A Wedding Week on Film in Giungano, Italy
In late October and early November, southern Italy has a kind of quiet beauty that feels almost cinematic. The heat of summer has faded, the crowds are gone, and the countryside settles into warm golden light. Giungano, a small hilltop town in the province of Salerno, sits above olive groves and rolling countryside near the coast of the Cilento region. During the day the air was soft and warm, and in the evenings the temperature dropped just enough for long dinners and lively nights with friends.
This is where Kimia and Josh chose to gather their closest people for their wedding week — and where I had the unique honor of documenting the entire trip on film.
Photographing a Wedding Week From the Guest’s Perspective
This gallery is a little different from my usual work.
Kimia is one of my closest friends, and she flew me to Italy with a specific idea in mind: instead of documenting the week like a traditional wedding photographer, she wanted the photos to feel like they came from the experience itself — the perspective of the guests who were there.
So I packed 10 rolls of professional film and 12 disposable cameras.
My role was twofold: photograph the highlights of the trip on my film camera while also helping the other guests use the disposable cameras throughout the week. Anyone who has ever handed out disposables knows what usually happens — they disappear within the first hour of the first event.
Kimia and I brainstormed before the trip about how she wanted the film spread across the week. Each morning I looked at the day’s agenda and calculated how many rolls to shoot, what type of film would work best for the lighting and environment, and how many disposable cameras to distribute. Some moments called for more documentation, while others were better captured sparingly.
I paced the cameras carefully and gently guided guests on when and how to use them so they would last across the entire trip. The goal was to let the photos unfold naturally while still ensuring we captured the full story of the week.
Night One: Pizza and a Late Arrival
We arrived late the first night, tired from travel but excited to finally be in Italy. Instead of easing into the trip quietly, the group went straight to a small pizza spot next to our villa.
Within minutes it felt like we had been there for days. The locals were hilarious, the wine kept appearing, and the tables filled with pizza after pizza. It was the perfect first glimpse into the kind of week we were about to have — relaxed, chaotic, joyful, and full of laughter.
Day Two: Exploring the Ruins and the Town
The next day we explored the area and visited nearby ruins, wandering through ancient stone columns and wide open fields. The light that time of year is incredibly soft, and everything had that warm autumn glow that film handles so beautifully.
We spent the rest of the day exploring the town, grabbing coffee, and getting to know the slower rhythm of life in the area.
Night Three: Pizza Night at the Villa
The following night, the pizza came to us.
A local pizza maker came to the villa and taught everyone how to make pizza from scratch. Flour was everywhere, people were attempting to toss dough with varying levels of success, and every few minutes another perfectly charred pizza came out of the wood oven.
It turned into one of those nights that feels both chaotic and cozy — the kind of memory that disposable cameras were made for.
Rehearsal Dinner: Monopoly Night
For the rehearsal dinner, Kimia planned something completely unexpected: Monopoly night.
Guests split into teams and competed around long tables while we took photos of each group. It quickly turned into loud debates, alliances, and people passionately defending their fake real estate empires.
It was the perfect reflection of the week — playful, a little competitive, and full of personality.
The Wedding Day
For the wedding day, Kimia gave me a specific assignment: focus on the moments around the wedding rather than the ceremony itself.
She asked me to photograph the morning getting ready with her friends and family, and then later document the cocktail hour, dinner, and party. Because I was also standing beside her as one of her best friends during the American ceremony and the Sofreh Aghd ceremony, she had another photographer capturing those moments and her portraits digitally.
That allowed me to stay present for the ceremony while still documenting the atmosphere of the day — the hugs during cocktail hour, the way the tables looked as the sun went down, and the kind of dance floor moments that only happen when everyone feels like family.
Why This Gallery Feels Different
This project created a gallery that feels a little less polished and a lot more real.
Some photos are perfectly composed. Others are blurry, crooked, or taken mid-laugh by someone who had never used a disposable camera before. But together they create something incredibly honest — a layered, guest-level perspective of an entire wedding week.
For Kimia and Josh, it’s a timeless collection of memories from the people who were actually there experiencing it alongside them.
And for me, it was one of the most special projects I’ve ever been part of.
I would love to document another wedding week like this again.
“I hired Eden as the photographer for my wedding week in Italy, and to put it simply—Eden is the best! Eden has an incredible ability to make you feel comfortable and confident in front of the camera, to the point where you almost forget it’s there. The result is the most beautiful, candid shots of you and the ones closest to you that you can imagine—she’s so gifted at capturing the in-between moments and those have become the photos I cherish the most.
Eden has an eye for beautiful moments - she can see things others don’t. She’s adept at reading the room and seeing what’s needed from her in any given moment—if she needs to command the room and curate the moment, she can. If she needs to stand back and take photos while everyone is simply living in the moment, she can do that too. But it’s rare to find a photographer who can assess the current energy in a room, see what’s needed and act on it. You won’t need to give her instructions—the magic comes from when Eden takes control. As a bride, this is the dream scenario! You get to be present in the moment and rest assured you can fully enjoy your wedding knowing you’re in Eden’s competent hands.
Lastly, I want to underscore that Eden is a superwoman of sorts (she can literally do anything) so for any life event I have in the future, I know she’s the photographer I’ll have on speed dial. But the best thing about Eden isn’t just her amazing photography skills (which, as you can see, is next level incredible), it’s her beautiful soul, inside and out. It’s the exact energy you want by your side during your biggest moments. She has an infectious happiness and a true inner kindness that radiates outwards and can make even the most stoic person melt into a softie on camera. What more could you ask for?! ”
