Their Wedding: Lowndes Grove, Charleston, South Carolina

WOW, this wedding day was one for the books! Julia and Jadaen’s summer Lowndes Grove wedding down in Charleston was a true fairytale dream day! They’ve been through many iterations of what their big day would look like due to the pandemic, and they landed here! A stunning venue, perfect weather when it called for crazy rain all day, and a party that went all night long! Smiles truly didn’t leave anyone’s faces the whole day!

It was a crazy few days as I had a wedding in New Jersey the day before theirs! I had to fly out on the morning of their wedding to get there for their big day, but we made it happen! Everything worked out so perfectly, and I’m so thankful they chose me to be their photographer!

A few moments that stood out to me as extra special:

Julia’s father coming in for his first look and helping zip up her dress! It was so special and unique, and I loved that they got to share that moment together!
Julia and Jae’s first look where Jae read her a letter she wasn’t expecting! It was intimate and so romantic. Their friends and family watched over their first look, which made it extra special!
The weather called for rain all day, and it held out JUST in time for everyone to get under the tent for the ceremony. We didn’t anticipate being able to get as many incredible portraits out on the Lowndes Grove property as we did!
The toasts! I always get choked up during speeches, but these ones were truly so memorable. Julia’s father not only honored his beautiful wife during his speech, but he had everyone laughing and tearing up as he talked about his incredible daughter and her new husband! Julia’s best friends came through with some shots for our sweet couple, and shared emotional speeches, as well! And lastly, we had Jae’s brother who recognized how much he has always looked up to Jae and admired his brother. So many smiles, tears, and laughter in the room during those toasts!!
THE DANCE FLOOR!!! It got freaking WILD. Typically, photo coverage ends a bit before the end of the evening, but Julia and Jae had me stay all night, and it was a BLAST! Their DJ kept that dance floor going all the way up until their sparkler send off!

Their Love Story

Julia and Jae have known each other for a long time. They grew up just a few miles away from each other their whole lives. They went to rival high schools and both went off to play sports in college! She played lacrosse at the University of Louisville and he went to the Naval Academy to wrestle, which is what brought them together!

Every year, Julia’s team would travel to Navy to play in a tournament! She said, “he is this like stud top-ranked wrestler (also sorry, I can’t help but brag about this man because is literally the most amazing human ever). So we ended up “talking” and then all of a sudden like 2 dates in we were dating. Everything happened so fast, but it was so natural and it felt like we had been together for years.” CHILLS!!! <3

Their Proposal

“The town we grew up in, Clinton, is super gorgeous around Christmas time. It is a historic town and it has this rod-iron bridge that crosses over to the Red Mill which is iconic for Hunterdon County now. Home is a very special place to me, especially downtown Clinton. SO, the week he proposed, I hadn’t really talked to him because he was on a field exercise for military training and he doesn’t have his phone. He does all kinds of crazy things like dig and sleep in holes and stuff like that for a week straight in like 15-degree weather.

So when he finally called me on December 21st, he said “Babe, I’m on the way home” for winter break. I didn’t think he would want to go out because he would be tired and I kind of wanted to stay in and cuddle and watch a movie with MOO and him. He insisted he wanted a steak from the Clinton House (my FAVORITE restaurant at home), so I said ‘okay I’ll be ready to go when you get back!’

When we pulled up to town and parked, it was actually a really warm night in NJ for December – it was probably in the 50s, and he said, “Why don’t we walk to the restaurant from here, it’s such a nice night and the whole bridge is lit up in Christmas lights, we can take a cute picture,” so I was obviously like ‘WOW YOU WANT TO TAKE A PICTURE WITH ME YOU’RE ACTUALLY THE ONE SUGGESTING IT?!’

Lol, so we ended up walking and I had turned around and when I turned back he was on his knee! It was absolutely perfect. Then we walked over to the Clinton house where both of our families were and celebrated!”

Julia & Jae

I honestly don’t think I could be more obsessed with you two if I tried! I’m truly so honored I got to be a part of your love story from your engagement session to your perfect summer Lowndes Grove wedding day!! Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Bernstein! Love you both so much!!! xo