So how many photographers does it take to photograph one couple’s wedding? How many states and countries does a couple need to celebrate their wedding in to make it official?
In Cece and Frederico’s case, they were married in New York City (where they live), flew across the country to have another wedding reception with Cece’s family in San Diego, had a wedding celebration “adult summer camp” in the Berkshires with their Boston friends, then flew to Geneva, Switzerland, to be feted by Frederico’s Swiss family and friends, and THEN finished everything off with one more little party at their family chalet in Prélaz, France, just across the border from Switzerland. Our good friend Steven Young photographed their New York City wedding, and our other good friend Shaun Baker photographed their San Diego wedding reception. (It was total coincidence that our friends photographed the other events – Cece found them all on her own – small world!).
Ben and I were brought in for the Switzerland & France parties. We were going to be in Italy the following week for Maggie and Dorian’s Lake Como wedding, so it was easy for us to go to Switzerland first. I realize this post makes Cece and Frederico seem like super-fancy people, having all these parties around the world. But they are the most low-key, down-to-earth people, and the parties that we photographed were a casual backyard get-together and a BBQ (albeit with champagne and French cheese, but hey, that’s how they do things there).
After everyone left the BBQ at the chalet, the four of us stayed behind to do a portrait session in the beautiful French countryside, where Frederico has been vacationing with his family since he was a child. It was during a trip to the chalet that Cece and Frederico first realized they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. It’s a special place for them, and it was one of the most memorable days Ben and I have ever had – hiking around the rain-soaked hills, surrounded by cows (with old-fashioned metal cow bells) and free-roaming horses, feeling like we were in the Sound of Music. It was simply magical.
We feel like we’ve made lifelong friends in Cece and Frederico. They are one of those couples we feel a strong bond with. In between the official shoot times, they took us around Geneva and included us in the hangout time with their friends – including partying on the lake with hundreds of people (something Frederico loved doing as a teenager). Ben and I got to go to the U.S. Open tennis tournament in September (a dream of Ben’s) because Cece gifted us tickets she had purchased for her and Frederico, but couldn’t use because of their grueling work schedules. They did manage to make it out to one match with us, and the four of us had the best time watching our favorite Novak Djokovic beat their favorite Roger Federer (sorry Frederico).
These two are just really easy to love, as Steven and Shaun can attest. And we feel very lucky that for some reason they seem to love us back.