Dan and Cassidy
Pacific City, Oregon Coast
The door opened and upon seeing his daughter in her wedding dress for the first time, Paul burst into tears. Hugging his daughter and crying together as the light filtered in from the hotel window, the tears soon shifted to laughter as the tension of the last several months just seemed to fall forward into the joy of this moment.
“You look so beautiful,” he whispered, and went in for another bear hug.
Cassidy and Dan’s wedding day was filled to the brim with emotion, and the tears between her father and her were certainly not the only ones shed on that last Saturday of May 2020.
I met Cass and Dan last year when their wedding plans involved a large wedding party of family and dear friends, a rented School Bus to shuttle them to and from the reception and ceremony venues, and a guest list of over 150 which would fill the gorgeous cathedral of Saint Patricks with family and friends who would be traveling in from all over the country. The spring of 2020 unfortunately had different plans in mind and as they dealt with rescheduling and downsizing, I couldn’t help but be impressed with how they worked together to balance each other and give support and love through it all.
Daniel and Cassidy faced an incredibly challenging year, added pandemic aside. They were in their final year of medical school and applying for residency programs all over the United States. Planning a wedding amid that process would be a challenge beyond my brain and organizational capacity, but I remember sitting down with them at a local espresso house last winter, and Dan had spreadsheets all typed up and organized to perfection!
Their original wedding date was March 18th, and Dan’s custom suit jacket still has that date embroidered in it as commemoration, but with the restrictions put forth in March and April, they decided to shift the wedding to the end of May. Walking into the hotel suite on May 30th, I was immediately greeted by Cassidy’s mom who was absolutely glowing with happiness and excitement. She showed me Cassidy’s stunning dress and the custom white mask she had spent hours embellishing to match. If Vera Wang designed wedding day masks, the mask she made for Cassidy would put it to shame! It was such a beautiful way to out-create the shadow the pandemic had cast across the day, and showed such deep love and an unquenchable desire to make her daughter’s wedding day just as perfect as she could!
The morning was spent video calling various family members and friends who wouldn’t be able to attend and as Cassidy’s mom buttoned up the back of her dress, a group chat with all of Cassidy’s original bridesmaids was tuned in and the “oohs and aaaahs” playing over the phone’s speaker filled the room.
No exception to the strange wedding day time-warp, the relaxed morning seemed to slip away all too quickly toward the ceremony start time and it was a tornado of motion as items from the hotel room were scooped up and thrown in cars. Saint Patrick’s had opened the cathedral early to accommodate Cassidy and Dan’s Portland wedding, and as the videographers set up, Dominic and myself positioned ourselves to capture Dan’s reaction to seeing his bride walk toward him for the first time.
The cathedral was filled with less than 10 family members as their intimate ceremony confirmed the role of God in their lives as husband and wife. Neither Cassidy nor Dan escaped their vows with completely dry eyes and their first kiss was fit for a Hollywood screenplay!
After some video shots and family portraits, we all ran through the rain to our cars and sped off toward the coast where a gorgeous little beach house was waiting.
The rain was torrential on the highway to Pacific City, but as soon as we crested the last hill to the beach the rain ceased, the wind calmed and we were able to spend 20 glorious minutes taking portraits as the ocean waves crashed in the background.
The evening was wrapped up with a private meal prepared table side by the head chef of the Meridian Restaurant at The Headlands Coastal Lodge & Spa and Dom and I even snuck in a little time to play on the beach with our toes in the waves before sunset and a peaceful drive back to Portland.
Dan and Cassidy will be moving across the country this week to start their residencies and plan to have a huge celebration once they complete to enjoy their accomplishment and commemorate their marriage with all their family and friends. Until then, I send them my love and excitement for all that is waiting for them in the future!
