Erica & Jake’s Poppy Pink William Aiken House Wedding

In a way, I feel like the pandemic has helped ease the stress of having a huge wedding for a lot of our couples.

Not to say at all that they haven’t been extremely bummed to not have everyone they wanted share their day with them, but a lot of them have had to trim the guest count (like Erica & Jake had to for their wedding at the William Aiken House) in order to even host their wedding and quite a few of them got married on their original dates which takes SO MUCH pressure off of them for the Big Celebration…like Erica and Jake!

I got a phone call in September from Erica where she told me that she & Jake had decided on a whim to still get married on their original date in May but in her moms backyard and with just their parents to witness.

Getting Ready at Home

It was always the game plan for Erica & her girls to ready at her parents home in Mount Pleasant but the week of the wedding, Jake decided to just get ready there too! I had a lot of fun photographing Erica’s very pink bouquet & her fun pink reception shoes!

Erica & Jake LOVE their niece and nephew and it was so cute to see them included in literally every part of the day, like nephew Nick being part of the robe photo with the girls & Erica playing with Nick & Lucy right before she got dressed.

How did you feel the morning of your wedding?
Erica- relaxed!
Jake- relaxed like it was any other day

What was the most special moment of the day for you?
Erica- having all family & loved ones together in the same place
Jake- the first look

Wedding Photos at Hampton Park & Downtown Charleston

Erica & Jake shared their first look in the backyard of her parents house…pretty close to the spot where they got married 5 months earlier!

Afterwards, everyone piled into cars & the shuttle and we made our way to Hampton Park for the family photos!

We were actually REALLY behind on the timeline (Im talking 65 minutes behind schedule) but because Erica, her planners & I created an amazing photo timeline, none of us were stressed out and we hit every location the couple wanted!

Well. Almost every location lol. For their engagement session, they had wanted some portraits in the Unitarian Cemetery but the gates were locked.

So we decided to try again on the wedding day! Buuuut…the gates were locked again lol Maybe we’ll try again for their anniversary photos. They say third times the charm!

If you did a First Look, talk about it here! What made it special, how were you both feeling before & after it, would you recommend it to a friend, etc
Erica- highly recommend; it was intimate & made for more time later freed up for enjoying the wedding without having to do photos
Jake- yes, I would recommend because then you can get pictures done before the wedding & spend more time with family & friends

William Aiken House Ceremony

One of the things we talked about on the phone in September was if they would even have a formal ceremony or not. In the end, they decided to do a short vow renewal in front of everyone (-:

A friend officiated & family members came up for emotional readings and then the couple cheersed with some champagne!

What made your wedding day special, unique or personalized to you as a couple?
Erica- The wedding was 3 years to the day of our first date (coincidence since we actually were postponed from May but still cool)
Jake- brought champagne from winery my parents work at with custom labels

William Aiken House Wedding with Pops of Pink

I was OBSESSED with all of the pink florals. I’m also really a sucker for pink & yellow as a color combo for a wedding.