These Cliffside Wedding Portraits Will Take Your Breath Away

Getting married is a leap of faith. Your love should be like a rock. You're on top of the world. Er, we're trying to come up with the right metaphor to go along with the breathtaking wedding photos shot by Jay Philbrick in North Conway, NH. Never mind the symbolism, just enjoy the view.

For those of you whose heart rates shot to aerobic levels just by looking at this photo, rest assured: Bride and groom Christie Sulkoski and Kevin Coleman are actually tied into harnesses and anchored. But yeah, they are also 350 feet off the ground in the White Mountains.

Philbrick was a climbing guide before becoming a full-time photographer, he told the Huffington Post. "In my photography I had always been attracted to the contrast of a beautiful subject in a stark or unlikely location," he said. "And the cliff ledges I had in mind [from guiding] seemed perfect for this."

Now, mountain guide Marc Chauvin helps Philbrick set up the anchors and other safety gear. The bride and groom are lowered to their perch and tied in, usually in the early hours of the day to get that misty, magical quality. Philbrick, wife Vicki, and an assistant are also tied in to shoot the couple from all angles. The real mystery is how they're able to hide the safety gear in the finished product.

"Sometimes something sticks out a little due to an oversight and I remove it in post, but I try really hard to just have all the safety gear hidden," Philbrick told HuffPo.

We'll go on record saying that maybe some of us want to see as much safety gear as possible.

Click through the gallery for some astounding photos that go places we're not sure we'd be brave enough to visit in a wedding gown.