Cassi & Bryan
Oglebay, Wheeling, West Virginia (Ceremony & Reception)
June 15th, 2024
When I made the decision in 2010 to start photographing weddings, I had no idea where that career choice would take me. Literally and figuratively. But if you asked 25-year-old Paul to write out a list of all the places he thought he might one day visit to shoot a wedding, I can promise you West Virginia would not have been anywhere near that list no matter how long I took to write it.
In fact, with all due respect to my Mountain State friends, I can't say I ever planned to visit West Virginia at all so you can imagine my surprise when I not only agreed to photograph Cassi and Bryan's June wedding there but drove the full 600 miles each way excited to experience everything this slice of fabled piece of heaven had to offer. And let me tell you what. It couldn't have been a more beautiful place to visit or a more beautiful wedding to shoot.
Cassi and Bryan said "I do" back in June at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia and it was one of the most memorable, unique and fun weddings I've shot in years. I adored everything about this bride and groom's journey down the aisle and knew exactly what kind of day we were going to have from the moment I walked into bridal prep and saw Cassi having the most fun I've seen a bride have ... maybe ever?
From silly jokes with her bridesmaids to some truly adult humor that I won't repeat here but will smile about as I type it, Cassi's bridal prep was the very definition of laid back and fun and told me everything I needed to know about this bride and how she would fare on her wedding day.
The real test for how fun a wedding is going to be is catching up with a groom and seeing how he's handling the stress of his big moment and I knew just from sitting across from Bryan at breakfast in our hotel a few hours before I started photographing his prep that he was a touch nervous but more excited to get this party started.
The nice thing about the way Oglebay is set up is it's such a MASSIVE property, there was plenty of room for Cassi and Bryan to get ready without remotely coming close to seeing each other and I was able to bounce from one spot to the next with ease.
I even managed to grab some formals of Bryan with his guys near the ceremony spot before I needed to get back to the bride to photograph the last bit of her prep. The storyteller in me loved the detail, that's for sure.
Speaking of Cassi, she was just as calm, cool and collected having her dress zipped up as she was in the hair and makeup chair. If she was feeling any nerves, she sure wasn't showing it ... even as a lot of the folks around her started to let the emotions sink in as we got closer to the start of her and Bryan's wedding ceremony.
As for the ceremony itself, I don't think Cassi and Bryan could have had a more chill and casual ceremony. Heck, when I first arrived moments before the start of it, the groom was still adjusting flowers.
But that's what I loved about this wedding day. There wasn't any room for pomp, circumstance or over-the-top cliche traditions. Cassi and Bryan stayed true to their vision and had the wedding of their dreams and that meant never taking things too seriously while also still being madly, passionately devoted to such an important moment in their live.
I could tell just from the big grins on Cassi and Bryan's faces how they felt about seeing each other fully dressed up at the start of their ceremony but, the longer said ceremony went on, the more their true emotions and feelings came out.
I loved Cassi and Bryan's wedding ceremony because of how authentic it was to their relationship. They're not center of attention people and, all told, the ceremony lasted just over three minutes ... which was just long enough for the bride and groom to come down the aisle, hold hands, put some rings on one another, kiss and call it a day.
Typically, when I shoot a wedding ceremony that lasts less than five minutes, I get a bit bummed out that I didn't have more time to document as much as I could have. But that was not the case here.
No, for Cassi and Bryan, any disappointment I may have had in how short their wedding ceremony was immediately vanished when I realized that left me more time for bride and groom portraits because — and I'm not exaggerating here — Cassi and Bryan's wedding had the best backgrounds and lighting I've had all year for formal portraits.
More importantly, though, they both had small family lists and an easy-to-work with wedding party so the formal photo portion of their day was a breeze.
The highlight of my day, though, was when we got rid of everyone but the bride and groom and could focus on their couple portraits.
Earlier this year, I upgraded my main camera to a Nikon Z-9 and despite all the amazing hype around the camera online, it wasn't until Cassi and Bryan's wedding that I really appreciated how great this camera is because these photos and these colors were so, so sick.
Seriously. I could have spent a week working with Cassi and Bryan and not gotten sick of what we were capturing. It helps, of course, that they were so easy to work with and so much fun posing together.
Following Cassi and Bryan's photo session, the three of us made our way to their reception venue and, as seems to be a theme for me in 2024, the moment I walked into this location, I was greeted with a solid rustic barn vibe and tons and tons of wood.
No worries, of course, I've rapidly become accustomed to this style of reception venue and Cassi and Bryan did a wonderful job with decorating the barn area with a beautiful and classic black and white theme that really popped in their decor.
Cassi and Bryan's wedding reception started in a unique way I haven't really seen before. The pair were formally introduced and then immediately sat down for dinner.
While I normally would suggest clients get the formalities out of the way BEFORE they eat, I think this really worked out nicely for the bride and groom as it gave us a nice, extended break before the evening's festivities began.
And, after a great meal, we kicked off the beginning of their reception with four great speeches and a sweet cake cutting that set the tone for the night wonderfully.
While I initially questioned the placement of Cassi and Bryan's first dance as husband and wife in the order of events on their wedding day, I must confess that it really fit well after the cake cutting and before we opened the dance floor portion of the evening.
I wasn't sure what to expect from Cassi and Bryan but the two shared a beautiful moment together to “My Best Friend” by Tim McGraw and even had a wonderful moment toward the end of the song when their DJ set off some nice cold sparks behind them that (literally) lit the room up.
The real emotions of the day came after Cassi and Bryan's first dance, however, as the pair shared dances with Cassi's mom and dad and each dance was more emotional than the last.
I loved these little tributes each of them had with two of the central people in their lives and just based on the sheer number of hugs and tears shed, everyone on that dance floor said a LOT without saying a single word.
The real test of Cassi and Bryan's wedding day was always going to be their reception, however, and in this case these two passed with flying colors.
I really wasn't too sure what kind of party to expect from Cassi, Bryan and their friends but once the alcohol started flowing and people started losing their inhibitions, the night became a super fun one super fast.
I don't know if I had a favorite moment from Cassi and Bryan's wedding reception but I do know I had a favorite object (or two): The bubble machine one of the bridesmaids brought to the party and the cold spark fireworks that their DJ set off in random intervals as the night progressed.
Each made for an unpredictable atmosphere that was a crazy challenge to shoot but one I welcomed and one I had a blast documenting.
As Cassi and Bryan's reception came to an end, my feet were on fire and I was absolutely exhausted ... and still 600 miles away from home but there was nowhere else I would rather be.
I've said many times I'm blessed to be in this industry and to go where fate wants me to go and on this beautiful summer weekend, fate willed me to West Virginia for the first time and I'll always be thankful it did.
In addition to being an absolutely jaw-droppingly beautiful state, I found the entire experience of shooting Cassi and Bryan's wedding to be a joy.
So thank you Cassi and Bryan for taking a flyer on a photographer six states over. I appreciate having the opportunity to capture this special day for you to relive and appreciate for the rest of your lives and wish you the best as you start this new and exciting journey together as husband and wife.
And, hey, if you ever need a photographer again ... I'm only a phone call and a 12-hour drive away. :)
-Paul J. Spetrini
