HONEY GOLDEN LOVE // Casey and Chris' Napa Vineyard Inspired River House Lowndes Grove Wedding
CASEY AND CHRIS: HONEY GOLDEN LOVE. // River House Lowndes Grove Wedding
"Ladies, gentleman, Luke..."
I have to start by saying I have the joy of knowing Casey personally and the pleasure of getting to know Chris in our onboarding process.
I have so many things to say about these two.
Chris is the funniest person I have ever had in front of my camera.
I'm not even kidding. The crass, crude, blunt, blatant commentary from this man had me in stitches—all day.
“Usually, I’m complaining that my wrists and fingers are sore after a wedding day but after Casey and Chris’ wedding? It was my abs and jaw from laughing so hard—all day.”
Casey Is Just As Much Of A Pistol
…With her wit (watching the two of them together is freakin' fantastic. Their body language and facial expressions perfectly mirror one anothers' mannerisms. It is literally the cutest thing you've ever seen.) But also -- Casey has this soulful, sweetness, honey goodness about her demeanor. I've always felt this. Our paths crossed in recent years through a weekly small group, and she always had this sun ray style mirror in the room with her on the call - and I felt that was the perfect depiction for her -- this light reflector/refractor/generator. She has this honey sunny goodness about her -- ask anyone who knows her.
This Napa Vinyard vibes inspired fete took place at the River House at Lowndes Grove.
If you’re unfamiliar with this property — it is wonderful. In the downtown peninsula of historic Charleston, South Carolina, it’s one of the premiere waterfront venues (June lighting and that patio reception space…are you kidding me?!?!)
So Casey and Chris have this bubbly charismatic energy together - you'll be laughing, giddy right along with them -- but then there's this other layer that if you're not looking for it, you might miss it…
There’s almost a decade of care, kindness, and compassion between these two.
When you grow one another up through your twenties into your thirties -- as they said in their ceremony -- to go from sorority girl and fraternity boy to life partner figuring out this life together -- THAT is such a lovely kind of beauty.
“There’s a magnetism between Casey and Chris. The kind I could only expect is the epitome of home. They constantly sink into this honey-goodness together. ”
It's really tender
it's present
it's darling
it's kind and
it's that real real kind of love.
So for their wedding video edit? How do you tell this story?
How do you build something to depict and express this accurately? Well, I'm glad you asked because I went through quite a process to find the line of energy for their story.
So I had all of this footage of them being goofy and ridiculous and playful (I'm telling you-- the audio in the group bridal party portraits, it's outrageous. Their whole crew - like, where did you all find these humans?!!) I thought about cutting something that was audio-heavy of the bad * as clean as possible * jokes layered throughout the day with these fast cuts and a playful fun song…
“Their energy has this soulful depth to it — the kind of love that’s already tried and true. Well-tested. Embracing. An openness that says, ‘We’re not even close to arriving, and that’s my favorite part.’”
…I wanted to tell that story.
Now Let Me Tell You About The Soundscore
I had some chill vibey, happy upbeat-ey things in their prospective soundscoring queue, but…
When I was reflecting on the GOLDEN LIGHT that seemed to drip off of every moment of their day and their HONEY GOLDEN LOVE wedding day, I realized I wanted…
something with an orchestral feel that's
powerful
with plenty of technicality in the sounds for laying in some creative cuts
takes you on a journey and
absolutely tells a story of a certain kind of love.
That was my heart criteria, and oh my gosh, it took me days to set that intention and then have the music present itself.
Full disclosure, I was not a fun person to be around during that part of the process...
* ahem * (Side note: This is the part where I blow a big kiss at the love of my life, Gage, for tolerating me projecting all my creative angst and fire at everything in our home environment.
I said at one point, "I think I just need to stop loving our cats so much. That's part of the problem." .... Muah, darling. )
If You Know Me— You've Heard Me Talk About The Sound Scoring Process.
It's this spiritual channeling experience.
“The music, the sounds; this is the air you breathe when you see a series of moving moments.”
The soundscore informs your subconscious of how to perceive; it's the lubrication for how you take that information in.
The music is not a part of the process to frivolously say,
“Oh, I love 24 Karat Magic song by Bruno Mars, and I liked it on that one rando couple's wedding video I saw a few years ago.
That makes sense."
No, Karen, no, it does not make sense.
So the way my brain works after documenting love and humans for the past decade and consuming, on average, probably 70 hours a week of Spotify playlists...
I have certain songs that emote certain seasonings of love.
So taking in a couple's dynamic, catching a glimpse of their soul, quirks, dreams, priorities, and fears -- the right soundscore begins to surface for their story.
ENTER: Oblivion by Labrinth.
So this song “Oblivion” by Labrinth-- it's an interesting one. Labrinth is such a creative genius, and lately, I have been so swept in how dynamic his music is - he produces these juxtapositions of bleeding heart, brutal honesty, mixed with the angst of a piano playing some rogue keys, with some massive synths, beat drops, horns, taking rhythms from hip-hop and layering them in with an orchestra.
It's perfect. It's absolutely perfect.
“Ethereal, airy, grimy, honest, clever... ”
So this song Oblivion to me -- tells this story of a narrative of someone longing to be in the oblivion of their lover's energy. It says:
“Screw it --
box my ears, darling,
knock me out
so I can live in,
be in,
be consumed by --
this sweet love that
only you bring into my life.
I have to have it-
it's all I think about,
it's home.
Take me there.”
Her Biggest Priority? Be Present. Open. Experience Beauty Throughout Her Wedding Day.
Upon observing the familiarity and the gentleness, these two co-exist- within one another -- this song sounded like their love to me. And the scope of this song -- taking you into the longing, the pleas, the brutal honesty of highs and lows in a relationship, in how we grow alongside another person -- at the end of the day -- it's that love we're perpetually asking to live in, linger in, get lost in through the years.
I adored this song for opening up their story and showing the time and the space.
Casey is a soul sister of mine -- she expressed in the planning process how her biggest priority was to be present and open with experience beauty throughout her wedding day. Be present, have easy energy, and fully drop into the moments. I loved this -- so I wanted to depict the honey, golden beautiful moments their wedding day was made of.
Ladies, gentlemen, Luke...
/\/\/\
Ladies, gentlemen, Luke... /\/\/\
Reception Song Vibes
The Wait 2.0 by Nombe and Skott? I loved the vibey driving in this song for their reception. There are some playful, easy drops in there, and I also loved this song for the energy I felt it expressed for their friend group and community around them, too.
These two are so obviously one of those couples who have the strength of a village behind them -- so being sure to tell that part of the story was crucial, too.
I mean, the fact their dear friend and officiant Dave was able to weave in a roast of their other mutual shared friend while announcing the bride and groom for the first time? Full send. I'm here for that. :)
Long Story Long...
This day was exquisite—ten out of ten. We had the best time working alongside Luke Higgs and his team -- he was such an epic photographer to work alongside and directed so many awesome yet natural poses and cues throughout the day.
Casey and Chris, we love you!!
Thanks for making our faces sore from laughing at you guys all day. We wish you and your families the absolute best!!
Ruby Riot Creatives | Destination Weddings + Events. We travel everywhere! [Currently booking 2023-2024]
Visit https://www.instagram.com/rubyriotcreatives @RubyRiotCreatives to view our portfolio and current work, hear some embarrassing stories on our podcast, The Ruby Hour, and check our availability for your event! If you have an upcoming wedding or event, we would LOVE to be a part of it.
Which Wedding Video Package Was This?
This is our signature Head Over Heels collection, 6-Hours Base + Drone, and added IG mini clips!
Getting married soon? Friends with Casey and Chris? Omg if you’re friends of theirs… we totally want to film your wedding. We travel anywhere. Let’s schedule a time to chat after you check out our media kit.
MEGA SHOUT OUT
And mega, MEGA shout out to the incredible vendor family who absolutely ROCKED it and knocked it out of the park for Casey and Chris’s big day. I would proudly stamp my endorsement on any of this dream team of vendors— This day COULD NOT BE what it was without your brilliance and professionalism to bring this dream into reality — I celebrate you!
Lowndes Grove River House Wedding Vendor Dream Team FOR THIS CHARLESTON SC WEDDING:
INCREDIBLE VENDOR TEAM:
Wedding Planner // Intrigue Events - Planners Chelsye Harp and Ashley Karanik (We love these girls!)
Wedding Venue // Lowndes Grove River House / Patrick Property Hospitality Group (Always a pleasure working with PPHG!)
Wedding DJ // DJ Wade
Wedding Videography // Ruby Riot Creatives (us, of course!!)
Wedding Photographer // Luke Higgs (I can't recommend him enough! He has Great genuine, laid-back energy!)
Wedding Florist // Forever Florals
Wedding Rentals // OOH! Events, Lowcountry Entertainment, Snyder
Wedding Signage // Luxe & Co
Wedding Custom Ceremony Structure // Sawdust and Sweetgrass
Bride Getting Ready Venue // Ryder Hotel
Groom Getting Ready Venue // Hotel Emeline
Wedding Make Up // Ash & Co
Wedding Hair // Megan Wells
Wedding Transportation // Coastal Limo Transportation
Wedding Officiant // Dave Freeman (and groomsmen!)