Sitting down to write this now and I just feel an overwhelming feeling of “stuck” but not in a bad connotation kind of way, not like writers block or in hesitance – but in a wonderful and grateful and a “I cannot believe this is my actual life; I found the thing that ignites my soul in every way and I get to do this all the time for amazing couples – even states away from me. WOW, God you have been so, so good to me and I am so grateful!!!” kind of way… Maybe a better choice of words would have been “pause” instead of “stuck”Ahah.
Backstory, Alison was actually a high school classmate of mine before she was a client; we had one class together that I recall, which was journalism but she moved away from citrus county to South Carolina to pursue teaching after high school and that was how she met Wilson! To know them, is to love them. They are such a sweet and utterly adorable couple. They emanate their happiness between each other and it’s contagious! It was such a joy getting to be there with them and I couldn’t picture better people to travel to and serve. Everything I asked of them they were happy to do, even scrambling into every position in a small car known to man haha, and they extended so much kindness towards me like I was an honored guest or something for coming a long way. I would have traveled anywhere they needed though! 😉
I remember the day she reached out to me to see if I would even go to South Carolina and without missing a beat it was an “ABSOLUTELY! Where and when?”
It has always been my dream to photograph, since I was 16 – I just love photography and seeing the reactions of the people I get to do it for – I just didn’t know how or what for a while, but second to photographing – the next closest has always been to travel; to see and experience places I wouldn’t have ever gotten to see otherwise – and when those two dreams or passions coincide it’s like I can literally FEEL how much the Lord loves me because it’s everything I have ever wanted and he knows the desires of my heart.
This wedding was in one word. “Stunning.” Everything about it radiated beauty. I was fascinated with this venue and asked the owner all about it. One, because I love old things and two because I am absolutely obsessed with look of the old brick in this building (I’m currently decorating my fireplace room the exact same way) The venue used to be an actual working cotton press mill built in 1904, the roof was taken off and replaced and the walls were the only thing standing, they used to drive trucks right through the middle of it on dirt! Such a cool, historic place to get married – The windows, the old brick, the hardwood floors, the really nice outside cocktail space all just so gorgeous. Alison and Wilson could not have picked a prettier place to get married!!
Everything went so smoothly, and perfectly according to plan except for the last event on the list, the grand exit to the get away car. It had started to rain and sweet Alison said of course I’m not going to make everyone stand out in the rain to send us off so the wedding coordinating team and I tried to devise a plan to set it up inside. This would not have been possible with sparklers BUT thankfully Alison and Wilson had already thought of a unique spin on this and had dried petals for guests to throw on them anyway. At the last second the rain turned into a soft, light mist and we had just the break we needed to do it outside like we had planned all along. It was so, so, so awesome!!
Also can I just say that South Carolina has some of the best food I have ever tasted. The BEST burger, the BEST cupcake of all time, the BEST pizza. It was all wonderful and I’m such a foodie – 5 stars!
Here are some sneak peeks that I pulled from first, and vendors are all located at the bottom! Thank you for reading <3
Be blessed,
Taylor
A thousand thank you’s from the bottom of my heart!! <3 <3 <3
Venue | The Cotton Press
Wedding Planner | Emily Galloway
Catering | Blue Marlin Signature Catering
Bakery | Twisted Whisk
Invitation | Owlery54
Dress | Madison James, New York Bride and Groom
Tux | Black Tux
DJ | Lake Murray DJ
Hair | Lauren Pryor
Make up | Liz Yturria
