PHOTOS BY KRISTEN WYNN PHOTOGRAPHY

When Brian Met Caitlyn

Brian Dunning and Caitlyn Mendicino met about 12 years ago at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where both were studying ballet. They became good friends through a joint program where a mix of high school juniors and seniors and college freshmen and sophomores would dance together. In 2016, they reunited at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in their graduate program, and it was there Cailtyn says it felt like love at first sight when she saw him in the studio. Their friendship started back where it had left off years before and became a relationship.

She Said Yes

From 2018 to 2021, Brian and Caitlyn dated long distance, as Brian was dancing for Dayton Ballet in Ohio and Caitlyn was dancing for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. One weekend in October 2020, Brian came to Caitlyn’s parents’ house in Armstrong County for a visit. There, he proposed at a pond where her grandfather used to go fishing in a special and intimate moment. “My mom was watching from her kitchen windows with her binoculars,” says Caitlyn.

The Big Day

When Caitlyn’s parents got married, they chose to have a winter wedding. To pay homage to this, the couple wanted their own to be near Christmastime, settling on a New Year’s Eve date.

Brian recalls being quite nervous that day, but the moment he saw Caitlyn, it all went away.

“There was something about seeing her for the first time,” he says. She wore her mother’s wedding gown, shortened to tea length to make it her own. The couple took wedding photos at the top of Mount Washington.

Caitlyn is not only a ballet dancer but also the owner of her own bee-keeping business, Ballerina Bees. Her reception dress had her Ballerina Bees logo embroidered into the skirt’s inside, and bee-inspired desserts made by Caitlyn’s aunt adorned the cookie table.

One of the couple’s favorite moments was when the wedding excitement died down a bit. “The dance is over. The speeches are over. The ceremony is over. Now it’s just us and our friends and family,” says Brian.

Just fewer than 200 people attended the reception, and Caitlyn remembers feeling grateful for having all their loved ones together in one room. “When will that ever happen again?” she says.

Happily Ever After

Brian and Caitlyn live with their cat and dog in Caitlyn’s grandfather’s former house in the South Side Slopes. Caitlyn still dances with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in addition to her bee-keeping business, and Brian is now a retired ballet dancer and is finishing his degree in business administration while managing a Starbucks.

Ceremony Venue St. Mary of the Mount Church, Mount Washington
Reception Venue Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square
Catering Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square
Cake Bethel Bakery
Ceremony Gown Bride’s mother’s dress redesigned by Kathleen Sullivan from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
Reception Gown Sherry Cohen
Make-Up Artist Bride
Shoes Badgley Mischka
Jewelry Borrowed from bride’s mother
Bridesmaid Dresses Azazie
Men’s Formalwear Jos. A. Bank
Rings Brooks Diamonds
Flowers Gidas Flowers
Entertainment DJ Scott Alexander
Linens Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square
Favors Honey from Ballerina Bees
Late Night Food The Pretzel Shop
Invitations The Knot
Transportation Elite Coach Transportation Inc.
Photography Kristen Wynn Photography