Débora & Ethan - 9.3.23
60 years ago, a beautiful young woman married the love of her life in a stunning wedding gown. They were married for 50 blissful years before she lost her battle with cancer.
60 years later, the granddaughter of this beautiful young woman walked down the aisle to her own wonderful man in the exact same dress.
I’ve been photographing this adorable little family for a couple of years now, so when they asked me to shoot their wedding, it was an absolute no brainer. If I had to pick one word to describe their wedding, I would simply say “fun”.
Deb and Ethan met online in the fall of 2017 and fell instantly in love. Wedding guests even got a mini re-enactment of their first conversations at the reception, which was absolutely hilarious.
Ethan knew she was “the one” after they made it through the many changes that life brought during the pandemic… particularly the arrival of their adorable daughter, Ellie! He absolutely loves her sense of humor and stated, “she always makes me feel loved and supported, but she also makes me laugh just as easily as she did when we were in school together. Also her butt.” Always a great recipe for a happy marriage: laughter and loving your spouse’s butt.
For Deb, she knew pretty early on that he was it for her. Her immediate instinct upon meeting him was that he would be a key piece to the puzzle of her life, so she laid it all out and consciously chose to be real, raw, and honest with him at all times. She commented, “he matched me with honesty and brought himself to those hard, honest conversations, too. Those conversations came up pretty early on, and the way he jumped into them with me set him apart from everyone else.” Her favorite thing about him is how he is always 100% his authentic self.
Even on their wedding day, they held nothing back. Being the fun, life-loving people they are, they ensured that their wedding day would be one that was full of love and laughter. Speaking of laughter… pretty sure I have never laughed harder taking wedding photos than when I did with the bottom right picture above. Literally died of laughter.
Miss Ellie most definitely stole the show as her parents got married. I mean, how could she not with those gorgeous blue eyes of hers? While Deb was getting the final touches of her makeup, Ellie was walking in circles around you saying “I love you mama, you look like a princess, I love you mama, you look like a princess” on repeat. Seriously THE CUTEST THING.
Speaking of the cutest thing. We also did a first look with Ethan and Ellie. See above.
I was absolutely drooling over the details and heirlooms incorporated into their wedding. As you can see from the note above (from 23 years ago!), Deb was given the very same Indian-head penny that her grandmother had tucked into her shoe on their wedding day.
As I mentioned earlier, her dress ALSO came from her grandmother. I honestly cannot do this story justice, so I’ll just copy and paste the story from Deb in her own words:
“When my grandma lost her battle with cancer in 2012, she left me her wedding dress. Ethan and I got engaged ten years later in 2022, and I gathered our family members to open up the dress box for the very first time. It was at the “unboxing” ceremony that my grandma’s lifelong best friend, who had been her Maid of Honor, shared the news of where the dress had come from. She traced the dress back to the Castronovo Bridal Shop in Rockford, IL. Founded by a trailblazing woman in the 1930s Frances Castronovo, the shop is still around and run by her son, Nino Castronovo. We reached out to Nino, who got us in for a fitting right away. He and Sina, the seamstress at Castronovo, were so amazed at the condition the dress was in for being nearly 60 years old. Since the dress was a Castronovo creation, they knew exactly how to take care of it to make all the alterations and updates.
Before my grandpa suddenly passed away in 2016, he told me it was his dream to walk me down the aisle, me in my grandma’s dress. Though my grandparents are no longer with us, I can still walk with their memories, thanks to Castronovo’s.”
But seriously though… how do you beat a story like that?! Trick question.. you don’t.
Despite the 101 degree temps (yes.. in September), Deb and Ethan had an amazing wedding day and were able to dance the night away surrounded by those they love most. It was a privilege to document such a wonderful day.
