After the initial couple of months of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, people were starting to get cabin fever from laying low in their own homes. They wanted to continue to isolate, but in a fresh setting, a change of pace.
For Cat, she went to her happy place, spending most of that first Covid summer working remotely at the coastal Massachusetts property that has been in her family since the 1800s. They call it The Horseshoe, a private property on Cape Cod in the town of Orleans.
Sometimes, the rest of her family was there. Sometimes, it was just her. She could sit on the sand for hours, or walk along the coastline, or take a swim. She found peace in the expansive nature tucked away from the rest of the world.
A few years later, when she met Matt, she brought him there as well, and he fell in love with The Horseshoe too.
For their regular lives, Cat and Matt live an adventurous life in Colorado. When they’re not working, they’re skiing, hiking and camping. They could easily have had their wedding in the Colorado mountains. But The Horseshoe kept calling them back. So that is where we all gathered for three days in the Fall. All their Colorado friends made the journey to the Cape, where they hung out on Cat’s family’s private beach, drinking beer and soaking up the sun. The welcome party was a traditional clambake. Each guest received an enormous foil baking dish loaded up with a whole lobster, a mesh bag of clams, potatoes and veggies. This was after a cocktail hour of oysters and shrimp served out of a wooden boat.
On the wedding day, Matt and his groomsmen got ready in the original house on property that dates back to the early 1800s. Stepping into this house is like stepping back in time. Much of the original Victorian furniture is still there, and the shelves are filled with old books and family albums of worn black-and-white photographs and letters. Cat and her bridesmaids got ready in the more modern home on the property. It was a relaxing, slow morning that reflected the chill personalities of these two.
The wedding ceremony was held on the southernmost point of The Horseshoe, looking out over the ocean. The sun glistened on the water, sailboats glided past, and Cat and Matt exchanged tearful, joyful vows, with lots of laughs to break up the gravity of the moment. It truly was the perfect wedding ceremony. Afterward, guests explored the property, sipping cocktails, taking selfies, and watching the sun set.
For the reception, Cat and Matt brought in 90s cover band Prestige Worldwide, whom Matt discovered in Boston. They normally play bars and nightclubs, but they were the perfect fit for this wedding. The dance floor stayed packed the entire night, and things quickly got happily wild and sloppy, in the very best way.
The night ended with a raucous basement afterparty – the perfect cap to a wedding weekend that felt so natural and authentic to who Cat and Matt are – just cool, casual people looking to hang out with their friends and family, and walk away from it all as a married couple.
We have our close friend and fellow photographer Jesse Starr to thank for recommending us to Cat and Matt. We photographed Jesse’s Colorado wedding at 4 Eagle Ranch back in 2018, long before Cat and Matt were even a couple. We loved having Jesse and his wife, Gabrielle, at their friends’ Cape Cod wedding. It made it all the more special for us.
