Here We share our own wedding story!
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Eugenio: Our story developed from a shared passion that grew to create an unbreakable bond; It is a beautiful one that describes how two people fell in love as they pursued photography and travel. And I am so glad I can call this creative way of life my own.
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Dani and I have been together for years but I was very insecure about taking the next big step – mostly because I never believed marriage was for me. But as my work in wedding photography grew,  it began to change my mind.

When we first met, Dani wasn’t interested in photography, but when I started traveling by myself or with other photographers she wanted to join me. One day, with the camera in hand, she told me, “I want to learn photography so I can travel with you.” This was a turning point in our relationship because it enabled us to spend more time together learning, working, shooting, and having fun traveling. As we grew closer over the next few years, I began to realize how important marriage was to Dani. What is even more shocking is that it started becoming important to me too.
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As we entered 2015, proposing to Dani became my main focus. I knew I wanted to get married right on the spot after proposing, mostly because I’m not a traditional person, and being an introvert, I didn’t want to have a big wedding. I also, wanted it to happen while doing what had brought us together; photography and travel. That is when I had the idea to travel to a wedding seminar and have a surprise proposal and wedding there. We were so blessed to find Gianluca and Mari from the Adovasio workshop. When I contacted them they loved the idea and jumped in to help surprise Dani.
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I’m not going to lie; it was a very stressful two months with almost no sleep, as I worked hard trying to put everything together as a surprise. Every detail; her rings, the dresses (I got 2 just in case), makeup, shoes, and ALL the accessories that she would wear for the big day. I then had to plan for the ceremony, location, and officiant, and, how I would send everything to Italy.
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As the date for us to leave for Italy came closer, it seemed that many things were falling apart. But with the help of many amazing people, I was able to hold it together long enough to pull it off!
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Finally, the TWO BIG days came. The first is the proposal. We were shooting at a beautiful location close to The Masseria. I never felt more nervous in my life. I asked our instructor, Sean, to ask for a volunteer couple to demonstrate some marriage proposal poses. When he called for someone to demonstrate, I stood up in front of the 50 photographers (who didn’t know what was going on yet, by the way), and dragged Dani with me, as Sean started to direct us. Honestly, I had an incredibly hard time listening because I was shaking so much. But the time had finally come.
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Dani was looking in the opposite direction, I went down on my knee, and when she turned and saw me there she didn’t react for a couple of seconds. Then, after she realized what was happening, she started to cry, and I asked her to marry me! Once she said yes (and the ring fit her finger) I remember how relieved I was. Everyone then began to congratulate us.
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When we got to the Masseria for lunch and classes, I told Dani, “Let’s stop by our room first.” As soon as she opened the door and saw the dresses, shoes, and all the other things we needed for our wedding, I said, “Surprise, we’re getting married tomorrow!” She was speechless seeing all the stuff and she started crying again. That moment said it all. It was real… we were going to get married the very next day. At lunch, Gianluca and Mary told everyone the good news as they proposed a toast to us. They were always so nice to us.
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Our wedding day was a surreal, beautiful experience. We are very grateful to Gianluca, Mary, Giuliano, and everyone who helped us; there are no words to describe our feelings and our happiness.
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I hope you are still with us and enjoying our story, as Dani now shares her part of the story of our short, heartfelt proposal and ceremony.
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Dani: I find it hard to explain the emotion, not because I didn’t feel it, but because there are too many feelings together found in a single moment. Love is full of surprises, but when it comes to a surprise like this, you stop to think about what you have done to deserve such happiness. If you had asked me before 10/29/15 and 10/30/15 what the most important day in my life was, I would have said the arrival of my son into this world. But now, without a doubt, I can say that I have two days: the arrival of my son, and our wedding – filled with the emotion, the feelings, the immense joy, and the great love of Eugenio.
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I still cannot think of exactly what I felt on that day Eugenio proposed to me. It was a great emotion – many feelings together. I remember him kneeling and telling me “My Cubanita, I found you and I will not let you go.” I remember looking into his eyes and seeing his excitement, and that’s when I told myself “Daniuska, wake up, this is the love of your life talking to you, what you have been waiting for is here.” I still remember it clearly and it makes me very emotional.
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When we got to the room and I opened the door and saw the dresses, I felt like everything was shaking. My stomach hurt, and when I looked at him, he told me we were getting married tomorrow. Then I felt like I was floating in the air. I started to walk around the room and see other things, shoes, marriage rings, etc … I started to cry and scream full of so many emotions. I could not believe that Eugenio could have planned it all so perfectly, and I couldn’t believe so much happiness in one day was happening to me.
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The wedding day arrived and my nerves killed me. I told myself to breathe and live this moment because it was mine and nobody else’s. When I saw him changing into his wedding clothes, I wanted to cry, but I could not cry because Viviana, my makeup artist would have killed me. He looked very sharp. After that, I told him to go, because I wanted him to see me enter the altar all dressed and ready for him.
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When I was walking to the entrance I only thought of my son and how much happiness I was feeling, and he was so far away. I felt a little sad since I could not embrace my son and mother in such a moment of happiness. I could not hold back the tears… When I started to walk the aisle with Gianluca I looked up and saw Eugenio waiting for me and just then I was able to control myself, and I realized the clicking sounds of all the cameras that surrounded us.

The ceremony was short, emotional but amazing. We did the tree ceremony; we had some letters from my mom and Eugenio’s family that brought us lots of tears of joy. Juan and Neda were our witnesses, and at the end of the ceremony I remember Chiara, the officiant, said in English and Italian about the kiss… still in shock;–) then everyone gathered for our send-off, tossing rice for good luck.
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Many kisses, hugs, great energy, and pictures were the perfect ending to such a magical ceremony. Many, many thanks and blessings to all of you for your help and for making our day so perfect! And to my love; It was worth the wait to meet you. You have given me the happiest days and the most fantastic nights of my life!
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Eugenio & Dani: We can’t thank enough Gianluca and Mary for their passion and support, Kristina for her help with the dresses and shoes, Giuliano and his family from The Masseria Montenapoleone for his generosity and help with the ceremony, Juan for traveling to Italy, Viviana and Chiara for their amazing work; Andy, Cinzia and Sean for their time and talent, and a host of others that helped along the way.
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Our Love story has just begun. With a new chapter in our lives, we are committed and excited to keep working hard, traveling, having fun, and always trying to get out of our comfort zones. MUCH LOVE! Eugenio and Dani