Maddie & Michael’s Sublime Rhode Island Elopement with Seal Guests

SWELL & STONE / ADVENTURE ELOPEMENT PHOTOGRAPHER / RHODE ISLAND & BEYOND

It’s hard to think of a day more spontaneous, adventurous, and full of joy than Maddie & Michael’s Block Island elopement. They started the day at a spot super near and dear to their hearts, Black Point in Narragansett on mainland Rhode Island. As we hiked out for a cloudy sunrise they recalled different memories of points in their lives that they spent together on Black Point. It was so awesome to do their ceremony in a place with so many amazing memories, and add another epic memory to the pile.

But we had a 9 am ferry to Block Island to catch, so we wrapped things up and headed to the nearby ferry terminal. The short ferry journey was beautiful, and in a moment of serendipity I heard someone call my name on the roof top overlook. It was Katie & Adam whose Maine elopement I shot the previous month!

We arrived on Block Island, dropped the cake off at the hotel and headed to our first location, South Light. The views were beautiful and endless, and it is right next door to Mohegan Bluffs, which is one of the most scenic spots on the island. We waited for most people to go to lunch people we started down the steps! I’m not sure how many steps there are total, but it’s enough to feel like a workout. The views are unreal and honestly reminiscent of the La Jolla coastline in San Diego (fun fact: I lived in San Diego for many years before moving to Rhode Island).

Next we headed over to the Hodge Family Wildlife Preserve where the blooming flowers made for shots of endless fields of orange and yellow! Finally, a couple hours before sunset we started our hike out to North Light. It’s about a mile or so to the sand spit at the end, but we found a nice spot in the sand where Maddie and Michael could spread out a blanket and cut their cake. It started to drizzle on us a bit, so we took the umbrellas out and walked down to the shoreline where we had a surprise waiting for us- a sea lion popping it’s head up to see who was walking along the beach. We went down a little further and their were about 30 sea lions resting on the sand spit, swimming around, and honking at us! It’s was an unbelievable sight to beyond and Maddie and Michael were jumping up and down with joy. They couldn’t believe the experience of their day, so unexpected, adventurous, and everything they hoped for plus more. It was one of my most memorable days as well, and I’m so happy we all have the photos of their day to look back on year after year and remember how truly epic it was!

I feel like they can summarize their love better themselves, when I asked them when they knew they were first in love Maddie said, “There was a specific moment for me, we had only been dating about a month when Mike came home from work on the 4th of July after hanging with his coworkers for a little while. He got home and curled up on the couch and put his head on my lap and started to sleep and said I love you (I didn’t tell him for months that he did it 😂) but it was such a calm moment and that’s when I knew he was the one.”

And Michael said, “I fell in love with Maddie because of her amazing personality. She accepted me for exactly who I was. She makes me feel like the only person in a room when she looks at me. My fiancé is the most incredible person I have ever met. I do not know how I got so lucky.”