Getting Married in Charleston (or Anywhere)? Here’s What I Wish Every Couple Knew!

As a Charleston wedding photographer, I've shot weddings and elopements all over the world, over 300 of them at this point.. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way, and what I wish every couple knew before they start looking for a photographer.

Book early, and book based on real galleries

The best photographers in Charleston get booked out fast, sometimes over a year in advance for peak season. If you have a date set, start your photographer search as soon as you lock in your venue. And when you're comparing photographers, ask to see a few full weddings from start to finish, not just the ten favorite shots from each one. Highlight reels are curated by nature. A full gallery tells you what your actual day will look like: the getting ready chaos, the in between moments, the toasts, the dance floor at 10pm.

Don't book on price alone

I SO wish this didn't need saying, but I've heard the same handful of stories too many times to leave it out. A newer photographer undercuts the market to build up a portfolio fast, a couple books them to save a few hundred dollars, and months later they're still waiting on a gallery that never shows up. Sometimes it finally arrives and it's fifteen unedited photos dumped in a shared folder. Sometimes the photographer stops answering messages entirely, and there's no getting that wedding day back once it's gone.

Think of your photographer as an investment rather than a line item to shop down. You're paying for the backup camera bodies and lenses in case one fails mid ceremony, years of experience shooting in low light receptions and fast moving getting ready rooms, insurance that protects your date, the real editing time that goes into every single image, and the accountability of someone with an actual business and reputation on the line. A photographer charging a fraction of the going rate is usually missing one or more of those things, and your wedding day is not the place to find out which.

At the end of the day, what you're really paying for is the memories themselves. Your photos become the one tangible piece of your wedding day, the family heirloom that ends up on a shelf or in an album your kids and grandkids will actually hold someday. That's worth protecting, and it starts with who you hire.

Give your timeline more room than you think you need

Every couple wants more portrait time and less standing around, and the secret to getting both is padding. Hair and makeup runs long. Grandparents move slower getting into position for photos. The shuttle bus takes ten extra minutes to load. If your planner or venue coordinator hands you a timeline that feels tight, ask your photographer to weigh in before you finalize it. We've seen the ten minute gaps that turn into forty, and we know where the time actually needs to live.

You don't have to do a first look, but here's why so many couples do!

There's a real romance to seeing each other for the first time as you walk down the aisle, and I'll never talk anyone out of that if it matters to them. But a first look does something practical too: it buys you time, and time ends up being the biggest perk of all. You get more time with your person on your actual wedding day instead of being separated for hours while everyone gets ready. Couples who do one usually get through family formals and wedding party photos before the ceremony even starts too, which means more time with your people at cocktail hour instead of stuck behind a curtain while everyone else is already celebrating without you.

A first look also gives you two separate windows for portraits instead of one. If Charleston decides to throw one of its classic afternoon showers between the ceremony and reception, you already have a full set of portraits banked from earlier in the day, so the moment isn't lost to weather.

Let the day be a little bit messy

The dress will get dusty. Someone's tie will come loose. The flower girl might refuse to walk. That's just what weddings are actually like, and some of my favorite images from the last ten years came from moments nobody planned. If you can let go of needing everything to look magazine perfect in the moment, you'll enjoy the day more, and the photos will feel more like you.

Ask if a second shooter is included

A second photographer catches an entirely different angle of your day: your dad's face during the ceremony while your first photographer is focused on you, the groom's reaction as you walk in, candid guest moments during the reception that one photographer alone would simply miss. If a second shooter isn't already part of your package, ask what it would take to add one. For weddings over 100 guests especially, it's one of the best upgrades you can make.

Send your photographer a family formals list ahead of time

Nothing eats up more portrait time than trying to figure out, in the moment, who Aunt Carol is and whether she's supposed to be in the photo with the grandparents or not. A short list with names and relationships, sent a week or two before the wedding, lets your photographer run formals efficiently so you can get back to your party faster.

This is exactly why I send every one of my couples a custom pre-wedding questionnaire. It walks you through your family formals list along with all the other small details ahead of time, so you're not trying to remember any of this in the middle of your wedding week. You fill it out once, and I show up already knowing your people.

Weather is not the enemy you think it is

Charleston weather can turn in an afternoon, and after 300 weddings I can tell you that some of the most beautiful, most talked about photo sessions I've shot happened in the rain. A good photographer already has a plan B for your venue, whether that's a covered porch, an indoor spot with good light, or leaning into the moody sky instead of fighting it. Ask what your photographer's rain plan looks like before the day arrives so nobody is scrambling.

Look for a style that feels like you, not just what's trending

Editing trends come and go. What matters more is whether a photographer's style actually matches how you want to remember the day. If you love bright, true to life color and candid moments over posed perfection, look for that in their recent work, not just their most popular post. Scroll past the highlight images and look at a handful of full galleries. If your gut says "that looks like us," that's worth more than any trend.

Ask about turnaround time, and get it in writing

You will want to see your photos before the wedding excitement wears off. I send sneak peeks within a few days and full galleries within two to six weeks, and I built our whole workflow around getting that right, because waiting months for your wedding photos is one of the most common complaints couples have after the fact. Whoever you hire, ask directly how long you'll wait, and hold them to it.

Whether you're getting married on a private estate outside Charleston, eloping on a bluff in Hilton Head, or planning a beach ceremony in Myrtle Beach, the same things end up mattering most: a timeline with breathing room, a photographer whose real galleries you've actually seen, and a day where you were present enough to remember how it felt, not just how it looked. That's the whole idea behind what I do!

Introducing Lay-Flat Heirloom Wedding Albums

Get excited!! I have been waiting so long to write this post! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Cana Dunlap Photography’s newest featured product, Lay-Flat Wedding Albums! These gorgeous albums are made with iris fabric and come in a variety of sizes and vintage-inspired colors. The featured album seen here was ordered in color IC 02. Made by FLORICOLOR USA, all 40 pages are made of very thick, durable paper (You'd have to actually try to rip them...but don't. They're pretty.), which, turned page-by-page, lay flat. What's even better is that here at Whimsey, we design the layout of each book in studio. No fuss on your end, and you can trust that we will arrange your photos in such a way to tell a true story of your favorite day ever. And wait for it...YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE THESE BABIES. Yep, as you can see in our featured photos below, you have the option to emboss your names on the cover.

Some questions might be running through your head right now, such as, "Why do I even need to order an album? Doesn't everyone see my photos online anyways?", or "Can't I just create one online myself?" Let me explain to you why those are not the best of ideas:

a// NOT EVERYONE SEES THEM ONLINE. What about granny, or those friends who are just over Facebook so they deleted it? (I have several close friends that have done this) Or what about those friends who just don't really check their Facebook? Maybe they just didn't see the photos in their newsfeed that day. Our point is - not everyone that is special to you will see your photos online. At least, not all of them. Make sure they see all of your favorite shots. Don’t let your beautiful images die on a hard drive!

b// SHOW OFF. Think about this - every time you have a guest over, you don't want to have to say, "Hey, would you guys like to see our wedding photos?", followed by "Let me just pull them up online." These fabulous albums are the perfect centerpiece for your coffee table or any other space you feel they would fit - get creative! People will be drawn to them so much that you won't even have to ask them if they'd like to take a gander at those lovely photos you paid so much for to perfectly document your day.

c// YOU WON'T HAVE TIME. As much craziness that goes into the wedding planning process, think about your new life together. Now it's time to change your name, which means you need to go through all your documents and change them as well. Not to mention get settled into a new place if that's the route you have chosen to go, fill your place with all that stuff you got from your bridal shower (or showers), send those thank yous to every person that gave a gift, share those photos from your honeymoon, etc. (but mostly importantly, just enjoy this new season of marriage!). The last thing you'll want to have to think of is the tedious task of organizing a wedding album. Buying an album through CDP ensures that you will have a gorgeous, already-made album at your door just a few months after your wedding.

d// QUALITY. Believe me, you'll notice the difference in quality between ordering a professional album vs. creating one on a website where you can also buy those custom photo calenders. The albums we customize, design in-studio, and order for you online are absolutely gorgeous and of the highest quality, a definite necessity for passing down memories long past your lifetime (which brings us to our next point)...

e// TIMELESS. Prints will eventually fade, canvas eventually rip, and flash drives eventually break (because let's face it, technology doesn't last forever), but with a hard-bound, sturdy book full of memories, your great grandkids will still be taking this off the shelf even after you're gone. I can't tell you how many times I have gone through old books filled with prints of my family over the years, and although it's so incredibly special to venture to another era, I just wish things were in order, weren't cracked and faded, and the binding weren't falling apart. With a customized, lay-flat wedding album, you'll have the peace of mind knowing that it will be enjoyed for years to come.

Also featured are Parents Albums. These are available in an 8x8 size in a variety of color and materials.

Lauren + Shane // Cannon Green Wedding // Charleston, SC

I’ve had the honor of shooting at Cannon Green in Charleston, SC multiple times this year and I love it more and more with every wedding that I shoot there! Lauren and Shane got married there this spring and their wedding day was a dream. The weather was bright and breezy and their “First Look” on Chalmers street was absolutely breathtaking. Read more about their story below!

Lauren and Shane met each other in their very first class at SCAD together! Lauren said she could remember it like it was yesterday. They both shared the mutual connection of being two New Yorkers in Georgia for the first time — and were so excited about all that was ahead in their college years in beautiful Savannah. After a year of always bumping into each other and lots of small talk during those run-ins, one of Lauren’s best friends met Shane separately in a film class of his. He invited Shane to hangout with them one night and they ended up becoming really good friends. Lauren was actually dating someone else at the time - that ended, and Shane swooped in shortly after! Apparently they always had a crush on each other but the timing was never right until they both realized it was long overdue to finally give it a shot. January 2019 marks 10 years of us being together and they wouldn't have it any other way!

When I asked what they loved most about each other Lauren said she love’s Shane's passion. Passion for his family, passion for his work, passion for our partnership. She said “He's always pushing me to better myself in every way possible, even though he wholeheartedly accepts and loves me as I am in this moment and as I've been every moment before. We've grown so much together this last decade — we're still growing, and a big reason why is because he challenges me and believes in me. I hope we never stop growing.”

Shane shared with me that “It's the little things I see in Lauren that I love and think about most often. I'm talking about her bright glowing smile, her sweet, kind demeanor towards others. Then there is her world class sense of humor that I can always share a laugh with. On the serious side her sharp intellect always keeps my idiot tendencies in check (I need this). And finally she has a style and beauty that I think is so authentic and reflects her character so well that I think is rare to find.”

These two’s story has been 10 years in the making and I could not be more honored to be document this season of their life! Check out some of my favorite moments from their Cannon Green Wedding.

Vendor Team

Coordination // Cruz Coordination

Venue/Catering/Bar // Cannon Green

DJ // DJ Malike

Rentals // Fox Audio

Flowers // Tiger Lily

Hair and Makeup // Slate Hair & Makeup

Officiant // Kristen Barner

Cake // Ashley Bakery

Transportation // Lowcountry Valet

Videography // Ivory and Iron 

Danielle + Mike // Harbour Club Wedding // Charleston, SC

Danielle + Mike // Harbour Club Wedding // Charleston, SC

"I swear I couldn't love you more than I do right now, and yet I know I will tomorrow."
- Leo Christopher

What a beautiful thing marriage is. It's a commitment to love another soul in the deepest way - forever and completely unconditionally. Danielle and Mike declared that commitment of lifelong love before their family and friends on a glorious spring afternoon at St John Beloved Catholic Church. With a beautiful wedding reception at The Harbour Club in Downtown Charleston, SC.

Their wedding decor was Kate Spade inspired - classic, with pops of bright florals all around. And while the decor was cheery and beautiful, Danielle put her own personal touches to her wedding day. Instead of a cake, Danielle and Mike decided to have homemade cookies for their guests, which was very special, particularly to Danielle, as it held a lot of sentiment. Danielle's great grandmother was always known for her Christmas cookies, and since she passed away recently, Danielle wanted to honor her great granny in this way on her wedding day. She also wore a piece of jewelry on her wedding day that belonged to her great grandmother. What a sweet way to honor her memory on their most special day!

Along with the DIY details that Danielle put together, they also incorporated several of their local Etsy vendors into their wedding details, such as the bridesmaids' jewelry, the can koozies and the thumbprint tree that served as their guest book.

Everyone danced, made smores (I mean, what could be better than a smores table at your reception?!), laughed and celebrated this new union of love. And as the sun set, we headed to the roof, where we took some time to snap some romantic pictures, basking in the breathtaking sunset.

Congratulations Danielle & Mike! May your love grow deeper with each day that God gives you!

Ceremony Venue: St. John the Beloved Catholic Church
Reception Venue: Harbour Club
Catering/Bar: Harbour Club
DJ: Lee Edwards Entertainment
Gown Boutique: Elegance Boutique
Hair/Makeup: Tease Blow Dry Bar
Florals: Tiger Lily
Transportation: Party Bus Charleston