Here is the story behind the image that won the Rangefinder 2019 Wedding Contest.

Tuscany, Italy

As most of my photographer friends know, we go through multiple phases in our carrier. From excitement and loving our whole shoot, all the way to doubting everything we do.  I believe that part of it is because, as artists we strove for perfection, and while that pushes us to become better at our art, we sometimes lose sight of appreciating the beautiful moments we have captured. This past year I have particularly struggled with this. But a wedding that began as a literal natural disaster, that erased all of the hard planning for their perfect day taught me to seek the beauty in what is in front of us.

I am beyond honored to have one of my images win one of the biggest photography contests in the wedding industry. When I started this career I never considered I would win awards, I just wanted to capture beautiful pictures. While I was growing as an artist I didn’t realize that I was growing as a person too. These are the images I aspire to capture for all of my clients. Images that tell their story, photos that they will look at twenty years from now and recognize themselves and all the special details, photographs that will make them relive every emotion of their special day.

So how did a wedding disaster create such a stunning day? When I got to my cabin at Camping Baia Azzurra the night after the day in question, I was exhausted from everything that had happened. Despite that though, I was emotionally overwhelmed having witnessed how a literal disaster brought people together in a more intimate celebration than I could have ever expected. I couldn’t wait to upload the images, but I had to pack as I was leaving to come back to the States, (traveling that took me three days instead of one, but that’s another story!)

When Veronica & Paolo were planning their wedding, they were imagining everything would  be perfect. They had found a beautiful old church, Abbazia Farneta in Cortona and at only about 20 minutes away there was Paolo’s family villa. It was like something out of a movie.

The Villa was too small to have the reception inside with all of the guests they had invited, so they rented clear tents and specially selected farm wood tables. They hired their favorite florist to decorate the area with tons of lavender and an “un'ape" (Italian version of a food truck) that would provide “fritto” or fried appetizers during cocktail hour.

Veronica’s vision was “a Tuscany wedding surrounded by love”. She said “I love the simplicity that lavender represents and our love is what should be the main focus of our wedding.”

We started the morning taking pictures of Paolo getting ready in his family villa. During pictures we started hearing thunder in the distance.. We laughed and joked about it and we said “well at least we have a tent to protect us from the rain…”

As the morning went by we then went to take pictures of Veronica getting ready at the Villa where most guests were staying.

She was doing her makeup with a beautiful smile on her face. She was singing and  just completely overwhelmed by happiness, thankful that the day had finally arrived!

From there we moved to this beautiful Abbey that was built in between the 9th and 10th century from the Benedictine monks, right onto an original Roman temple. The ceremony was very emotional. Within that unique space it was almost like we had traveled back to a place in time when silence, humility, and peace were the rules that reigned in between those walls.

At the end of the ceremony they were showered by “buckets” of rice during their exit from the church; surrounded by family and friends that couldn’t wait to congratulate them! They then got into their car and together we discussed where to go for portraits as we heard thundering boom closer.

The clouds looked threatening and all we had to do was look up at the sky to see where the storm was coming from. We decided that if we would go in the opposite direction we would have at least 15-20 minutes before it hit.

During the 20 minutes that we were taking portraits we could see in the distance that the storm was imminent and the lighting and rain was coming fast.

Despite that, they were laughing and having fun. They were determined to have the pictures they always dreamt of and I can’t imagine any other couple that would’ve faced all this better than they did.

What we didn’t realize was that this was not just an average summer storm, or a little rain to laugh at as we ran for cover. The joy of the day hid the flood to come.

We made it to the car and began driving to the reception site. That is when the flood came upon us. The roads and fields had become one large lake. Driveways became rivers. Were it not for the street signs and road guards, we would not have even been able to find the road under all of the water. With the water up to our bumpers in some parts, we slowly drove afraid the currents could pull the car away or that we would stall and be trapped.

We had a Fiat that have drove, have floated to our destination. I have no idea how it held up as well as it did! Kudos to the amazing second shooter/driver Simone that didn’t lose it throughout this all! When we finally got through the passage way, firefighters and officers closed the road we were just coming from behind us. We had JUST made it (See the Vinmo video I recorded with my phone)

When we finally made it to the Villa, we were welcomed by everyone, which at this point, was all crammed into 3 small rooms on two different floors. When we looked out at the elaborate setup they had worked so hard for, we saw that the tent had been destroyed by the storm. Even though the rental company made its way back with another one, it was raining so hard that they couldn’t physically mount it! Also, no music playing because the musicians had all left as their instruments got all wet. What was supposed to be a seated dinner turned out to be a buffet split up in two rooms.

What the storm couldn’t destroy though was the love that these two have for each other and the love that family and friends have for them. Their love endured through it all. They celebrated even without music, without flowers, without special place setting … in between the loud thunder outside and flickering power, they celebrated.  

At one point some of their friends gathered all of their guests it on one small room and shared video they had prepared. As the bride and groom sat on two chairs watching this movie, surrounded by all those who joined them to celebrate their love of one another, came one of my favorite moments in the history of weddings!

In that moment, all that mattered was being together, surrounded by the warmth and laughter of their closest people.

I believe that no matter the storm, Veronica & Paolo’s vision came true. What shined through the whole day was definitely love, and that is what matters most.

Grazie Simone Olivari, not only for being an amazing second shooter, but for being an amazing driver and for not losing control even in the most difficult moments!!! Grazie Veronica & Paolo for teaching me not to seek perfection, to not try to make images look as I want them to, but to capture them in the beautiful light just as they are.

“Funny” side story, the bride and groom went to Hong Kong for their honeymoon and the first day they arrived they were hit by what was one of the biggest typhoons recorded in the last ten years, but you know what? They went with the flow and still found joy and adventure in the days as they were handed.