This past weekend, I had a lot of fun photographing Kris & Jon’s wedding at a killer new venue in Awendaw, Pepper Plantation. As much as I love the William Aiken House and Boone Hall, it’s also fun to get to shoot somewhere new. In addition to having a gorgeous bride & groom, there were great oak trees, a horse pasture, lake, dock and a modern barn-style venue as the backdrops.

Hannah Alexander and the team from WED put together a gorgeous event. Peacock feathers were a central theme, from the invitations to the bouquet and boutonnieres. Navy bridesmaids dresses and navy and celadon green linens carried the colors of the peacock feathers throughout the event.

Granville’s Catering had a delectable blueberry mojito signature drink for guests to sip upon their arrival. Who’s going to pass that up? It made me long to be a guest so that I could try it.

The ceremony took place on the lawn overlooking the lake. And even though the sky was heavy and threatened to pour, it didn’t rain the entire night. The Doctors Leake were married without a hitch! Here are some of my favorite shots from the first half of the day. Stay tuned as tomorrow I will blog the crazy dancing shots and lots of candids from the reception!

Sparkly details on Kris’s wedding dress make for fun photos.

Kris had some tried and true bridesmaids who were on the ball. Special kudos go to her sister, who was maid-of-honor.

The girls beneath one of the great oak trees by the horse barn.

Did you know that in Asia, the peacock feathers are considered auspicious and protective?

Kris and her bridesmaids

Kris was one of the most calm and cool brides ever! After swatting a mosquito and getting blood on her white dress, there were no tears or tirades. Her sister ran for the Tide stick, did a little dabbing and the dress was back to perfect in a matter of seconds. Phew!

I love this photo of Jon. It was moments before the ceremony began and he was waiting in the wings, so as to not see Kris. Look at that grin!

Jon and his groomsmen.

A refreshing blueberry mojito signature drink by Granville’s was on hand for guests as they arrived.

The ceremony took place overlooking the lake at Pepper Plantation.

The Doctors Leake!

Don’t you love their invitations!

The wedding party.

Taking a moment to absorb it all.

I think this photo of the two of them is adorable.

And look at this beautiful light! Congrats you two!

We arrived the the reception at Alhambra Hall to the most gorgeous light ever! Luckily, my 2nd photographer, Jebb, had arrived earlier and was grabbing shots of the guests enjoying drinks on the lawn. Kristiana and Justin wanted to grab a few photos down by the water when the light was just right. You can never plan a sunset, or how gorgeous it will be, but we really lucked out this night!

Heather Ahern of Gathering Flowers + Event Design and her crew had set up the decor for the reception and it looked great in all the pinks, reds, oranges and yellows.The lanternes and draped fabric really dressed up the interior and made for a great backdrop for the photos. The catering was done by Granvilles.

Oh Snap! Photobooth was on hand for catching hilarious photo booth photos of everyone for the guest book. The cool thing was that the guests get to keep a strip of photos for themselves and then an identical strip of photos goes intot he guest book ad the guests can write next to their photos.

Two 3 Ways is one of the most fun wedding bands around. I love them because they play a lot of cover songs and less of the YMCA/Shout! typical wedding play list. Since Michael Jackson died, I have not been to a wedding where the band didn’t play an MJ song. The really interesting thing is how it gets EVERYONE on the dance floor! Young and old, everyone will dance like crazy to a Michael Jackson tune.

The sun sets over the harbor and we had gorgeous light!

I love the orange vases. They are a funky eye-popping touch, especially against the champagne linens.

Inside Alhambra Hall

Gifts to the guests were donations made in each of their names, to help various animals.

Color! Their wedding cake was flanked with butterflies, carrying their colorful theme.

I love getting photos of the venue at dusk when there is still a hint of color in the sky.

I had my camera on a tripod to take the above photo of Alhambra Hall. While I was waiting for the exposure, this praying mantis jumped onto my camera! With my second camera, cranked to 2500 ISO, I took this photo of the little guy hanging out on my Nikon D700. I think he’s posing.

Kristiana’s parents had an absolute ball at her wedding! Here is her dad tearing up the dance floor.

Not to worry, the guests had a great time too!

The bride’s got moves.

At the end of the night, little take home boxes held a midnight snack for the guests.

And they left under a showering of sparklers. Congrats!

There were so many photos that I wanted to blog from Kristiana and Justin’s wedding that I’ve decided to split  it into two posts, ceremony and reception. And because photographing their wedding was so much fun and full of photographic opportunities, it has inspired me to write a list of ideas to consider when creating the perfect environment for great wedding photos. That’s coming soon…

I have to give credit to Marni Rothschild Durlach, who was one of the bridesmaids, for helping Kristiana to pick some of the greatest vendors in Charleston for her wedding. I have no doubt that Kristiana would have had Marni photograph her wedding, had Marni not been in it!

Kristiana and her 4 bridesmaids began the day by getting their hair and makeup done in a suite at Charleston Place. Leslie Moore of Moore Makeup did their makeup. Once the girls were ready, they boarded an Old Charleston trolley for a ride to St. Johannes Lutheran Church.

Kristiana wore a gorgeous gown from Maddison Row.

Her engagement ring was a gorgeous vintage piece.

Heather Ahern of Gathering Event + Flower Design put together the lush and colorful flowers and designed the event.

The color palette popped! Champagne colored bridesmaids dresses along with dyed fuschia shoes and bouquets of reds, pinks and oranges made for some crazy eye-poppingcolor. I loved it.

Not to be outdone by her bridesmaids, Kristiana wore a pair blue Stuart Weitzman heels.

Justin and his groomsmen in front of St. Johannes Lutheran Church.

This was one proud papa! Kristiana’s dad walked her down the aisle.

Check out the blue altar! Between that and the red front door, I was pretty much in color heaven.

Dr. & Dr. Ellett! Congrats!

We headed to Waterfront Park for a few photos of the wedding party before continuing on to Alhambra Hall for the reception.

A little dancing practice…

Doing the bustle…

And then the wedding party jumped back on the Old Charleston trolley for the ride to the party! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s feature… the reception at Alhambra Hall!