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Friday, December 17th, 2010
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Susan and Tommy’s wedding at the Historic Maple Hill Manor, Springfield, KY
If there was ever such a thing as the quintessential Kentucky wedding, it was the marriage of Susan and Tommy at the incredible Historic Maple Hill Manor, Springfield, KY - just minutes from Bardstown, Kentucky. The entire affair was the most stunning depiction of Southern, Kentucky-style gentility and hospitality you could ever imagine. Personally, as a born and bred Kentuckian, I was rather proud--Susan's parents and family are from New Hampshire, and I thought it was very cool that they were able to be welcomed with an absolutely picture-perfect Southern affair. I think the only thing missing was racehorses! But no matter--Maple Hill Manor had an alpaca farm instead, so just the right amount of quirkiness was represented as well :)
I mentioned in a recent post how fortunate I have been with venues this past wedding season, and not just in the immediate Louisville Metro area. My last entry featured Buffalo Trace Distillery, which is just outside of Frankfort, KY. Today's post at Maple Hill Manor and another still to come took place in the subtle beauty of the rolling knobs and countryside of Washington, Nelson, and Bullitt Counties, also Kentucky, and I also look forward to showcasing some gorgeous scenery of the Southern Indiana area as well, coming soon.
I was completely overwhelmed from the minute I turned up the long gravel drive leading to the Maple Hill Manor Bed and Breakfast. The mansion sits on a hillside, isolated from but overlooking the farmlands of the surrounding countryside. What an amazing retreat. A classic Kentucky Federal style estate, perfectly and beautifully preserved down to the last detail. Simply breathtaking and yet peaceful at the same time. This wedding location was a photographer's dream, and hopefully my photographs convey this but also bring the temptation to see this amazing place for yourself.
Words just don't do it justice...the quiet, broken by the sounds of the tree frogs, cicadas, and cattle in the fields. The colors of the sunset, which was visible in every phase because of the hillside location. How sharply the beams were peeking around the house with all the depth possible in a shade of gold, and then how softly it all faded to the pinky-purple bluish twilight...heaven. I would love to do more weddings there; that goes without saying, but even more than that, I imagine that spending a weekend there with someone special, just getting away from everything (it does sit waaaaaay out in the middle of nowhere) would be an incredibly enriching experience.
And I do have to say that Susan and Tommy were the absolutely perfect couple to complement this perfect venue. Everything about their style, the dynamic of their relationship, how they interacted with such love and peace, could not have matched the location and magic of the place more divinely. Susan just carries this timeless aura of serenity about her (with a good dose of playfulness thrown in the mix), and she is such a classic beauty. Tommy is her perfect match and complement, and obviously is head over heels with love for her, in love with her. He and his friends were so much fun.
Their ceremony was such an honest and simple declaration of love--and included bringing all of their family members up at one point to gather around them, hold hands, and pray--well, I am still a hopeless romantic and tend to get really tuned in with these emotional moments, and I was in tears myself much of the ceremony. So much so, actually, that I kept having to run back to my bag for tissues so that I could even see through my lens!
I could go on and on, but I really should stop yammering on and let the photos speak for themselves. But just as I've had a hard time shutting myself up with words, choosing which photos to put up was crazy hard. At one point, I had almost 60 in my folder to fine-tune for the site. I am lucky to have a dear friend who helps to ground me when I get all caught up in remembering the emotion of the event, and narrowed the field down for me considerably.
