Super 8 Wedding Films on the Charleston Princess

Real 8mm film on the water. Here is Darby and James’s wedding aboard the Charleston Princess, shot on Super 8.

Filming Super 8 on a yacht

A wedding on the Charleston Princess is a wedding with a moving backdrop. The ceremony happens on the open deck while the boat works its way around the harbor, so the skyline, the Ravenel Bridge, the Battery and Fort Sumter all pass behind the couple at some point in the day. Darby and James had their first kiss with the bridge behind them, and that frame is the one everyone remembers.

Super 8 on a boat is a different kind of shooting. The camera is small and handheld, there is nowhere to set up a tripod, and the light changes every time the boat turns. That suits the format. Film handles the glare off the water and the warm evening light beautifully, and the gentle movement of the boat reads as motion in the grain rather than as shake.

Worth knowing if you are booking a harbor wedding: the ceremony usually happens early in the cruise while the light is still high, so I plan for that and save the last rolls for the sunset lap back toward the marina. A cartridge runs about three minutes, so the whole day is about choosing moments instead of rolling on everything.

Your film goes to a lab, gets developed, and gets scanned. What comes back is a physical thing that was exposed on your wedding day. Nothing about the look is added later in an app.