Birch Blog - Page 6 of 9 - Birch Blaze Weddings

Married! Kristin + Fraser {creative nh wedding photography}

November 7, 2011 In Weddings 4 Comments

Of all things that could be considered a close call, sneaking a wedding in before an impending hurricane is up there. Whatever fortuitous circumstances led to it, Fraser and Kristin decided to have their wedding, which was held at the lovely Church Landing in Meredith, NH on a Friday…thus narrowly escaping the winds of Irene. Actually, here in the NH, we didn’t experience as much wrath as others but for the sake of the story and to further emphasize Fraser and Kristin’s impeccable timing, we’re going with complete, cows-in-the-trees destruction. Whew…good call guys! 😉

We had been looking forward to their wedding for a long time and were so excited to be working with such interesting and great people! They are both deeply committed to the environment and sustainability and have chosen careers that put them in the front lines. Very admirable indeed. And they’re pretty cute, too. The wedding was, of course, beautiful and we were so impressed by all the details and hard work contributed by all involved. We were also enamored with all their friends and family which reminded us that it’s not a bad gig, being in the company of such fine and friendly people all the time. We hope that we were able to tell their story well through the following photographs and convey even a microcosm of the great love that day. There is a line in an Ani DiFranco song that goes: “It took me too long to realize that I don’t take good pictures ’cause I have the kind of beauty that moves.” Though I’m sure we could all agree that Kristin and Fraser are quite photogenic, I do believe it’s hard to capture the real life beauty of anything and we’re just happy we got to witness it. Congratulations guys and I’m sorry, but I hope your love has a ridiculously huge footprint! 😉

Married! Gregg + Rachel {Odiorne Point/Portsmouth wedding photographers}

November 5, 2011 In Weddings 4 Comments

As we contemplate the conclusion of our wedding season, twenty-eleven, one golden thread that was noticeably woven in from start to finish was that of love. “Well, of course, you’re talking about weddings, aren’t you?!” you might say. Yes, it is true love and weddings are definitely no strangers, but I’m sure we’ve all been to weddings that we couldn’t help but mentally speculate as to how long the newlyweds might make it. Am I wrong, here? So we are beyond thrilled that that thought never reared it’s ugly head at any of this season’s weddings (or last season, for that matter). Nope, not one. In fact, the quality of love that was on display every single time was of the finest vintage…and had stood the test of time. As artists who feed off real emotion, that’s a very welcomed component to a wedding shoot. Which brings us to Gregg & Rachel. If we had to choose one word to describe their very obvious love for each other, it would be FUN. Yep, FUN love. As far as we’re concerned, starting right where they left off from our Portsmouth engagement session earlier this year. It became apparent to us right off the bat that G&R took the opportunity to just have fun with each element of their wedding day. From getting ready in-town Portsmouth, their First Look at Odiorne State Park in Rye, New Hampshire, to their ceremony at the historic Moffat-Ladd House and beyond, their fun-love was in full effect, and contagious! As you would expect, this translated to a very laid-back and awesome to work with couple. We think you’ll see what we mean… Gregg & Rachel, it was an honor and a pleasure to be entrusted with documenting such a fine—fun—love, and we trust that that love will serve you both for a very, VERY long time! 🙂

Odiorne State Park wedding photographers

Married! Ben + Danielle {Portland, Maine Wedding Photographers}

October 31, 2011 In Weddings 17 Comments

We LOVE Portland, Maine!!! Hang out there every chance we get. So of course, we’ve been chomping at the bit to shoot our first wedding in Portland… Ben & Danielle gave us that opportunity and we can’t think of a cooler couple to introduce us to the world of Portland wedding photography 🙂 And, their reception was at none other than Grace, a restored church that is now a chic Portland eatery and ultra-cool wedding reception venue! Ben and Danielle chose Fort Williams Park to do their ‘First Look,’ and we especially loved the Goddard Mansion, a mid 1800’s Colonel’s mansion which is abandoned, but aging with it’s own grace and beauty. You’ll see Ben anxiously awaiting his Bride while tucked away around the corner of the grand stone ‘ruin.’ We also had a blast getting creative with the bridal party on the old Fort ramparts. Danielle was especially excited that her little guy, Duncan was able to make an appearance 🙂 We had a great time with the happy couple and all their adoring friends and family and wish them all the happiness (and more!) of a Sunday morning stroll through the Old Port!

Portland, ME Wedding Photography - Reception venue Grace

Married! Christina + Arkady {Searles Castle Wedding}

October 10, 2011 In Weddings 4 Comments

Christina and Arkady were married at Searles Castle in Windham, NH amidst the copious and enveloping love of their family and friends and the equally enveloping heat of a New England summer! Despite the heat, it was a lovely and perfect day, filled with great folks! Christina and Arkady, laid back and brimming with wedding-ish joy were so much fun to work with! We enjoyed sneaking away for a few quiet minutes for their first look. Something we noted about Christina and Arkady was a deeply rooted connection to the people around them and how in love with them their families are. Supportive and loving families are so good for us, kind of like a great people fertilizer and it seems the two of them will have a good, strong love….with perfectly balanced soil. 😉

Other notably great moments of their day were Neruda poems, exerpts from The Velveteen Rabbit and a performance by Arkady’s fellow members of The Beelzebubs (Tufts University’s oldest, all-male accapella group!). Arkady himself picked up the guitar and wooed Christina with a gripping version of Extreme’s “More Than Words”. Well played!

Christina and Arkady: we had so much fun…thank you for inviting us into your day! Be obscenely in love forever and happier than necessary for just as long!!!

New Hampshire Wedding Photographers Asian wedding photographers

Married! Erin + Ryan {UK Themed Wedding in New Hampshire}

October 5, 2011 In Weddings 3 Comments

Say hello to Erin and Ryan…two of the best folks you could ever hope to meet! Their beautiful, British-themed wedding featured so many fun elements! Erin is originally from New Hampshire, where she maintained her reputation as the meanest, baddest Lacrosse player this side of the Mississippi. (She was featured in Sports Illustrated!) Five years ago, she moved to England for a temporary job opportunity and she met Ryan and decided to stay. 😉 They chose to have their wedding at Erin’s parent’s home in NH and every detail was so beautifully executed! Erin’s dad contributed amazing details like transforming their deck into an authentic British pub and building an exact replica of an English mail box for guests to put their notes and well-wishes. There were signs and photographs and flags and a CANDY BAR! Doesn’t get a whole lot more fun than that. In addition to all the beautiful touches that Erin’s parents contributed, event planner, Amy Piper of Signature Events went above and beyond to turn their backyard tent into an elegant and classy wedding venue! She also watched over the whole day to make sure things ran smoothly for the Bride and Groom and was a pleasure to work alongside, as always! Also contributing her creative wonders was Emily Herzig of Emily Herzig Floral Studio. Her arrangements and attention to detail are incredible! So, Erin and Ryan had quite a team to help make their day as perfect as it could be and they deserved it. In addition to being a talented and beautiful couple, they are just nice people….with wonderful families. 🙂 We are very thankful to continue to meet great people on our travels and it’s never lost on us what a privilege it is to witness such prodigious love. Congratulations Erin and Ryan!!! (ed: View Erin & Ryan’s engagement session from last summer here)

British wedding photography in NH

Married! Bobby + Nicole {Winnipesaukee wedding photography}

September 17, 2011 In Weddings 14 Comments

One of the things we love about what we do is experiencing the unique personality of each wedding. Bobby & Nicole’s Lake Winnipesaukee wedding at Church Landing in Meredith, New Hampshire, featured a giant dancing fireman along with real dancing firemen (though not suited up as was their inflatable cohort), which was great because it was so nice to see the men that protect us from all kinds of peril having a fun time together! Other elements included a cool vintage Mercedes Benz and some images snapped on a fancy boat at the invitation of some friendly strangers. It was also a gorgeous day for two people to share the ultimate expression of love and commitment and friends and family were there in full force to complete an epic day for our couple. Here’s how we saw it…

Winnipesaukee wedding photography

Married! Greg + Kateri {new hampshire wedding photographers}

September 6, 2011 In Weddings 2 Comments

And the weddings roll on… to Kateri and Greg and their lovely July day!

We met Kateri and Greg at a wedding last September (happy anniversery Ryan & Jessica!), though we did not realize at the time that we would have the privilege of documenting their day 10 months down the road! So, we got to “re-meet” them earlier this year in a little coffee shop by the ocean and learn of their plans of coalescence…

It turns out, they’re just great! Like, really good folk. From our first meeting to the wedding day, they were an absolute joy to be around and to see other people be around (if that makes sense). It’s just that you can tell what truly good people they are and how much they care for others. So…. that’s good. 🙂

Of course, time passed quickly, as it always does, from our coffee shop meeting and it was marrying time! The wedding was held at The Granite Rose in Hampstead, NH and they did a wonderful job of keeping things running smoothly and accommodating everyone. During the day, leading up to the ceremony, I heard Kateri say a few times: “I can’t wait to marry Greg” and I thought that was great…to be so fully focused on that part, the real part. Unfortunately, there was some minor precipitation happening but everyone braved it for a beautiful outdoor ceremony in the garden. The ensuing reception was great and many thanks to DJ/guitarist, Mr. Tom Bruhl for keeping the feet moving! We also definitely witnessed some air guitar by the lovely bride! So, it was a good day.

We got a phone call from Kateri a couple days after her wedding, just asking us how we felt the day went. She said that she wanted to make sure everyone enjoyed themselves because, in her words: “…all I could see was Greg.” And this is my favorite part of the story because it is a very genuine person that cares enough to know another’s perspective and it made me quite happy to be able to tell her it was fantastic! We are sure Kateri and Greg will be almost intolerably happy, doing nice things for each other, forever. 🙂

Congratulations guys, and thank you for including us in your day! Here’s how we saw it…

nh wedding photography

Married: Tim + Kim {nh wedding photography}

August 16, 2011 In Weddings 16 Comments

Quite a few of our couples are from out of the area and come back to New England to have their wedding in their hometown, near their friends and family or just because they love the natural beauty that resides here. Occasionally, they book us over the phone or Internet and the first time we meet face-to-face is on their wedding day. This was the case with Tim and Kim. They live in Las Vegas, but have roots here in New Hampshire. Because of the distance and busy schedules, we weren’t able to meet them until the very day they were getting married. Let us say, that despite never having met us before, they welcomed us to their special day with an abundance of kindness and warmth and any feelings of unfamiliarity between us quickly dissipated! Needless to say, this made photographing their beautiful day a joy and we believe that joy shines through in these images. This was also our first time shooting at the Bedford Village Inn and the day went smoothly thanks to the friendly professionalism exhibited by the staff there.

The day was punctuated by the special bond Kim and her family has, her Sisters were all bridesmaids and kept things lively and fun. Also ever-present, was the camaraderie Tim shared with his groomsman. I unwittingly kind of broke up a practical joke that would’ve made for an interesting situation during the ceremony when I asked Tim’s best man Gary for the rings to photograph them. What I, as well as he, didn’t know, was that the rings had been swiped from his jacket! Have to say, it was fun watching him desperately search for them until Tim let him off the hook…I have a great picture of that, which I’m pretty sure is going to appear on Facebook shortly 🙂 Anyway, congrats to you, Kim & Tim! We were honored that you chose Birch Blaze to help you hang on to the great memories of this day!

New Hampshire wedding photography

Ben + Katie: Married at the Mount Washington Hotel!

July 26, 2011 In Weddings 12 Comments

Ben and Katie are just good human beings. That should be noted. They are the sort of people that are perpetually kind and as fellow humans, we really loved that about them. So, we are a special kind of excited to share their lovely wedding. We met them through our friend and wildly talented wedding filmmaker, Meg Simone. (Check her out!) We are thankful to Meg for putting us all in touch and as always, were glad to be working alongside her for Ben and Katie’s wedding.

In April, we got the chance to shoot their engagement session in Crawford Notch in the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire. It was a fitting location because Ben and Katie are accomplished hikers. They have both hiked all the 4,000 footers in NH… Katie, having started her mountaineering career as just a little girl. Clearly, the mountains are near and dear to their hearts and so their wedding was held at the gorgeous Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, NH. And it was perfect. Well, aside from the black fly apocalypse that was occurring outside, it was perfect. (Much thanks to the couple for enduring such things for the sake of photos!) Katie is a graphic designer and actually designed and made her own invitations, which were beautiful! A great detail, among many. Of course, they both looked wonderful and truly happy as they were surrounded by all the ones who loved them on a pretty June day. We want to thank Ben and Katie for the privilege of being a part of their day and wish them joy and love that grows so big they can hike up it someday. 😉

Mt Washington Hotel wedding photography