Catherine & Oz’s Charleston Micro Wedding
Y’all know I love micro weddings! Catherine & Oz wanted to keep their wedding small before Covid was even an issue. Sadly, it DID make their tiny wedding even more so because Oz’s family couldn’t come to America from Greece.
Some of my favorite things from Catherine & Oz’s micro wedding in Charleston:
- It was teeny tiny so they got to spend SO much time with the guests who could make it
- How much time we had downtown for portraits
- Their first look! It was so sweet and they laughed so much
- Catherine’s background in NYC fashion was pretty evident with her bridal look – she was so stylish!
- The group photo we got to take for them of every single guest after the ceremony
- The surprise slideshow that Catherine surprised Oz with of his family & friends wishing them well!
Getting Ready at the Cottages on Charleston Harbor
How did you feel the morning of your wedding?
Ozan – I felt nervous but really excited at the same time and ready to see Catherine!
Catherine – I didn’t sleep at all! I woke up at 3am with to-do list running in my mind, it was so bad around 6:30 I went for a bike ride and played our wedding playlist to get me in the mood for the day! From that point on I was excited and ready to get the day started counting the minutes to finally seeing Oz!
What was the most special moment of the day for you?
Ozan – The surprise video Catherine arranged with my family and friends was the most special moment of the day! It was great seeing my family and friends and really felt them here with me on this day.
Catherine – There were 2! My father daughter first look was a really special moment for me and looking back I am so glad we had a moment together! Another would be watching Oz’s reacting to seeing his family and friends! I know what they mean to him and I was so happy to see him so surprised!
What do you look forward to most about FINALLY being married? (-:
Ozan + Catherine – We are looking forward to starting this next chapter! We have both have similar goals and dreams we talk about together all the time, and now that we are married it feels like we can finally begin taking our first steps to making those a reality.
Micro Wedding Photos in Charleston
You did a First Look: What made it special, how were you both feeling before & after it, would you recommend it to a friend, etc
We did a first look because were selfish! We couldn’t wait until 6pm on our wedding day to see each other!! We felt that with such a small wedding guests list that 1, it would be hard to skip all of cocktail hour to do pictures just Oz and I, 2, we wanted to enjoy the bar and bites too, 3, we wanted more time for us to have pictures together as we knew the rest of the evening would be for our guests! It was really special seeing each other one-on-one prior to the ceremony, as we had time to ourselves to enjoy the moments.
We felt that leaving this moment for the ceremony would make it hard for us to be ourselves in such a public setting. I would totally recommend this to anyone as it really is the best of both worlds, amazing intense nervous moments on camera+ extra time in your day for more pics of you and your love!
What was your favorite detail of the day?
Our favorite details would have to be the vendor team we had in place! Everyone has stories about what went wrong at a wedding, but our vendors made the day super relaxing, carefree, and fun! We have so many vendors to thank for this, but knowing our photography team was capturing all the little details of the day made us so happy and excited to enjoy the moment!
What was something quirky or crazy that happened on the wedding day?
So last minute we had some changes in our wedding transportation that let us explore some options. We ended up hiring a limo services for a limo bus to pick up our friends and ourselves and drive us around Charleston for an hour. Having a small guest list and forgoing a traditional reception, this party bus was our reception on wheels! With bottles popping, music blasting, and disco lights, it was the best decision we could have made to ring in the celebration with our friends!
Charleston Rooftop Micro Wedding at Upstairs at Midtown
What made your wedding day special, unique or personalized to you as a couple?
We loved how small and intimate it was! Something positive that came out of Covid was the normalization of intimate weddings! We knew we wanted an elevated event with all the fixin’s but what really made the night so easy, fun, and stress free was just how small it was! We really got to cherish the guests who could be there with us and felt that we could really spend time with everyone! The people who could be with us to celebrate just made it a really special day for us!
Charleston Micro Wedding Photography
What did you splurge on & what did you save on?
We splurged on wedding Photography and Videography! It was important for us to find the right vendors to capture our big day through our eyes! We wanted to make sure all the moments big and small were captured, and we really trusted the teams we hired to show our love story!
We totally saved on all the paper! As cute as hand written, custom invitations, menu’s signage, place cards is, it’s also something that gets thrown away at the end of the day!! We did all of the signage ourselves and bought templates from Etsy that matched our Zola invitation designs.
Whats the best advice you have for future couples planning their big day?
They say to enjoy it because it goes by so fast, and honestly looking back we didn’t take it as serisouly! Just remember at the end of the day its about your love story, make it what you want, and don’t get caught up in all the bits!
I would also suggest if you intend on planning the wedding yourselves, like we did, at least hire a Day of Coordinator! It was such a relief to have someone in place to ensure our vision and hard work paid off in the end, Sofie at KSHG was a saving grace in pulling the final day off without a second thought.
What did you love most about working with us?
Ozan- Katie and Jay just made what could be a weird, awkward, unpleasant experience a fun one! I felt so comfortable working with them, their direction was clear but not staged. They both really captured us and we hope to work with them in the future!
Catherine – EVERYTHING! Katie and Jay made every encounter an easy one! From family portraits to climbing on a roof that melted Jay’s shoes in the past, they really went above and beyond to get the shot! We can’t thank them enough for being apart of our day and would suggest their services to anyone looking for a fun fab duo!
The Charleston wedding vendors who brought this magical rooftop micro wedding to life:
Planner: KSHG Events / Venue: Upstairs at Midtown / Cake: Sweet Rhi / Florals: Branch Studio / Hair & makeup: Coastal Glam / Videographer: Toast Wedding Films
Katie + Jay of Catherine Ann Photography are Charleston SC Based Wedding & Elopement Photographers specializing in candid & fun wedding photos that feel like you!
