The Island House Wedding Venue in Charleston SC

I think you’d have to try pretty hard not to take pretty photos at The Island House. It’s a secluded, peaceful waterfront wedding venue with breath taking views. The main house is available for the bridal party during the first part of the day. The ceremony usually takes place outside, weather permitting, or under an installed wedding tent if it rains. The reception also takes place under the wedding tent.

Here are some of our favorite features about this wedding venue:

The Venue Grounds:

Nature abounds at Island House! And that makes for pretty photos and happy photographers. Whether we’re taking photos on the lawn, in the flower field or the front of the house, there are wonderful natural backgrounds that allow for creative and romantic images.

The Views:

Water views are such a special feature of getting married in Charleston SC! The Island House is one of the best waterfront wedding venues in Charleston for it’s vast 180 degrees water views. When requested the venue makes the water dock and pier available to the bride and groom for romantic timeless photos. As you can imagine this offers some gorgeous photo ops anytime and particularly around sunset time.

Getting Ready

The Island House makes the main building available for the bridal party in the first part of the wedding day. There are several rooms inside including a library.  The interior has a lot of natural light which makes for gorgeous getting ready photos. The lawns around the house also make it easy to go outside and get some of the formal photos done before the ceremony so you can enjoy your cocktail hour. Our photographers coordinate these pre-wedding photo sessions and make it easy for the bride’s side and the groom’s side to alternate going outside without seeing each other.

The Ceremony Site

When it comes to wedding venues we like options and The Island House has them. You may have the ceremony in the front of the house or the water side of the house. Whichever ones you choose we recommend that you keep the direction of the sun light in mind. Consider arranging the direction of the ceremony chairs in such a way in which the sun is not shining directly towards the faces of your guests but perhaps at their back. This of course changes throughout the year so you may want to visit the venue closer to the wedding to decide which way to set up the ceremony site.

“Do I want to get married under a wedding tent?”

Well, we can’t really answer this question for you but what we can do is share some of the pluses and minuses of doing so. It can be very pleasant to spend an afternoon and evening near the water so choosing a water front venue like the Island House and arranging a wedding tent for your reception can be fun. It rarely rains all day in Charleston so even if there is some inclement weather on your wedding day it is unlikely for it to last all day. Also, depending on the time of the year you’re getting married and the amount of breeze available that day, bugs may be an issue, as with any open venue on the water. Citronella candles and bug spray are good items to have handy (just in case).  As far as the reception goes here is where a great photographer can make a gigantic difference for your wedding photos. An inexperienced photographer may struggle to take good photos in a tent because the ceiling being sloped. I would recommend asking your photographer for some samples of their work from a wedding that also took place under a wedding tent. And if you really want romantic photos spend just a little bit more for the tent fabric lining that can soften the hard angles of the supports. Adding string lights and chandeliers can also create a soft, beautiful look.

As a wedding photographers in Charleston SC it is our job to be familiar with each wedding venue and to know how to best take advantage of it’s highlights and strengths. If you’re getting married at the The Island House I hope you will consider hiring Diana Deaver Weddings for your wedding photography and rely on our expertise and experience with this venue for your wedding photos. The  wedding venue review above is an independent photographic review based on our personal experience as hired photographers. All of the above photos were taken by us. Please visit the The Island House’s web page to get more information about this venue.