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I first connected with Cassie and Dom four (or five?) years ago on Instagram. We initially bonded over our love of black cats (they have two, Tubby and Taco) and each other’s work–Cassie is an amazing wedding photographer as well, and Dom is an extraordinary videographer and musician. It’s like it was fate that we met, and ever since I’ve known them they’ve felt like family, even though we didn’t meet in person until Cassie and I literally high-fived on a street corner for one second in Asbury Park, New Jersey, where we were both shooting weddings that day!

The journey to their wedding day was longer than either of them expected or intended. They were originally supposed to be married in Italy in 2017, but when their family suffered an unexpected loss that year things had to be postponed. I was so happy to hear the following year that they were going to be able to bring their original wedding vision to life and on the same date that they had planned for the first time (August 3rd). The fact that after all that time they still wanted me to come along and document their day, without trying to sound hyperbolic, was one of the great honors of my life.

Dom’s family is from a small hilltop coastal town called Belmonte Calabro. To see it in person is totally surreal–every building, street, and person in it is so full of charm and art and history, totally untouched by modern Instagram travel culture. Everyone knows everyone. People opened their windows to wave hello and invited us onto their rooftops to take photos. The wedding was a whole community coming together in a way I’ve never witnessed before, with locals welcoming visitors from around the world with open arms. Cassie and Dom’s vows were spoken in English and translated into Italian (both verisons some of the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard), and they were played out of their ceremony by a brass band. Dinner was a million courses. They danced under the stars and some bistro lights that they found a local to help them string up. They ended the night with a surprise fireworks show that is a tradition local to Belmonte Calabro, to everyone’s delight. I can only hope that these photos do this day and these amazing people justice. I will never forget it.