Charleston Wedding Photographer
$4,200 starting price
Available worldwide!
Service area
Jessica Doherty
OWNER
AWARD WINNER (3X)
Thanks to recommendations from couples on The Knot
Jay Dee Photography is a wedding photography business based in Charleston, SC. Their award-winning work has been featured in local and national publications, such as Style Me Pretty, Magnolia Rouge, and Charleston Weddings Magazine. Passionate about storytelling, they take their time getting to know your unique love story before capturing your special day.
Founder of Jay Dee Photography, Jessica, finds inspiration for her work all around her, from the enchanting streets of Paris to the familiar stories of beloved sitcom characters. Her pursuit of new adventures, beauty, and notably, the perfect Chai tea latte has led her to a lifelong career capturing life’s most beautiful moments. Aside from traveling the world, Jessica enjoys snuggling with her cat, Louie, and spending quality time with friends and family. She is experienced with many photography styles, such as classical, modern, and artistic, and works with you to match your taste.
Whether you’re planning an intimate elopement with loved ones or a grand celebration, she has boundless experience working with the diverse needs of couples. She is available for local and destination weddings, engagement and rehearsal shoots, and sessions for boudoir, trash-the-dress, and the day after. After getting to know you and your partner, Jessica will help you develop a timeline and answer your questions, from what to wear to choosing the right vendors for your wedding. On the day of, she will keep you informed and step in for the perfect shot while allowing you to stay in the moment. A preview of her work will be provided the week after the event, followed by your entire album via an online gallery. You can then download your high-resolution photos and order prints. Although Jay Dee Photography is based in Charleston, Jessica is happy to travel throughout New England, the country, and internationally.
Woman-owned Business
+1 year in business
Prices & packages
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Details
Destination Weddings
Destination Wedding Packages
Photo Shoot Types
Boudoir
Bridal Portraits
Day After Session
Engagement
Trash The Dress
Photo & Video
Digital Files
Photo
Second Shooter Available
Social Media Sharing
Wedding Albums
Photo & Video Styles
Artistic
Classic
Wedding Activities
Getting Engaged
Rehearsals & Parties
After Party
Wedding
After Party
Any questions?
Meet the team
Jessica Doherty
Owner
I’m Jessica, a Charleston-based photographer, serving both the Lowcountry and New England. I have a fierce love for storytelling, fostering memories, and capturing those moments that you will want to treasure forever. I love traveling everywhere and anywhere, talking with my hands, buying plants (and attempting to keep them alive), and spending as much time as I can with my loved ones. I have lived in Boston, Paris, and New York City, and am now lucky enough to call Charleston home, while also still traveling the world for my clients. You can usually find me on my back porch in downtown Charle
Reviews
4.9
out of 5.042 reviews
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Review Summary
This AI-generated summary is a snapshot of this vendor's ratings and feedback.
Jessica is highly praised by reviewers for her exceptional photography skills, professionalism, and organizational abilities. From pre-planning to post-wedding, Jessica's communication and attentiveness stood out as exemplary. Reviewers appreciated her ability to capture vibrant, romantic, and unique moments, making their wedding experience stress-free and memorable. Her talent, timeliness, and personal touch have left couples extremely satisfied, with many highly recommending her services for weddings and other special occasions.Review photos
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Hannah L
Highlighted review.
5.0
8/04/2022
Jessica is absolutely amazing, I don’t even know where to start. Having her as photographer was by far the best wedding decision we made.
I spent hours (probably days if you add it up) and sent a million emails looking for the perfect photographer. To any couples looking for a photographer please do not look any farther, you will not find anyone better!!
First of all, she has the most calming energy. Just having her around made my mom and I feel so relaxed. Not only that but she is so easy going and is completely flexible on whatever we wanted to do and when our plans/timeline changed multiple times throughout wedding day. Everyone said one of her greatest assets was her calming personality in all the craziness and stress especially with a large wedding party.
She also knows how to pull everyone together. We had 10 bridesmaids and 10 groomsmen and somehow she had all the guys and girls perfectly organized and in-line for pictures. Even with all the chaos she pays attention to little details, making sure bow ties, hair, bouquets, boutonnières, and tux jacket buttons are perfect.
Also, we had somewhat of a destination wedding (my husband and I were in Missouri and North Carolina and our wedding was in Laguna Beach, California). This obviously made planning trickier and I was very nervous about hiring a photographer that wasn't in/from/familiar with the area. If you are in the same position, I just want to say again that Jessica went above and beyond. She flew in early and totally familiarized herself with the area. She found perfect spots for photos. Also, look her up on Instagram because she has done so many destination weddings so she knows what she's doing.
Finally, Jessica is SO much more than just an incredible photographer, she was literally my personal assistant that day. She was there to help hold my dress, walk in my heels, and comfort me throughout the day. She was more than I could’ve ever expected or asked for.
My husband and I are now looking for events/occasions just so we can have her back! I fully recommend her and it was a pleasure to have her photograph the best day of my life.
Aster L
5.0
11/12/2024
tldr: Jessica is amazing and I don’t think you can go wrong with her if this is the style of photos you like
I had a lot of difficulty picking a photographer as I’m pretty picky with photos. I knew I wanted something bright and light, with kind of a whimsical or ethereal vibe, but it was really hard finding the style until I came across the “fine art” style. Jessica’s name came up while researching this style and I decided to reach out to her among a few other fine art photographers. I definitely hoped talks would go well with Jessica as the others I contacted ended up either not responding or were wildly out of my budget.
Pre-Planning: Jessica was wonderful throughout this process. She promptly responded to my emails and answered questions clearly. I never felt like I was left in the dark for any part of the process. When I sent her the timeline of the ceremony/reception, she quickly came up with a timeline to slot in all the photos to be taken ahead of time at the location (We had access to the venue for a little over an hour prior to the ceremony). She also asked for a list of family photos that we wanted to take. This made it very easy at the wedding as she could call out people’s name to make sure everyone that was supposed to be in the pictures, were in the pictures. Jessica also sent over a list of ideas for detail shots and explained she could do this ahead of time. We didn’t want extra pictures of these and decided against it, however, I still thought it was very thoughtful of her to offer.
Wedding Day: I loved her energy at the wedding. She was very calm and felt very competent. She directed my husband and I throughout the pictures, showing us poses etc. During family and wedding party photos, even though we had many bodies to fit in the frame in quite a few pictures, she led us through them with ease and the entire experience was very stress free (or as stress free as can be at a wedding lol). The venue was quite dim at specific locations, but the final results did not reflect that at all. The pictures were bright and did not look like they were taken in the dark at all. (This is a little off topic but I loved the little apron with pockets she wore for her equipment. So cute) I’m not sure when Jessica had the time, but there were pictures around the venue which were so beautiful. I definitely feel like the day was captured through the pictures.
Post Wedding: Jessica sent us a sneak peak 2 days after the wedding containing 23 pictures. They turned out great and were beautiful. You can see examples on her website so I won’t elaborate, but they really are that good. The full gallery was sent almost a month after the wedding (minus 2 days) with instructions on purchasing prints or an album attached. The full download contained 650ish files, including the sneak peek pictures. Half of which were black and white, so this matched up pretty perfectly with Jessica’s estimation of the amount of photos when we spoke in the pre-planning stage.
Any questions?
Kathon H
5.0
6/07/2024
Jessica is a true professional and artisan of her craft. Working with her was seamless. She is incredibly organized, friendly, and professional. From the moment we first connected, she went out of her way to answer all my questions, even general wedding questions. I didn't have a wedding planner, and having her as a resource truly made my planning experience much easier.
As for the photos, Jessica is AMAZING. She captured the love of my day so beautifully. Her style is so romantic bright and unique. She also got my sneak peek to me within a day of my wedding which is a testament to how much she values her clients.
Working with her added to my wedding experience and I'm so thankful for her art and expertise. You will love working with Jay Dee Photography, I cannot recommend her enough.
Nicole D
5.0
2/01/2024
Jessica is the best photographer ever!! Always on time and her communication and organization is 100%. She is beautifully talented and you will not be disappointed with the results she captures!
Emma B
5.0
11/25/2023
Jessica is amazing!! From the time we reached out during the planning process to the wedding day, Jessica was so easy to connect with and helped bring our vision of our special day to life! We are so excited to look back at these beautiful pictures in years to come. We are so happy to have worked with Jessica!
Sheridan S
5.0
9/17/2023
Jessica was fantastic! Our photos turned out to be everything we dreamed of and more. Her whimsical style matched our formal garden party aesthetic. She was timely, professional, and such a calming presence.
Natasha M
5.0
7/01/2023
We are so in love with the incredible photos Jessica took during our engagement session. She made us feel so comfortable- we cannot wait to see what she captures at our wedding.
Updating my review to include our wedding day experience- it was perfect. Jessica was expertly on time despite having to go to several different locations for us throughout the day. Her energy is amazing and she made us feel relaxed the entire time. The sneak peek photos we received are gorgeous and we cannot wait to see the rest.
Lindsay G
5.0
5/30/2023
Jess is amazing! We had an amazing time with Jess for our engagement photos and they turned out BEAUTIFUL! I am so happy with them and CAN NOT wait for her to do our wedding!
Megan R
5.0
5/23/2023
Absolutely love Jessica! She is amazing and I couldn’t be happier
Kassidy M
5.0
5/19/2023
Jessica was absolutely AMAZING!!!! She made our day so special! She captured all of our special moments and was very easy to work with. Would HIGHLY recommend her to everyone.
Xoxo Metts
Laura G
5.0
5/18/2023
Jessica is amazing! From start to finish, we loved our entire experience with her. As we were shopping for wedding photographers, Jessica answered all our questions quickly and was never remotely pushy! Her online portal made it very easy to review the contract, make payments, etc. COVID made wedding planning a hot mess that eventually ended up being an elopement, but Jessica so graciously rolled with the punches and accommodated all the switches. On the wedding day itself she was in contact all morning, arrived early to the first location, and even helped with some small logistical stuff throughout the day. Given that we eloped (literally just bride and groom), I was a little worried about not having a right hand girl for the day. Jessica became the photographer and MOH all in one. It really felt like an old friend was spending the day with me. We had soooo much fun running around Charleston and taking pictures in all the best spots- she’s great with posing and making you feel comfortable in front of the camera! Most importantly- her photos are beautiful! She edits in a really clean, light, and airy way that makes everything look so timeless and classy. Ugh, I could go on and on. If you’re on the fence- HIRE HER!
Annie S
5.0
3/31/2023
Jessica is absolutely AMAZING! She is so organized, kind, timely, and her photography skills are amazing. She captured all the moments we imagined + more and we feel so lucky we got to work with her for our engagement photos and wedding. Would HIGHLY recommend!
Abigail G
5.0
11/10/2022
We are so happy we chose Jessica for our wedding! From engagement to wedding, every picture is just perfect! The quality of her photos is out of this world. She really knows how to capture the perfect shot! She is the sweetest and most easy going person you could ever work with. She knows her stuff! She is prompt with all questions you may have! Hands down, one of the best decisions we made was choosing her as our photographer for our wedding!
Kelsi S
5.0
10/04/2022
We just got our first sneak peek back and wow. Jessica knocked it out of the park - the pictures look stunning!!!! She was so professional too and adapted really well when our schedule got thrown off by a hurricane and having to squeeze our rehearsal in with the pictures. She was also so positive and made us feel really comfortable. Would highly recommend for any wedding.
Geraldine C
5.0
9/23/2022
Jessica was the best photographer to have on our big day! she took charge of the shots she wanted to make sure we got, and helped us stay on time. We rented a party a bus and she lea the bus driver to all the best locations for photos!! We got all the hots we wanted and she helped us pose and made it fun! Highly recommended Jessica for all your photography needs!
Megan W
5.0
9/11/2022
My husband and I used Jessica for our special day & it was nothing short of perfect!! She’s such an awesome person & does the most amazing work. Jessica truly went above and beyond to give us the best experience, I got to share sweet moments with my husband that Jessica captured beautifully. If you’re using the Knot to find a photographer & found Jessica, take this as a sign!
Hannah W
5.0
8/15/2022
Jessica shot my best friend's boudoir shoot for her wedding and I knew right away I had to ask her for mine. She made me feel so incredibly comfortable and helped me with poses/what looked best for my body. The shoot went so smoothly I could not wait to see the pictures! When the day came where she was finished with editing I was shook...I never could've imagined the pictures to turn out as stunning as they did. If you're hesitant to try a boudoir shoot because you are questioning if it is for you... DO IT WITH JESSICA! She is amazing! I am so happy with how everything turned out! :)
Rachel L
5.0
7/29/2022
Jessica was awesome! She made us feel very comfortable taking our photos. She is very sweet and calming. Jessica was very easy to work with and communication leading up to the big day was very easy! The sneak peek pictures have turned out beautiful and can’t wait to see the rest. Highly recommend!
Kristen L
5.0
6/12/2022
Jessica is so wonderful to work with! Not only is her work beautiful, but she is a calm, organized, and such a kind person to have supporting your big day (and before and after). Would absolutely recommend her!
Lily A
5.0
6/05/2022
We hired Jessica for our engagement photos and wedding photos. She was the perfect choice. Not only are her photos so elegant, classy and timeless, but also she is such a kind person to work with. Jessica is very responsive and understanding. She helped manage get all of our family shots at the wedding and it was a long list haha. Our wedding day will always be remembered and we are so happy she captured the day.
Mattie E
5.0
3/10/2022
We LOVED working with Jessica. She made us feel so comfortable and even helped us with posing, something we were so nervous about! She is very responsive to emails and texts and very punctual to photoshoots. We did our engagement photos, bridal shoot and wedding with Jay Dee Photography and we were in love with every session! She really takes the time to get the right shot and spends a lot of time with you, the sessions were pleasantly long! The process was so easy and she is very fast at getting your photos back to you, always got them back within the time frame. We are obsessed with the photos from our wedding and can't wait to get a photo album made!
Lisa B
5.0
3/01/2022
I'm just here to GUSH over Jessica like the rest of these 5-star commenters!! My husband and I hired Jessica for our big day at the recommendation of our engagement photographer, Ramsey Yanney! I am SO glad I took my time speaking with photographers, because Jessica was the perfect fit! She was super responsive - setting up a phone call right away to get to know us as a couple and what we'd like to capture the day-of! She even sat down and had lunch with us when we were in Charleston last December to finalize details for the wedding! She truly goes above and beyond! The day-of was incredibly hectic; I was running late, which meant our timeline got pushed back, but she was super gracious and totally understanding! She posed us so naturally that I sometimes forgot we were taking photos! She was with us for the majority of the reception and took photos of EVERYONE. I even saw her in a balcony at one point, getting a group shot of the crowd! You will not go wrong hiring her for your event; she's a true sweetheart and incredibly kind! Jessica, thank you SO much! :)
Sasha B
5.0
1/25/2022
Jessica did an amazing job with our wedding photos. Her style is so classic, timeless, and bright. She is also the sweetest, most accommodating person to work with. Everyone at our wedding said they did not even notice she was there. Highly highly recommend.
Rebecca O
5.0
11/30/2021
Where do I even begin??!!! Choosinj Jess to photograph our wedding was the BEST decision we could have made for our day!! She is so sweet, professional, and SO talented. Seriously I still cannot look at our Wedding photos without tearing up! And for two very camera shy people thats really saying alot!! Even when we had to reschedule due to covid-19 she stayed so positive and was so easy to work with! I can't recommedd her enough!!!
William C
1.0
11/24/2021
My wife and I had to move the date of our wedding because of COVID and we wanted to move the date with Jay Dee Photography and they told me they were booked that day and told us that we canceled on her and refused to give a our deposit back. Sounds like a one man band. Every other vender that wasn't able to show up for our wedding gave us the deposit back. But Jay Dee was the only vender not to give us a refund. SCAMMMMMMMMM. STAY AWAYYYYYYYYY.
response 11/24/2021
Hi William, thank you for your feedback. I know COVID has been extremely difficult for tho...
se planning weddings during this time, and I very much sympathize with all my clients who have gone through wedding day postponements. In total, I have 22 couples postpone their wedding dates (some postponing even 2 to 3 times). Out of those 22 couples, 21 couples and I were able to work together to reschedule. While my booking retainers are non-refundable, I have been offering to use it towards a new date to all my clients during the pandemic. Unfortunately, almost all of the messages sent to you and your wife to try to reschedule received no responses, and the few that did were quite aggressive, even threatening at times, and did not address any of my attempts to reschedule. I am very sorry we were not able to reschedule, but I do feel I tried my very best to work with you both.
Lauren S
5.0
10/31/2021
We could not have picked a better photographer for our wedding than Jessica! Leading up to the wedding, she was so helpful in working with us on our timeline and had the best recommendations for photo spots. On the day-of, she could not have been more flexible and relaxed. She was more than willing to go to different locations for getting ready photos, and was such a calm energy on such a hectic day! We got our sneak-peak photos so quickly and loved being able to immediately relive the big day. We could not recommend Jessica enough to be your wedding photographer!
Melissa H
5.0
10/28/2021
Stop what you’re doing and look no further. Jessica exceeded my expectations! I can not express enough about how amazing she is. Her photos are incredible, they speak for their-self. She is so incredibly talented and is amazing at her job. She was extremely helpful and attentive throughout the whole planning process, there was not one time where she has not went above and beyond to exceed my expectations. She photographed my bridal portraits as well as our wedding and even gave us a sneak peak the very next day! For someone as excited as me to see the photos it was a very pleasant surprise. She made us feel so comfortable and special on our wedding day and she has an amazing personality. I can not say enough great things about her!!
Jordan S
5.0
10/22/2021
Jessica is the absolute best! My fiancé hired Jess to capture our engagement in Charleston! Our photos turned out magical! Jess is the real deal!
Danielle I
5.0
9/11/2021
Jess is AMAZING! She shot our proposal and we love our pictures so much. She worked with my fiancé to plan the location and time of the actual proposal and then she took us to her favorite spots to take engagement pictures. She even brought champagne for us to pop! She was great at giving us direction to create beautiful photos. We could not recommend her enough!
Rachael G
5.0
8/02/2021
We had Jessica take our engagement photos and the photos for our wedding at the end of March. She was great at making us feel comfortable even though we had no idea what we were doing! I can’t even put into words how amazing our photos turned out!! She captured the whole day/night perfectly and I got so many compliments from our guests about how awesome our photographer was. She was fun to work with, very professional and got all the shots that we wanted. Her assistant had to be a little late due to car trouble, and we didn’t even realize the difference, Jessica is that good!! I recommend her 100%!!
Haley C
5.0
5/24/2021
Jessica is AMAZING!! My fiancé and I used Jessica for our engagement photos and she made two camera shy people feel and look like models! She is SO nice and was super easy to work/coordinate with and walked us all around downtown to get the best photo back drops. Downtown Charleston was pretty crowded and yet the photos look like we were the only ones there!! Jessica really captured "us" and has made it very difficult to choose which photo to use for our save the dates :) We can't wait for her to photograph our wedding next year!
Katie B
5.0
4/29/2021
Great pictures! Jessica was so easy and fun to work with for our wedding. We had some rain and she was nice enough to switch up our timeline at the last minute to accommodate the weather. The sneak peak pictures are STUNNING and I can’t wait to get the rest!
Cara J
5.0
4/20/2021
Jessica is the BEST! Starting from the moment I booked her, she was always super communicative and easy to get in touch with. We met for coffee to discuss everything and exchanged tons of emails, and she remembered everything I wanted and captured it all perfectly in the photos! On the day of the wedding she was in the zone, was super flexible and worked with us when we had to change up the photo list at the last minute after the wedding started later than anticipated, and again captured every moment I wanted to remember. I specifically asked her for good candid shots from the dance floor, and she went above and beyond--I was in tears laughing at them. She got the sneak peek as well as the entire gallery edited and sent over to us way faster than I was expecting, which was such a fun surprise. She is the sweetest, and I would recommend her to anyone who wants the most gorgeous photos of their wedding day!
Catherine R
5.0
3/11/2021
Jessica was beyond wonderful to work with! She made us feel so comfortable and captured us perfectly! We were not a couple that was use to taking photos but she made it so easy and we are thrilled with our beautiful pictures!
Thanks Jessica!!
Tori S
5.0
2/06/2021
Jess was an absolute dream to work with. She was so professional and made sure to get every shot we wanted. Her attention to detail is exquisite. She was able to get us out sneak peaks within 24 hours of the wedding and the full wedding album was ready sooner than expected. The end product was so much more than we could have asked for. If you need and wedding photographer then you need Jess. She will always be my #1 call when I need a photographer in the future.
Dana F
5.0
12/15/2020
ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! My husband and I couldn’t have asked for a better photographer on our special day. Jessica truly captured who we are as a couple. She was very quick to get back to us and answer any questions we had. I love the variety of shots, and quality is amazing. Our photos are timeless and we can’t wait to decorate our new home with them. We will forever cherish these memories. Thank you so much!
Emma M
5.0
10/28/2020
Guys!! I cannot speak more highly of Jessica. Me and five of my best friends went to Charleston for my bachelorette party (all the way from Texas) and I thought it would be nice to hire a photographer to come to our Airbnb to take some quality photos of me and all my girlfriends. She blew them out of the water. We got along so well and the pictures turned out phenomenal. She was on time and even stayed behind a few extra minutes to get the last few shots. She is none other than AMAZING.
Samantha H
5.0
9/15/2020
Samantha H.
Kara F
5.0
8/18/2020
Jessica is by far the best photographer I have met! Not only for her talent but the patience and eye she has to capture that perfect shot! You will not be disappointed with Jay Dee Photography experience!
Monica K
5.0
8/05/2020
My husband and I used Jessica for our destination wedding in Charleston. She was so easy to communicate and coordinate with. Having her photograph our day was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. She was so pleasant to be around. It was like having another family member around except her presence was much more subtle haha. She is incredibly kind and puts a lot of thought into her shots. Our photos were STUNNING. Not only did she capture the most beautiful photographs, she went out of her way to do whatever needed to be done to do so. We would choose her again and again. Highly highly recommend her.
Samantha H
5.0
7/10/2020
We absolutely loved working with Jessica! She was always responsive and happy to answer our questions during the months leading up to the wedding, especially as we navigated changes due to the Covid-19 outbreak. She is professional, talented, and friendly, and we couldn't have asked for a better person to work with. We would highly recommend her; she was so great to work with and we couldn't be happier with our pictures!
Kara C
5.0
6/13/2020
Jessica was fantastic! We’re so glad we hired her. She captured everything we wanted and was so easy to work with. Her photography is stunning! Hire her; you won’t regret it!
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Jessica Doherty
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