Upstairs at Midtown Destination Wedding || Charleston, SC Photographer || Kaera & Adam

Upstairs at Midtown Destination Wedding

This Upstairs at Midtown wedding was so much fun on so many levels. I absolutely loved how Kaera and Adam did their own thing regardless of tradition. Let me explain a little bit about how the weekend went. Both Kaera and Adam are brunch people so they knew from the get go that they wanted to have a morning wedding with brunch to follow instead of dinner. They planned to have mimosas and Bloody Marys, a donut cake, and chicken and waffle hors d’oeuvres. You know what happens when you decide on a morning wedding, right? You have to wake up hours before dawn to start the getting ready process. I know what you night owls are saying right now…eeeewwww who would want to do that on their wedding day????  You know what us morning people are saying? That sounds AMAZING! Then, you have the whole rest of your day to celebrate together! Since we woke up so early to do Kaera and Adam’s first look at sunrise, I would have been photographing her details in the dark, which is not okay. Instead of doing that, I told Kaera I would take all her things and grab pictures of them during the rehearsal, which worked out PERFECTLY. Dustin, Grayson, and I planned to drive in Friday morning and get there right on time for the rehearsal. When Dustin got home from work late on Thursday, he looked at me and said would you rather drive tonight so Grayson will sleep the whole way? Of course, I said yes because I DREAD trying to entertain him in the car for SUCH a long time with the intensity of my car sickness. So, we actually went a half day earlier, and I spent the whole morning on Friday scouting walkable locations around Upstairs at Midtown in Downtown Charleston. Needless to say, I found too many spots. I could have photographed them all day. AAAALLLLL day.

We started with Kaera and Adam’s first look down this super awesome ivy covered alley. At the end was a very stereotypical peach-colored Charleston building with pastel blue shutters and lined with perfectly symmetrical palm trees. We found this spot because Dustin stayed in the Hampton Inn right beside this alley in March. He took me to see the alley (which I did end up using and really loved btw…I think I trained him well to have the photographer eye) when we ventured all the way down through and came to the beachy building that ultimately ended up being my favorite spot. It was just so Charleston with its solid colors and editorial style and…I‘m obsessed. After we shot in that spot for a while, we went over to this huge church that offered another Charleston “look” and had some great sunrise lighting. Then, we went over to a park where the bridal party met us. There was a small hiccup here. Friday, it was empty and gorgeous for bridal party pictures, but Saturday morning there was a farmer’s market. I still used it a bit, but ultimately, we went back to the pink wall and found a white Presbyterian church lined with big oak trees. We shot for 2.5 hours before we headed back to Upstairs at Midtown to get ready for the ceremony.

The Ceremony spot at Upstairs at Midtown was on the rooftop. Kaera and Adam brought an arbor made out of copper piping along with some drapery for them to get married under. It was gorgeous. They had a string trio and fresh flowers, and although the sun was getting pretty high in the sky, it was still stunning. Kaera called it when she said that she would be crying the whole time while Adam may or may not drop a single tear down his cheek. Kaera and I are very similar in a lot of ways, and the way we wear our emotions on our sleeves is definitely one way we are alike. The ceremony went off without a hitch, and afterwards, we took family photos, mingled during cocktail hour, and set up brunch inside Upstairs at Midtown. When brunch was finished, we moved back outside for cake cutting (which was actually donut tearing!), all the special dances, and toasts. At this point, the way the lighting was flooding onto that roof top, it made for some of my FAVORITE reception images. I can’t even tell you how many images I pulled from the special dances and the toasts to be in my favorites folder for all of this year’s weddings. I loved that it was still light outside, and the way the light was illuminating the back of Kaera’s and Adam’s heads just made them glow even more than they already were.

Everything about this wedding was intimate and detailed. The crowd wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t tiny either. They were completely surrounded by the people who love them most, and you could tell. Everywhere I turned there were big smiles and laughter flooding the venue. Everyone was genuinely happy to be there and so excited to support Kaera and Adam. Including myself. I’ve grown to become friends with this bride. I’ve gotten to know her from the day she inquired and said I’m trying to decide between Charleston, SC and Lexington, KY for my wedding location. I responded back and told her that Charleston was one of my favorite places to photograph a wedding in the United States. I’m sure that my comment had little to no weight on that decision, but the next time I talked to her she was telling me they were getting married in Charleston and that they wanted me as their photographer. I totally did a happy dance right in the middle of my office. Right now, I’m doing another happy dance because I’m so so so super duper pumped to share these photos with you.

I cannot say thank you enough to Kaera and Adam for choosing me as their wedding photographer. I refuse to let the friendship stop now that the wedding has passed, and I am so excited to see where the Lord takes their marriage in the next few years!! 

I’m a Knoxville Wedding Photographer that loves to travel… I shoot anywhere! If you have any questions about pricing or booking with me, click here to contact me now! If you liked what you saw above, go ahead and follow me on Facebook or Instagram to see my daily updates of the latest sessions!

 

Vendors used by Kaera & Adam:

Venue: Upstairs at Midtown

Florist: Pretty Petals of Charleston

Cake: BKeDSHoP

Band: Charleston Flutist

Hair & Makeup: Wild Ivory Beauty

Dress Shop: Jean’s Bridal Charleston

Dress Designer: Mikaella Bridal

Bridesmaids’ Dress Shop: David’s Bridal

Tuxedo Rental: JoS. A. Bank

 

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