Real wedding – Yasmin & Eric, Tuscany ITALY
When a heartfelt, perfectly poetic proposal takes place on a remote beach in the Maldives, the wedding is bound to be similarly breathtaking. And so it was for Yasmin and Eric, who chose a Tuscan villa to celebrate.
Placing priority on having their guests stay with them, the music being amazing, and the photographer epic (enter – legendary Tess Follett), Yasmin and Eric created a guest-focused weekend of celebration, which looks beautifully effortless and feels stunningly impactful.
When the venue architecture and views are this elite, styling is about artful enhancement, building to a look of timeless elegance in blush, white and neutral tones, with hints of lemon.
From the love-filled, light-hearted ceremony to the effervescent aperitivo and celebratory fireworks, this is one incredible celebration – scroll on to enjoy it all.
The meeting.
We met through mutual friends at a café I was working at six years ago. We exchanged numbers and spent the summer dating and falling in love.
The one.
We never had that moment of knowing we were ‘the one’ for one another; it was more like a summer of falling more and more in love with one another each day, we have been inseparable ever since.
The proposal.
We were on holiday in the Maldives and on the day Eric proposed to me we had been snorkelling. Later in the afternoon we went for a couples massage which Eric had arranged. I had noticed his pocket looked a little fuller than normal, but hadn’t thought too much of it. After the spa treatment, which I found very relaxing, Eric, less so, we walked out onto the beach, and Eric led me to a remote part of the beach. As we were walking there, I had butterflies, I didn’t know Eric was going to propose, but somehow, I knew something was going on. We were being cute, watching the sunset, taking photos and cuddling, when I said to Eric, ‘where shall we go to next?’ Thinking, nowhere could top this! Eric after quite a few moments responded, ‘to the rest of our lives’, so I said, ‘I’ll go to the rest of my life with you.’ At which point Eric took my hands, dropped down on one knee, and asked me to marry him. I was so surprised and excited, and it was an easy YES! We got to enjoy the rest of the week in that heavenly place, in a little love bubble.
Planning process.
I already had an album of inspiration saved before we got engaged, so when Eric popped the question, I already knew which venue and photographer we wanted. We discussed which aspects were most important to us, for us that was the venue and for most guests to be able to stay on site, the photographer and music. We booked our vendors relatively quickly. There’s a fantastic platform called La Lista for couples getting married in Italy, which provided us with a timeline of what we needed to organise and when, which was so helpful and kept us on track. They also have an online community of many other people planning their wedding that you can bounce ideas around with and ask advice from. There were months that felt like non-stop planning, and other times where we’d done everything we needed to by that point and could relax.
We would set aside an hour every weekend to discuss everything to do with the wedding, and we had a date night with a bottle of wine to choose the songs for the wedding, which I totally recommend!
In the lead-up to the big day, we flew to Italy two weeks before the wedding day, so we tried to have everything completed by then. Unfortunately, some things out of our control went wrong, which meant it wasn’t as carefree as we’d hoped, but ultimately, the days leading up to the wedding were relaxing and exciting. We had a welcome event the night before the wedding with everyone, where we had a band playing Italian folk music, and dinner, and it was the funnest way to kick off the celebrations.
Style inspiration.
Laid back, fun, and stunningly effortless style, elegant and timeless, chic with a lively atmosphere.
The wow factor was the view, so we didn’t feel the need to go overboard with flowers for the ceremony. For the table décor, I wanted blush, white and neutral tones for flowers and candles. I wanted it to be classy and elegant, and I feel our florist achieved that. I found it useful to make PowerPoint presentations that showcased my vision to the vendors, particularly because we live in Canada, and the vendors are in Italy.
I loved looking at real weddings on Ivory tribe and Instagram, particularly for décor inspiration. Instagram was a great resource, but also made me question my decisions from time to time. It’s easy to compare and think you need more, or something different, but you don’t!
The ceremony.
Our ceremony felt so special. I was nervous because there was a little downpour earlier in the day, but luckily, we were able to go ahead outside with a gorgeous view of the Tuscan hills. The ceremony felt so personal to us, the celebrant did an amazing job at telling our story. My friend sang me down the aisle, and our family did some readings. It was so special for us to look around and see all the people we love the most witnessing that moment.
The outfits.
I had the loveliest experience dress shopping with my sister-in-law. When I first tried on the Salacea dress by Chosen By Kyha, I had the cliché feeling of knowing it was the one. I tried it on first, and every dress I tried on after that just didn’t live up to it. I liked that it wasn’t the typical style of wedding dress we’ve seen so many times before.
Eric went to Blair Shapera in Vancouver and enjoyed the experience of choosing from different materials, inside lining, the cut, the lapels, it was made to measure and then tailored in store. In the end he chose a classic black tux and I’d never seen him look more handsome!
Favourite moments.
When we danced into the reception, everyone was dancing and waving their napkins in the air! We had so much fun, it was such high energy, we danced with everyone before we sat down to dinner. It really set the tone for the rest of the night, and so many people said that was the highlight for them, too!
Meaning of marriage.
Two people wanting to be a witness to each other’s lives. To declare that we are committed to one another, and no matter what life throws at us, we will be there to support each other. We have been deeply committed to each other for a long time, and getting married seemed like the perfect way to celebrate that.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: My friend Esther sang a slowed down version of Simply the Best by Noah Reid
Recessional: Higher by Jackie Wilson
Signing: My cousins sang a rendition of Let’s Stay Together by Al Green
Reception entry: A mix of Beyonce Cuff It and Abba Gimme Gimme Gimme!
Cake cutting: Ai No Corrida by Quincy Jones
First dance: Take My Heart by The Teskey Brothers
Funny stories (or near disasters).
A week before the wedding, Eric’s mum fell and broke her knee so couldn’t fly to Italy, and sadly missed the wedding. This was obviously upsetting, but also meant there were a lot of last-minute changes that needed to be made, such as who would be staying at the villa, the seating chart and transportation. You can plan your heart out, but there will always be something out of your control.
The main thing that didn’t go according to plan on the day, was that because of the rain earlier in the day, our aperitivo was set up inside rather than outside. Nobody noticed, or cared, but in my opinion, it affected the flow of the aperitivo.
Planning surprises.
I really loved every aspect of wedding planning; it was such a lovely experience!
We wanted our wedding to be a very guest-centric wedding, which meant that my mind was constantly full of wedding admin. I didn’t expect it to take up quite so much space in my mind!
Words of wisdom.
If little things go wrong, don’t worry about it; nobody else will notice!
Get a videographer! We almost didn’t, and I’m soooo glad we did!
Be organised and keep a spreadsheet for budget and payments; it will make everything much easier.
Try to have everything completed two weeks before the wedding day, so in the run-up to your wedding day, you can be calm and just enjoy it all.
Last words.
Seeing as everyone travelled to Italy for the wedding, we arranged a welcome event the evening before and a pool party the day after, this was so worth it! We had a small-ish wedding, and I still felt like I didn’t get enough quality time with all our guests. Having the extra events was so fun and meant we got to connect with everyone a little bit more.
Looking for more destination wedding inspiration? See our internation real weddings collection for real couple experiences.
YASMIN & ERIC’S VENDORS
Instagram and La Lista were the two biggest resources for finding vendors. La Lista has a catalogue of vendors in Italy they recommend, so the caterer, videographer, MUA, florist, musicians and transport were all found through their directory. Our photographer, Tess, I already followed on Instagram. We were so fortunate to work with the most amazing vendors; everyone was fantastic and made the whole wedding the success that it was!
Ceremony & reception venue: Villa Il Pozzo, Tuscany.
Celebrant: Cristina from TWO
Photography: Tess Follett. Photography extraordinaire! Tess was the first vendor we hired after securing the venue and we were thrilled she was able to make the journey to Italy. It was a dream having her photograph our special day.
Videography: DFilms
Florist: L’Oasi
Wedding co-ordinator: Wiskow & White
Hair & make-up: Linda Lynn MUA
The dress: Chosen by Kyha – Salacea Dress
Veil: Toni Federici Veils
Shoes: Loeffler Randall – Dahlia Blue Pleated Bow Heel
Rings: Jean Dousset
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Shona Joy
Suits: Blair Shapera
Bow ties / ties: Dion
Catering: Class Ricevimenti. They were a standout vendor as everything was just so delicious, and they came around to serve seconds, so everyone was so full!
Bar: We provided the drinks and hired two local barmen to help serve the drinks.
Favours: Postcards designed by Yasmin’s uncle Stoten Art with handwritten messages
Cake: Millefoglie by Class Ricevimenti We got to help decorate the cake which was fun!
Stationery / Signage: Esther Shelley Design
Entertainment: Omero & Friends
Transport: Rocco
Honeymoon: Sardinia
