Michelle & Nic . Charleston, SC Destination Wedding . Boone Hall Plantation

I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t have favorite weddings. I definitely have favorites. This was one of my most very favorites if not my very favorite, ever. I love Michelle & Nic. The first time Michelle and I spoke on the phone we just talked – forever, like old friends. When I finally met Michelle and Nic in person for their engagement session in Charleston – I felt like I was photographing my best friends. It was so comfortable and wonderful that we ended up having dinner and hanging out until late in the evening.

It’s taken me so very long to blog this wedding because every time I sat down to do it I would say “No, not now, not until I have enough time to write about it like it deserves.” But I’ve realized I may never have that much time to spend on a blog post, so I’m going to do the best I can now.

Beautiful doesn’t begin to describe Michelle and Nic. Nic and Michelle met in College at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, SC. When I met them Michelle was completing her residency as an OB and, to be honest, I couldn’t imagine this beautiful young girl giving people c-sections and delivering babies. I couldn’t fathom it – until she began to stalk about how passionate she is about her career. She’s amazing – intelligent, hard working, beautiful, incredibly fun to be around, just an incredibly special person. Then you have Nic. Nic was just out of dental school and practicing as a dentist with his father. Nic is kind, handsome, compassionate, loving, and just so amazing to Michelle. When I met them they were living a few hundred miles apart just waiting for the moment they could get married and live in the same city again. Such a sweet love story – and such a determined couple…

Back to the wedding… Since they lived in different cities they’d decided to get married where they met – a destination wedding in Charleston, SC. They selected St. Luke’s Chapel on the MUSC campus for their wedding ceremony and Boone Hall Plantation for the reception.

I’ll be completely honest – Boone Hall Plantation is one of the reasons this is one of my very favorite weddings. It’s one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been. I love history. I love standing in places that feel significant, places where someone else stood in the same place I am standing hundreds of years ago and saw the same thing I am seeing. Boone Hall Plantation is full of history. You can feel the soul of it when you’re standing there amidst the rows of 88 Live Oak trees that were planted in 1743 (though the plantation has existed since 1681). That very row of oak trees inspired the row of oak trees at Tara in the movie Gone With the Wind. Tom Hanks ran down that road in the infamous scene in Forrest Gump where Jenny yells, “Ruuuun Foorrrrressst, Ruuuunnn!” Nicholas Sparks’ film “The Notebook” was also filmed at Boone Hall Plantation as was the movie “Queen” with Halle Berry and parts of “North and South” (which I clearly remember watching with my Grandaddy years & years ago as he reordered it on his VCR carefully pausing the recording to edit out each and every commercial). The plantation has an incredible history which I fully encourage people to read about and to actually visit there if you have the opportunity. It’s just such an easy place to call in love with – and it’s still a working plantation where they farm Indigo and Cotton!

See? I told you this one needed time to tell… I keep getting distracted!

Michelle and Nic’s wedding was absolutely stunning – from the flowers to the food everything came together perfectly. The people in their wedding party where phenomenal – just wonderful, kind, loving people just like Nic and Michelle. Their families were an absolute joy to be around. Both the wedding and reception were just lovely. Michelle & Nic had a beautiful choreographed first dance that just blew everyone away. We took some time close to sunset to walk around the grounds of Boone Hall Plantation and take photos – including some of them dancing on the road between those amazing Live Oak trees. Just an amazing time – really amazing.

I couldn’t have done it all without my amazing second shooter, Mike Mizzell (Thanks Mike! You were wonderful to work with!!). I really could go on, and on, and on about this wedding – but I’m stopping now… if a picture is worth 1000 words then you’ll get about 50,000 more when you view their photos.

Nic & Michelle – I love you guys to pieces! I can’t wait to see you again (hopefully soon!) and I’m looking forward to little Baby G!