Go behind the scenes of our fashion and flower shoots!

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Fashion shoot photographs by Ellie Somerville; Shot on Sullivan’s Island
Flower shoot photographs by Reese Moore; Shot at the William Aiken House

Clockwise from top left: While photographer Peter Frank Edwards uses a real camera to frame the shot, Charleston Weddings Editor Melissa Bigner improvises • Hair and makeup guru Ashley Perryman uses a “hair donut” to create the perfect bun • The whole style team—Ashley Perryman, Charleston Weddings Style Editor Ayoka Lucas, and a style intern—balance on slippery rocks all for the sake of a good shot • A style intern and I catalogue every earring, necklace, bracelet, and ring so we can write the magazine descriptions later on…and return the loot to their rightful owners • Don’t be fooled by Ayoka…She may look relaxed, but her Blackberry’s cranking next to her • Model Aryka’s red Converse All-Stars • Photographer Roo Way frames a shot while Melissa makes a last-minute adjustment to WED’s stunning floral creation • We couldn’t have survived Sullivan’s Island without our trusty bottle-o’-bug spray.

The Lowcountry is full of fab locations we’re honored to have at our disposal and fab creative types we love working with. But even amid all that fabulousness, you never know quite what you’ll run into on set. Take, for example, the fashion shoot for our Summer 2009 issue (order your copy here!) The Sullivan’s Island location proved more than picturesque. The swarms of mosquitoes that defied the calendar to plague us in November? Not so much. A bottle of Off! was salvaged from the depths of somebody’s car and quickly became the most precious bottle of liquid we’d ever laid eyes on. (Brides from off, please note: Bugs can strike any time of year here.) A few hours later we decided the most precious location we’ve ever seen was a frigid wet rock offshore, reachable only by traipsing across even colder wet rocks. That’s when we were glad model Aryka brought her Chuck Taylor’s, a much better climbing shoe than the designer heels Ayoka had for the dress. That bit about modeling being hard? We buy it now. You try getting splashed by winter waves and not showing goosebumps. And if you think the unexpected only occurs with live subjects, think again. Even when shooting something as static as a floral arrangement, there’s always a little tweaking that needs to be done to make sure we capture the best side of what our local vendors have offered. So our recipe for photo shoot success? Expect the unexpected; come prepared; and, most importantly, have fun! Good advice for a magazine…and for a real-life Big Day.