April & Brian's Cliffside Elopement at Cathedral Ledge in Bartlett, NH

April and Brian, two lovely folks living in southern NH, reached out to us with a simple plan: get married in the White Mountains surrounded by just their immediate family. “Absolutely!” we thought, having traveled through a section of that mountain range an uncountable number of times on our way to see family in northern Vermont. As it turns out, our frequent zips through Franconia Notch couldn’t have prepared us for the natural wonders of the more eastern side of the White Mountain range, and as we zigged and zagged through the terrain on our way to meet up with April and Brian, we quite literally gasped as we rounded every corner. At each turn was a more magnificent view, a promise of unimaginable beauty that we had somehow missed despite us both living in New England together over the past four and a half years. And yet, April and Brian had managed to save the biggest jaw-dropping moment for their incredibly intimate elopement ceremony, just south of Crawford Notch state park at Cathedral Ledge.

As the name suggests, the ledge sits up atop a 700ft hunk of granite and offers a nearly full panoramic view of the Saco River Valley, and looking out across does indeed feel like sitting in the front row of one of the state’s most beautiful natural cathedrals. For April and Brian, the view was everything they wanted for their wedding day. To have a ceremony attended by fewer than 10 people with the quiet, humbling splendor of the mountains sprawling out behind them as they spoke their vows to one another was a dream they shared. After a short and sweet ceremony and plenty of hugs with family, the four of us set out with the singular goal of capturing them in this setting, newly wed and both literally and metaphorically looking towards their future together. We spent some time chasing the nicest view before heading down the incredibly steep and winding road to the valley floor below and headed towards Echo Lake. Seeing the ledge from the shore there put into perspective just how dramatic the land formation we’d just descended truly was, and as we wrapped up the day with these two we all remarked on how lucky we felt to have been there. Thank you, April and Brian, for inviting us to witness and document your wedding but also for showing us a small part of this beautiful world we’d not yet seen.