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dear wesleyann Luxury Destination Wedding Photographer
Charleston, SC // 30A // Worldwide

The email read, “Wesleyann has been named Best Wedding Photographer by our readers for the 2026 Best of the Emerald Coas...
10/07/2026

The email read, “Wesleyann has been named Best Wedding Photographer by our readers for the 2026 Best of the Emerald Coast Awards!”

I didn’t even know I was in the running...

So when that email popped up, I laughed out loud in the middle of a coffee shop. I was certain it was spam.

It wasn’t.

I suppose I was shocked, because I’ve never paid much attention to “best of” lists or awards. I’ve never once asked anyone to vote for me…except when I ran for SADD president in high school (which I did in fact win!)

I’ve just never been much for accolades. I do what’s in front of me, I follow my heart, and I keep going.

Eighteen years of weddings.
Eighteen years of family sessions.
Eighteen years of working immeasurably hard.
And eighteen years of being a mom.

I was 23 when it all began...a brand new photographer working under a talented photographer who was also a best friend. And a brand new mother, truly still a baby myself. Figuring out who I was, a career, and motherhood…all at once. Some may say my toxic trait is that my faith is greater than my sense!!

There have been seasons I wondered if I should keep going. Many times, in fact! Seasons the work was a joy, and seasons it was just plain hard.

And still…God kept opening the door. 18 years of unexpected, hard fought doors and countless blessings!

However, this award isn’t really mine. It belongs to every couple and family who trusted me with their most sacred moments. To the planners, florists, venues and every vendor in between who made this coast feel like home... your talent has been one of my favorite things to photograph. To Tyler and my boys…who have loved me every step of the way, even when it meant sharing me with countless weekends away from home!

To whoever nominated and voted for me... I don’t know who all you are, but I’m so thankful.

I’m humbled. I’m grateful. And honestly? I’m still a little stunned🥹🤍

We’ll always have Paris ✨My heart has been homesick for Paris lately! In French, you don’t say “I miss you.” You say “tu...
09/29/2026

We’ll always have Paris ✨

My heart has been homesick for Paris lately! In French, you don’t say “I miss you.” You say “tu me manques”… meaning you are missing from me.

That’s Paris, for me. She’s been missing from me for longer than I’d like!

Thankfully, I’ll be back across the pond next summer!! 2027 is nearly booked, with just a few summer and fall dates left open! If you’re saying “I do” in Europe next summer, I’ll be there…let’s chat and make it official 💌🥂

Grab your hype girls… it’s a long weekend and summer deserves a proper send-off☀️The ones who climb the bunk bed ladder ...
09/04/2026

Grab your hype girls… it’s a long weekend and summer deserves a proper send-off☀️

The ones who climb the bunk bed ladder in their pajamas just to be closer to the middle of it all. The ones who hand you a glass before you even think to ask.

This room of girls I adore, laughed all morning ✨ Singing, dancing, nobody shrinking, nobody holding back, nobody waiting for permission!!

Personalities fully on. No dimmer switch.

And in the midst of all of it, I got to capture every bit…feeling like one of the girls!!

There’s a controversial conversation happening in my industry right now about how Gen Z brides should be hiring Gen Z vendors…because somehow that’s what makes you relatable. Relevant.

This moment captured says otherwise!

I didn’t need to be born in 1997 to be relatable to these women. My birth year isn’t what made me personable, curious, intuitive, trustworthy, creative, capable. Those are character traits.

Being a successful and relatable photographer is two fold. While many traits are innate at birth, experience is a rite of passage earned, not a birthright. Nobody hands you experience on day one. You learn it room by room. Wedding by wedding. Year by year. When to lead and when to go quiet. When a bride needs a plan and when she just needs somebody to hand her a glass and say go be with your girls, I’ve got it.

That takes time. There’s no shortcut for it. You don’t age out of it…you grow into it.

This is exactly what this whole wedding day was. A group of women, a decade or two between some of us, and not one bit of it mattered once the laugher started, music was on and moments were shared 🤍

So go find your people this weekend. Take the top bunk if it’s open. Be loud. Be joyful!

Everything else keeps till Tuesday 🥂

Six years ago we named this little boy Powell, his grandmother’s maiden name, long before we ever laid eyes on him. His ...
08/26/2026

Six years ago we named this little boy Powell, his grandmother’s maiden name, long before we ever laid eyes on him. His name essentially means “set apart, distinguished, made on purpose for a purpose.”

We didn’t know then what that would look like. However, deep down, our hearts knew.

For the last five years you’ve gone by Wells. And this year, out of nowhere, you looked at us and said you wanted to be called by your real name. While our hearts sank a bit, we knew it was also time for you to be Powell.

I think you knew before we did…because that’s exactly who you are!

Distinguished doesn’t mean quiet or reserved… for you it means LOUD. It means never meeting a stranger, never hearing a song you won’t dance to, never making a colorful, creative craft you don’t fall in love with. It means being the leader in every room, the heartbeat of every party, the one who talks too much! You come by it honest, but we never expected anything less 🍎🤝🌳🤭

You are independent almost to a fault and adventurous down to your core, but you carry this tender, cautious heart right alongside your daredevil risk-taking… old soul and wild child in the same six-year-old body.

Your laugh is contagious. But it’s your love that’s even louder. You hold on tightly to the people you love like you’re afraid we may float away…stage ten clinger, and I pray you never grow out of it.

Your dad is your best friend. Ride or die. Neither one of you can stand to miss a good dance party, and the two of you have the exact same b***y shakes to prove it 🤣

And your brothers…they are your heroes. You want to talk like them, walk like them, dress like them, down to the very last detail. I’ve learned to let you all be exactly who you are, even when it’s opposite of me!! Despite a few things that are opposite…you still are very much also my mini me 🤍🥹

Amidst all the ways you’re similar to us…you also are uniquely you. Set apart. Called with purpose. Distinguished from your first breath.

Happy 6th birthday, Powell. May you be used for good, leading well, loving loudly, and never, ever losing that sweet, precious heart of yours!

We love you buddy 🤍

08/25/2026

Somewhere between a Nancy Meyers movie and a very iconic Parent Trap moment, this natural redhead bride found her wedding day inspiration! Who needs a Pinterest board when you have a favorite nostalgic childhood movie?! 🎥 👰🏼‍♀️🤍🫶🏻

Over the last twenty years, it turns out my heart has a type🤭☀️🥐Beautiful light. Cobblestone charm. Slow paced, preppy, ...
08/11/2026

Over the last twenty years, it turns out my heart has a type🤭☀️🥐

Beautiful light. Cobblestone charm. Slow paced, preppy, almost too pretty to be real.

Paris has it. 30A has it. Charleston has it too…and is now also home.

To some, this is news. To others, not a surprise in the least. This one wasn’t impulsive. Since we met, Tyler and I have talked about the possibility of Charleston…bringing it up, going quiet, letting it sit, bringing it up again. We weighed other cities, asked all the practical questions you’re supposed to ask.

Here’s the thing about me most people don’t see right away. Hardwired, I’m impulsive, a risk taker, delusionally optimistic, the kind who thrives under pressure that sends most people running. But nurtured into me right alongside all of that is a people pleaser and a rule follower…someone who needs to do it right, do it responsibly, wait for the green light. I’ve spent most of my life with those two sides of me pulling in opposite directions. Charleston is the first time they’ve both fully agreed.

We didn’t push this door open. We prayed. We surrendered, and Charleston is where we were carried.
I know what it feels like to move somewhere and have it undo you…some in the best ways, some in ways that are rough but refining. Paris was temporary, renewing, restorative. 30A was two decades, happy mixed with hard, by far the most transformative. Charleston came and met me when my heart and my world were finally aligned and ready.

This morning I strolled down cobblestone streets that I now get to call home, in front of the very theater from one of my favorite movies, in a dress I bought at Sézane in Paris…only to find a Sézane a few blocks down King Street. Coincidences I don’t believe were coincidences at all.

This morning made my soul feel alive and joyful once again in every possible way 🤍

Toasts and tenderness captured and worthy of celebrating 🥂✨ Part 3 of 3
05/02/2026

Toasts and tenderness captured and worthy of celebrating 🥂✨

Part 3 of 3

A weekend with the most perfect pink palette paired with the sweetest souls💕🌸Part 2 of 3
05/02/2026

A weekend with the most perfect pink palette paired with the sweetest souls💕🌸

Part 2 of 3

A weekend with the most perfect pink palette paired with the sweetest souls 💕🌸 Part 1 of 3
05/02/2026

A weekend with the most perfect pink palette paired with the sweetest souls 💕🌸

Part 1 of 3

Trading single life days for forever sunsets with your soulmate at 🥥🌴🌊 Wedding weekend has officially begun for Erin a...
04/24/2026

Trading single life days for forever sunsets with your soulmate at 🥥🌴🌊 Wedding weekend has officially begun for Erin and Danny!

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