little early at the location to get some detail shots around the cottage and ceremony area. The bride and groom had put special attention into decorating the Live Oak Allee gates that lead to the “Youth Taming the Wild” statue. The gates were covered in beautiful flowers, which made a fantastic background for the ceremony and for pictures later. I also like that they use brown chairs now for the ceremony. It really fits with the natural colors of the location.
The upstairs area of the Holliday cottage is filled with light from the windows and is a beautiful area for wedding preparation pictures. I especially like the one of the groom’s daughter helping the bride put on her makeup backlit by the window. This was a pretend picture, as the bride already had her makeup finished before she arrived at the cottage. Even if hair and makeup are done before I arrive, I can get a lot of beautiful pictures just by briefly recreating certain things. I also loved the shot of the bride’s mom checking out the veil in the window light and the bride standing backlit by the window.
The bride and her father arrived at the ceremony in a classic car. After the ceremony was over, the bride and groom drove away in the car as well. The car made a great prop for some pictures of the couple right after the ceremony as well. They both had custom-made cowboy boots they wore during the ceremony. We made sure to get some good shots of the boots while there we sitting on the hood of the car. Then we did the family and bridal party pictures by the garden gates.
The only problem, as I was about to finish up the bridal party pictures, we were told we had to be in for dinner in 5 min. I hadn’t yet done the pictures with the bride and groom! I’m not sure what happened with the timing, but thankfully a call was made, and we got an extra 15 min. We still had to work fast, but I’m very used to working quickly when needed. We got some fun pictures around the gates and flowers, then headed to the lake around the Youth Taming the Wild statue. I always like getting pictures sitting on the brick wall in front of this statue. I also like the little bridges over the water on this pond. We even saw a small alligator that quickly went into the water before the groom could get with it in a picture. Finally, we took some quick pictures on the Live Oak Allee garden path near the cottage. If I had more time, there were a few more things I would have loved to get, but overall I think we got a lot of great pictures.
For the reception at the Holliday Cottage in Brookgreen Gardens, they now set up a large tent area on the side of the cottage. This gives a lot more room for the dance floor and tables than they used to have on the back patio. I used my 3 flash lighting setup for the dance floor. I now have one main light on the camera to send light forward and also bounce off the ceiling if there is one. Then I have two additional kicker lights in the background to add some directional light to the dance floor. You wouldn’t know it from the pictures, but the tent was almost completely dark except for the DJ lights. My lighting setup really makes the dance floor come alive and also helps to get rid of most of the color cast from the DJ lights. I shoot all the flashes manually, which gives a very consistent look to the pictures. I hope you enjoy the pictures. If you are booking a wedding at the Brookgreen Gardens Holliday Cottage and need a photographer, please let me know!
Featured Wedding Vendors:
- Equipment Rentals: Eventworks
- Planner: Gigi Noelle Events
- Photographer: Ryan Smith Photography
- Venue: Brookgreen Gardens
- DJ: Premier DJ Entertainment
- Musician: Rebecca Nissen
Mr and Mrs wine glasses - Brookgreen Gardens
Holiday Cottage - Brookgreen Gardens
Ceremony location by the gates - Brookgreen Gardens
Garden Path - Brookgreen Gardens
Ceremony location under the oak trees - Brookgreen Gardens
Daughter putting on bride's lipstick in the window light - Brookgreen Gardens
Wedding Dress hanging in the window - Brookgreen Gardens
Detail shot of bride's jewelry - Brookgreen Gardens
Bouquets - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom's cowboy boots - Brookgreen Gardens
Groom getting on his tie - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride sitting in window light - Brookgreen Gardens
Bridesmaids putting on the bride's boots - Brookgreen Gardens
Bridesmaids helping with the dress - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and bridesmaids sitting in the window light - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride posing with her cowboy boots - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride standing in the window light - Brookgreen Gardens
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Putting on the veil - Brookgreen Gardens
Mother checking out bride before the ceremony - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride standing at the top of the stairs - Brookgreen Gardens
Bridesmaids laughing before the ceremony - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride walking down the steps - Brookgreen Gardens
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Bride posing in the upstairs window - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride posing in the upstairs window - Brookgreen Gardens
Groom standing on the dock before the ceremony - Brookgreen Gardens
Groom with nephew - Brookgreen Gardens
Groomsmen standing on the lake dock - Brookgreen Gardens
Groomsmen laughing before the ceremony - Brookgreen Gardens
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Groom's daughter and ring-bearer - Brookgreen Gardens
Groom watching the bride walk towards him - Brookgreen Gardens
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Bride and father walking down the isle - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride smiling at groom during the ceremony - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom holding hands during the ceremony by the gates - Brookgreen Gardens
Groom watching bride give her vows - Brookgreen Gardens
Beautiful ceremony location near the gates - Brookgreen Gardens
Putting on the bride's ring - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride putting ring on groom - Brookgreen Gardens
First kiss - Brookgreen Gardens
Happy couple after the ceremony - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom walking towards the classic car - Brookgreen Gardens
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Groom and daughter - Brookgreen Gardens
Wife and daughter kissing the groom - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride posing in front of the gates - Brookgreen Gardens
Bridesmaids and bride standing by the gates - Brookgreen Gardens
Groomsmen lifting up the bride - Brookgreen Gardens
Groomsmen lifting up the groom by the gates - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom sitting on the classic car - Brookgreen Gardens
Showing off the cowboy boots - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom leaning against the classic car - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom kissing by a classic car -
Romance on the garden path - Brookgreen Gardens
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Groomsmen showing off the suspenders - Brookgreen Gardens
Groom and bride having fun by the gates - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride walking through the garden gates - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride walking through the garden gates - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom standing by the open gates - Brookgreen Gardens
Kiss by the open gates - Brookgreen Gardens
Kiss by the flowers on the gates - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom with "Youth Taming the Wild" sculpture in the background - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom with "Youth Taming the Wild" sculpture in the background - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom with "Youth Taming the Wild" sculpture in the background - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom smiling on the marsh bridge by Youth Taming the Wild statue - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom kissing by the lake bridge - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom reflecting in the pond by the statue - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom kissing under the Youth Taming the Wild Statue - Brookgreen Gardens
Couple posing on the garden path - Brookgreen Gardens
Kiss on the garden walkway - Brookgreen Gardens
Groom carrying the bride - Brookgreen Gardens
Kiss with boots in the air - Brookgreen Gardens
Dip back for a kiss - Brookgreen Gardens
Wedding cake - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom riding in on a scooter - Brookgreen Gardens
First dance with 3 light setup - Brookgreen Gardens
First dance under the tent - Brookgreen Gardens
First dance - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom with daughter at table - Brookgreen Gardens
Having fun during the cake cutting - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride dancing with father - Brookgreen Gardens
Groom dancing with daughter - Brookgreen Gardens
Having fun on the dance floor - Brookgreen Gardens
Everyone getting down on the dance floor - Brookgreen Gardens
Fun on the dance floor - Brookgreen Gardens
Fun on the dance floor - Brookgreen Gardens
Kids having fun dancing - Brookgreen Gardens
Dancing - Brookgreen Gardens
Making a train - Brookgreen Gardens
Having fun with the group shots on the dance floor - Brookgreen Gardens
Having fun with the group shots on the dance floor - Brookgreen Gardens
Groom having fun on the dance floor - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride having fun dancing - Brookgreen Gardens
Getting down on the dance floor - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride having fun dancing - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride having fun dancing - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom dancing - Brookgreen Gardens
Bride and groom dancing - Brookgreen Gardens
Showing off the boots dancing - Brookgreen Gardens
Bouquet Toss - Brookgreen Gardens
Bouquet Toss - Brookgreen Gardens
Bouquet Toss - Brookgreen Gardens
Bouquet Toss - Brookgreen Gardens
Groom taking off the garter - Brookgreen Gardens
Groom taking off the garter - Brookgreen Gardens
Rong macro Brookgreen Gardens
More dancing fun - Brookgreen Gardens
Everyone partying - Brookgreen Gardens
Groom dancing with bride's mom - Brookgreen Gardens
Last dance - Brookgreen Gardens