By Mariah Ashley

Christine and Mike’s Blithewold wedding is so beautiful that choosing the photos for this blog post felt something like eating a giant meal. It was a feast for the eyes but after I was finished, I felt completely satisfied and needed to lay down.

There’s a saying that writers use, it’s one of my favorites, “Murder your darlings.”

This quote refers to the editing process, it means that after creating you must cull. You must cut without sentiment the words and phrases that you’ve fallen in love with. Doing so will make the writing stronger, but MAN is it hard!

The same goes for editing your photos. We fall in love with the couple (and with Mike and Christine that was easy), the location, the light, the colors, the emotions. It is SO hard to choose just a few photos to represent an entire day, in this instance 55 images from 1378 total. But murder I must! I really feel that the editing is equally as important as shooting.

Choosing which images to share to tell the story is an art form in itself. An agonizing painstaking process where I have to kill some of the images that I love. Why do you think the director chooses to included deleted scenes on a DVD? Because he’s murdered his darlings but can’t quite bury them!

Choosing the photos for Mike and Christine’s blog post was especially hard because there were so many amazing pictures to choose from. However, in the interest of telling a dynamic story for you I have chosen these 55, Enjoy!

It all starts with a ring and a question doesn’t it? All the excitement, all the decisions to be made for the planning of a wedding starts with this so it deserves a spotlight…

The invitation is one of the next choices to be made in the planning process and it really sets the tone for the day. In Christine’s case the invitation mimics the natural outdoor elegance of Blithewold.An example of two photographs taken at the exact same moment in different rooms of the same hotel. Trish shot the photograph on the left of Mike and I shot the photograph on the right of Christine. Because our cameras are synched, when the photos are all loaded in the computer they line up chronologically. It’s so interesting to see what the groom and the bride are doing in the same moment. Another example of Christine and Mikes synchronicity. They both wrote each other long and emotional letters.Mr. Cool himself!Meanwhile the ladies and I have trekked into one of my favorite spots at Blithewold, the wooded path leading to the bamboo grove. The light in here is heavenly and my subjects look like angels.

Angelic perfection compliments of New Leaf Studio.A little something artsy and unexpected, a winning combination.Let’s talk about Christine for a minute. One word: Goddess.

Let’s also talk about that bouquet, have you ever seen anything more luscious? By Flowers by Semia, of course.

New Leaf Studio took Christine from gorgeous to Goddess.

I wish I was a pixie fairy so I could take a nap in that bouquet, Flowers by Semia.Christine was very proud of her gilded succulents, a messy but opulent place card holder project. Arrangement, Flowers by Semia.This is a truly behind the scenes shot taken moments before the girls lined up to go down the aisle. A little bit of chaos, a little bit of fun in Blithewold’s beautiful sitting room.A teary eyed groom, such an emotional moment.Christine and her sister, the MOH. Everyone else has walked down the aisle and they are the last to leave.Beautiful Blithewold provides quite a dramatic entrance.Late afternoon sun and sailboats for the ceremony.Soft light and sweet expressions in the garden.How to make a man a husband, by Christine.Married!Blithewold is an amazing property, there are literally of dozens of beautiful spots for photographs. Of course, the light is the first consideration but lucky for us it was falling beautifully in this spot with the mansion as our backdrop. Although Blithewold has a great water view, it is not the best choice for formal photographs. The light is too bright coming off the water and there is no texture in the background to make the subjects pop. Sunset  is a much better option for waterview photos, while the front of the property is perfect for formal photographs in mid day or  late afternoon.We can’t stress enough how important it is to include the grandparents in the family formal time. A few weeks after the wedding, Christine’s lovely grandmother (pictured on the right) passed away. We were able to send Christine some photos of her for the funeral. It was the last time they were all together as a family. Weddings are special in that way.Having fun with vertical lines & the bridal party.Sometimes it’s the moments in between the formal photos that are special, like this one…… and this one.Trish loves to do a classic squeeze in photo where everyone’s faces are close.Another thing I love about Blithewold, we are always finding spots we’ve never used before like this stunning greenhouse.Okay, now we need to pause and just soak this up…

The photo on the left is timeless, I love that sensation of losing track of the decade because it’s just so classic and refined.

And as a contrast, the photo on the right is wedding photographer porn- it’s decadent! And it gets my vote for wall portrait. I would print it small with a big ornate gold frame, like a museum piece. You’d have to walk up to it and look at it closely like a petite painting, a Vermeer. Luckily, we offer just such a thing- C & M… see me. 😉Or this one… GAH! I can’t choose… see how the murdering becomes really hard?! I broke my own rule here because technically I would normally only choose one of these garden sunlit shots, but I couldn’t kill one of them!Phew… we’re moving. Thank goodness, I was feeling a lot of anxiety back there.

How much to you love that fuzzy fluffy white grass? Not sure what it is… there is a lot of nature at Blithewold and we require you trek through it.To get this.This entire session with C & M was a race across the property and against time to get down to the water for sunset. I think we made it.

This photo gets runner up for wall portrait because of it’s BIG TIME ROMANCE factor. And by the way, we did not pose Mike, he’s just THAT romantic.

Eat your heart out ladies.

On second thought Christine- I’d order this one too. Let’s remember in 25 years how romantic your husband was and how fine your backside looked!

Natural beauty at Blithewold.…and more beauty inside Blithewold. Lighting by Exquisite Events and arrangements by Flowers by Semia. Blackstone Catering.What’s the line from that song? Dance like no one is watching? Check.A hilariously deadpan toast from the MOH.

Remember when I taught you about off camera lighting here? We use it at the reception too and that’s why the reception photos look so three dimensional.Lots of people told great stories about Christine and Mike. I think my favorite was the story of how they met.

Mike and Christine were both invited to a summer home in Narragansett by two different friends. Mike took one look at Christine and that was it. They spent the day together but then there was a problem. Christine had to go to work. She couldn’t stay and hang out with Mike for the evening’s festivities. Mike told her bluntly…

“You are not going to work tonight.”

Christine called in sick.

Christine got fired.

Problem solved.

For Mike.Parental sweetness. I really hope my son picks me up like that some day. He’s only 16 so no rush, but he is 6 feet tall already so my chances are good.I imagine this photo looks a little like the night Christine and Mike first met… after he got her fired…. Christine was in trouble in more ways than one. Look at that face? Who could resist him? Lucky for Christine it turns out Mike is more than just a pretty face. He’s a smarty pants too with a great job and promising future. They are both the total package and we know that they are destined for a fabulous life together. It was such an honor to document the big send off at their Blithewold wedding!Make sure you leave Mike and Christine some love below by leaving a loving comment!