LAKE BRAIES: AN INTIMATE SAME-SEX WEDDING ELOPEMENT IN THE DOLOMITES
FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO ITALY FOR LOVE
Location: LAKE BRAIES
Photography: STEFANO CASSARO PHOTOGRAPHY
It was a real thrill to be contacted by Nazarena, an adventurous and sensitive American girl, to help photograph her elopement in Italy. She was eloping with the love of her life, the sweet Kate. Both were passionate about the mountains and the Dolomites: can we really blame them, considering their majesty and beauty? For this reason, we choose between us the iconic, romantic, and evocative scenery of Lake Braies.
She and I studied the project in detail, to make the most of this Italian outstanding corner, starting from the time of day: we concluded it would be best to take our photographs in the morning, just after the dawn, to avoid the presence of a huge crowd of tourists, as often happens in the late summer, and to make the most of the soft and delicate sunrise for the photos. To continue with the bouquets for her and Kate, that we choose to be with flowers and colors that were so typical and representative of the Italian mountain: one with strong blue connotations, like the sky to which the peaks reach and like the still water of the lake; the other dominated by dark reds and browns like the trunks of mountain trees, as strong and proud as the love of these two women.
Before the shoot, quite unexpectedly, I was contacted by Nazarena’s mother, Lili. She was fully determined to bring her family along to Italy to enjoy the special emotions and passions of Nazarena and Kate’s elopement, giving birth to a surprise for her daughter and partner. The presence of Nazarena’s family had to be kept a complete secret until almost the end of the photoshoot, so Nazarena’s parents and brothers had hidden in the woods to observe everything before appearing. It was heartwarming and exciting to witness as she saw her family (whom she believed she had left in the United States of America) in exactly the place she had picked out her intimate elopement with the beautiful Kate: the Dolomites in Italy.
As an Italian wedding photographer, getting the chance to be part of the magic and immortalising the memory in my photography for eternity for all of them was something incredibly touching. This is just one of the reasons why I love my job of wedding photographer Italy so much and I can forget the fatigue of traveling all over Italy to complete it: as befits a proper destination wedding photographer.
A few more days of waiting and enjoy the photos …
