enterprise mill outdoor ceremony — Beauty & Beard PhotographyBlog

We literally cannot say enough about how much fun this wedding day was so, stay tuned for that. This wedding day took place at one of our favorites (we chose it as our wedding venue if you didn’t know already), Windsor Manor in South Augusta. They had a bunch of amazing vendors and quite a few that were really close friends of theirs as well which made for such a unique wedding day too. It turned out as a perfect spring day and everything flowed flawlessly!

Let’s start by going back to when we first got to meet this amazing couple over coffee with the bride’s mom and grandmother, we could tell even then that we had similar interests and would be a perfect fit to enjoy this day with them and produce beautiful photos. Now, onto the wedding day!

We started as we always do with stopping in the bridal suite to say hey and gather some details to photograph. Once we were back downstairs with the details, we met with the florist Rhonda and some of the family and had already started hitting it off with everyone on the wedding day. We then split up and I went with the guys while Morgan photographed the dress and hung around with the girls some more to help however she could. As the guys finished up getting ready, we made our way downstairs and outside just beside the house to do their group photos. It was hilarious how many jokes and funny posed photos we did (they aren’t included in the blog but, trust me, they’re there!). We also went over to the ceremony garden area for the guys to say a quick prayer over the groom and wedding day. Around that time, we got all of the guys to head back into the grooms for a bit and finished up getting the brides dress and jewelry on just before going to setup at the ceremony since guests were arriving. As everyone made their way to their seats and the groom and his mother came down the aisle to the tune beautiful medley played live on keyboard, joy was already visible on everyone’s faces. As the bride and her father came through the arch way, Shad and Caty had locked eyes and were both smiling ear to ear. Her father passed her off to her groom and then read scriptures before they were covered with a veil and Yugal representing them being clothed as one. They also exchanged their own vows, lit the unity candle and sealed the deal with a kiss. It was a beautiful ceremony and seeing them come back up the aisle as husband and wife for the first time was such a great and joyful moment to behold. We made our way out from the ceremony and over to the area where we planned to do family photos and started with a big group photo and narrowed down to smaller groups before doing the full bridal party and girls together. Once we finished all of the group photos, we dismissed everyone to the reception or to get ready for the reception at least as we did some couples portraits of the newly weds. We ended at one of the arches near the reception and had her girls come bustle her dress as we headed over to the reception to prepare for their entrance. Everyone had a great entrance but when the DJ announced the couple in and they got down the stairs, everyone erupted into a shout and Shad even jumped up and hyped everyone up even more as they went into their first dance, this was one of the last glimpses into how much fun the reception was going to be before it was in full swing. They then started their first dance to Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty’s Louisiana woman, Mississippi Man. After their first dance, it was time for everyone to enjoy some delicious traditional Filipino cuisine prepared by a close family friend of the bride’s grandmother. We have to say, it was incredible and we enjoyed every bit of it. Once every table had made their way through the buffet and finished their food, we were treated to a live performance of “Take Me Home, Country Roads'“ by John Denver which quickly turned into everyone at the reception singing along in delight (including us). After that song, it switched gears and went into speeches which were all incredibly touching but, it’s hard to beat a good speech by the Father of the Bride telling stories of her growing up and getting emotional. Maybe it’s just because we’re parents now but, it hit different and also caused them to meet out on the dance floor and hug as another live performance started and this time it included her Mom singing as well. It must be so special to sing for your own daughter’s dance with her Dad (she sounded great might we add). Once the Father and Daughter dance was finished, they went into the Mother and Son dance in which his Mom had such a look of pride in her boy and they shared a big hug at the end. As a little time passed, we snuck in with the bridal party and immediate family for the cake cutting since you can only fit so many people in there. They enjoyed their cake and everyone then erupted into yelling “Stonks” as a hilarious meme and hype crew kept the vibe going back out to the reception for the bouquet toss. The next part had to be one of the absolute most fun moments that kicked the reception into high gear which was the Traditional Filipino Dollar Dance in which both the Bride and Groom are pinned with money and give a little spin or dance to whomever pinned them. The lines got long very quickly and some of the dances were downright goofy in the best way possible. We could see the unique relationships and friendships shared with everyone present in this moment and decided that we wanted to be friends with everyone present because they know how to have and create an absolute blast of a reception. As the last few family members came through for their dances, it ran straight into everyone (and I mean everyone) to join the dance floor and kick off the night of dancing and hilarious chants. You will just have to wait and see the highlight film to get a better idea of this all happening but, after a few hours of dancing and cheering each other on, a few slow dances kicked off as we prepared for the exit. The newly weds made their through two lines of their loved ones where everyone was holding an illuminated paper bag hanging from sticks that made for such a unique and beautiful send off. They kissed and then waved goodbye to everyone as they got into their car and drove off as Mr. and Mrs. Stark. We absolutely loved being a part of this day and cannot wait to see what the future holds for this sweet couple!

Vendors List

Photography - Beauty & Beard Photography @beautyandbeardphoto

Venue - Windsor Manor

Florals - Rhonda Lowe

Dresses - Sho Anne’s

Shoes - David’s Bridal

Rings - Windsor Jewlers

DJ - Magic Sounds Productions

Hair & Makeup - Lexi Saxton

Cake - Hailey Lowe (maid of honor)

Caterer - Friend of the family

Another case of rescheduling done right during Covid-19 times! You may remember this couple from their dreamy engagement session in Jekyll Island which you can see here. That was in September of 2019 and they originally planned to hold the ceremony at another one of our favorite local venues, Quinney Oaks but then set their eyes on Enterprise for this year when everything had to change and we have to say, it turned out perfectly! We haven’t been to Enterprise photographing a wedding in a while so there’s even been some changes since we were last there on the bridal suite side of things. Once we found out where we were going, we started with details and talking with all of the girls to see how their day has been thus far. The dress from Tiffinie Bleu Bridal is just dreamy and perfect for Kayla and that’s where we started so that we could have it done and ready if she needed to get into it. We also did some fun photos with the girls in their robes before leaving them to finish getting ready and dressed to visit the guys and catch up with Ben a little bit. They were at the perfect point of getting ready to where we could just start photographing them and head straight out to do their group photos quickly. We have to say that Ben’s guys kept us laughing a good bit and it’s always fun to have those types of interactions through the whole day keeping everyone laughing and enjoying even the in between moments. As we finished up with the guys, the bride’s father showed up perfectly on time for us to get her ready for the first look with him downstairs in the hall. They shared such a sweet moment and then I walked back with Kayla’s dad to get Ben ready for the bride and groom first look. While we were doing that, Morgan captured some sweet moments with Kayla and her mom “Connie” exchanging gifts and cards.

Now once we found the spot that would be decent light but also somewhat hidden away, we set up the bride and groom’s first look and well…you can see for yourself that they were very happy to see each other and it was super sweet. While we had the two of them, we went off for a few minutes to do some couples portraits all around the property and recreated some of their favorite old photos even. Then they went to take a moment and everyone was showing up for the ceremony so we got in our places and mic’d Ben for their ceremony film so they had good audio. From there on, it was smooth sailing and all smiles for literally everyone taking in the ceremony and seeing all of their loved ones around them while they exchanged their vows underneath the chandelier and floral decor. Once they said their I do’s (they had done this once together due to the reschedule), they kissed and made their way happily up the aisle together. They took a right at the bell and we all made our way to do family and bridal party photos quickly before heading to the reception. Once we got into the reception, we photographed the details quickly and said hey to our friends at Amplified Events as we always leave our bags behind their booth and have always loved working with their team closely! Once everyone got settled in and the couple was ready, everyone got announced into the reception with a fun entrance into the couple’s first dance. Then they went straight into the father/daughter and mother/son dances where you can just feel the proud parent emotions from the other side of the room. Next, we cut the cake and opened up the dance floor where a family friend that does dance instructing got to share a dance with the bride’s mother and bring some others to the dance floor as well. At that point, it was perfectly timed for us to go do some sunset photos with the couple as well and boy were they dreamy. We even had some of the tour ferries coming back in as we made our way up that turned out to have some of our dear friends who were married at Enterprise on it (we didn’t find out until later when we saw them) and that made for a very nice surprise on our part!

The night approached and it was time for the other half of the reception to start up (you know the part with the lights, smoke and a lot of dancing). So we started with the bouquet and garter tosses then toasts to kick off the rest of the festivities. No sooner than everyone putting down their glasses after the final toast did the dance floor open up and the photobooth fill up. We split up and watched the night unravel until it was almost time for the exit which would be done with dried flower petals that were placed into very cute little boxes for everyone. Once everyone was lined up and their signs they had made for the end of the exit were in place, we started our way with flower petals flying everywhere and they shared a kiss at the end just before hopping into their getaway SUV. The bride shared a few hugs with her parents and everyone waved as they drove away into the night which then ended our night as well. We headed back inside to pack up and say bye to our friends at Amplified and then said bye to Connie and everyone else that we could find before heading back home ourselves. It was literally a perfect wedding day and even further proves that even in times like these, good things are still worth the wait. I don’t know that you could have asked for more perfect weather and a happier wedding day celebration. We’re excited to see what the Dieterich’s have ahead of them!