Small social distancing wedding at the Wildhorse at Parker Farms

Jennifer and Matt were planning on having over 100 guests and a large wedding party for thier spring wedding at the Wildhorse at Parker Farms wedding venue. We were all told at first that the COVID-19 coronavirus wasn’t going to be a big deal in the US, but as the March 21st wedding date approached, things kept looking worse. A few weeks before, they told me the wedding was still on, but the guest list was going to be much smaller.

Soon after that, all the groomsmen except for the best man, had to drop out because of flight and social distancing restrictions. By the time the wedding actually happened, it was just very close family and a few friends that could make it. However, Jennifer and Matt didn’t let this get them down and they still had a beautiful wedding.

Memorial to everyone that didn’t make it to the wedding because of the coronavirus – Wildhorse at Parker Farms

Jennifer had made little skateboards as wedding favors for each table. With so many guests not able to come, they laid all the favors out on the fireplace so everyone’s could still be at the wedding in spirit. You might also notice, in the detail pictures below, the AOL messenger logo pin on the groom’s jacket and the blue mailbox on the table. Matt said that he and Jennifer had met 20 years ago on AOL. Many years later than rekindled their relationship and now were getting married!

My thoughts on the Wildhorse at Parker Farms wedding venue

This was my first time shooting a wedding at Wildhorse at Parker Farms. It’s about a 30 min trip from Myrtle Beach to Longs, SC. This is really not a bad distance at all and it’s an easy drive. If you look on Google Maps at the pin location for their address, it looks like nothing is there. You have to drive about 1/4 of a mile past where the pin is located and you will come across the wedding venue and farm. When I first pulled into the location, I was thinking it would be a difficult place to shoot pictures of the bride and groom. All I saw at first is the barn and an open field.

As you will see in the pictures below, once I started exploring around the property a bit, I found some great spots for pictures. The reception area is very elegant with a large dance floor and stone fireplace in the background. There are also hanging lights over the dance floor and a beautiful stained-glass window above. At the Wildhorse at Parker Farms, they recently built new bathrooms and a getting ready room for the bride. Many venues have a really small and unattractive area for the bride and groom to get ready. But the bride’s room and even the bathroom/locker room area is very beautifully decorated with wood plank walls and lots of mirrors. You can check them out in the pictures below.

The farm owner will call over the horses which all come running and are very friendly. I even got a cute picture of one of the horses trying to eat the bride’s bouquet. There is also a beautiful marshy area with lots of trees growing from it. I got some fantastic pictures of the bride and groom with the sunset filtering through the trees and light reflecting off the marsh. Because the wedding ended up being so small, I had some extra time for flying around my drone as well.

I hope you enjoy the pictures below. If you are planning a wedding at the Wildhorse at Parker Farms venue please let me know. Hopefully the coronavirus will be over soon and weddings can get back to normal. If your wedding this year ends up being smaller than you planned, try to stay positive and you can end up having a great time and getting fantastic pictures as well.