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Jennifer and Shawn’s Italian Countryside Wedding

When I first saw WPIC alumni Jennifer LaVie’s wedding on Facebook last year I was floored! She has this magic touch to make everything she does stand out and does it in such a way that it is romantic, unique and different than anything else I have seen. Prince Edward Island is lucky to have her and her company, Kiss the Bride.

Her very own wedding in the Italian countryside gave me goosebumps and I practically begged her to let us feature it (okay, okay I really and truly did beg her). If romance, sunsets and true love are your thing, then this one’s for you!

Congratulations, and thank you for allowing us to share your gorgeous wedding and heartfelt words with us, Jennifer and Shawn!

“Going to Italy has been a dream of mine for a long time, and I assumed that it was a long way off.  I certainly never thought I’d get to go for something as amazing as photographing a wedding.  Shawn & Jennifer are a very lovely, genuine couple, so to travel to such an incredible place to photograph the wedding of such an incredible couple literally was a dream come true for me.  I am so grateful to have been invited along to be a part of their beautiful wedding adventure in Italy.” -Heather Wilkinson of Heather Wilkinson Photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

“A lot of people questioned us when we decided to get married so far away from home. It wasn’t easy, but it was definitely worth it. We had a ton of stressful paperwork to endure for the legality of being married in Italy as well as through the church. We struggled against language barriers, culture differences, time zones. We delayed the wedding for over a year to allow extra time for everyone to plan and save (including us). In short, it felt like we waited a decade. We now look back at that time with so much happiness. It was absolutely the most amazing 3.5 weeks of our lives. Side note – thank you to my mom who at times literally pulled me through days where I thought I couldn’t endure the stress any more.

Still to this day we get asked “why Italy?” Our answer is “why not?”. We knew we wanted to have a destination wedding from day one. Shawn proposed the day before we went on a huge family vacation to The Dominican Republic, so that set the theme pretty quickly. For someone who had been working in the wedding industry for 8 years, it was going to be a challenge for me to break away from work mode & separate the two worlds. We literally made a list of our top places, did the research and Italy won. At first we had our hearts set on The Amalfi Coast (hello have you seen that place?) After a bit more research Tuscany was slightly in the lead. Then I surprised Shawn with two tickets to Italy for his birthday in the fall of 2014. We used that time to explore and visit different places all over the country. When we arrived to the medieval town of Petritoli, which was neither in Tuscany or the Amalfi Coast, it was instant – we were in love.
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

We had driven all night and were so tired when we arrived, but were greeted by the two most gracious hosts imaginable, treated to a meal fit for a king and given two nights complimentary accommodation in their Palazzo. We stayed in a total of 5 different places, but Petritoli was the only place we stayed for 2 nights. When we left, Shawn kept asking “do we have to go to the next place?”, but I insisted that we give every place a fair shot. Though the last destination was the only real contender to the Palazzo, we found ourselves researching info on Petritoli while we were visiting this lovely countryside hamlet. That was pretty telling to us. I remember putting my iPad down, looking at Shawn and saying “what am I doing?”. We just knew. We could not wait to get back. Any one of our guests who joined us will tell you that Petritoli is simply enchanting. Waking up every morning to the most spectacular views of the rolling hills, mountains and other hilltop towns in the distance is beyond words.” 
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

js shawn

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

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Heather Wilkinson | photographer

 “I had our stationery designer make a card in which I wrote a letter to Shawn for the morning of the wedding. Rumour has it there was a tear or two.”
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

“I also had a personalized leather Bible made for him with our names and date, as a wedding gift.”
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Heather Wilkinson | photographer

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Heather Wilkinson | photographer

 “I remember being so excited as the clock approached 4:00. I couldn’t wait to get down to the church, even though we had a crazy walk down steep cobblestone hills to get there (errr, did you see those shoes?). I wanted to run down! Thanks to my posse, I made it without even a wobble.”
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

 “The ceremony was beautiful, I will never forget Shawn’s face when he first saw me. Ever. Or the words that he said to me when I reached him at the top of the aisle. My fellow brides – are you with me? Is this not the most memorable moment ever?”
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

js jennifer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

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Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

 “Shawn also said some very sweet words to Victoria during the ceremony and we surprised her with a rose gold engraved locket. I don’t think there was one dry eye in the house.  
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Afterward, we had local dancers perform outside of the church, which is a tradition in Italy (we tried to follow as many of their traditions as possible as we wanted an authentic experience). Our guests still comment on how this was the best surprise. Shawn was right in there with them, high kicks and all.”
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

“They led us down into our cocktail, a sweet multi-level space overlooking more stunning countryside views, where we had Italian bellinis, lots of food and hand made local gelato from a vintage cart. Sooo good.” 
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

 “As our guests enjoyed cocktail, we eventually left to take photos. While driving, we passed this random field, and hit the brakes when we saw the most stunning sunset view over the hillside imaginable.” 
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

 “Needless to say we stopped and snapped some photos in this field. We had to get up onto a little hill by foot and I had to take my shoes off (thanks Heather for lending me your flip flops and photographing barefoot to get the shot). I remember Shawn pushing me up onto the top of the hill while our photographers pulled me. Oh the things we do.”
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

“My favourite photo came from this place though. My favourite moment, unscripted. Just us, taking it all in and enjoying an embrace.” 
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

“Our favourite quote, from Ruth 1:16 “Where you go I will go, where you stay I will stay” was placed on the back of our chairs. This past January, we each got a part of the verse tattooed on our arms.” #crazy
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

“Our guests received locally made, organic olive oil in vintage bottles to take home. We also followed Italian tradition and incorporated rosemary which is meant to be a sign of good luck.
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Heather Wilkinson | photographer

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Heather Wilkinson | photographer

We ate al fresco in front of the landmark “Tre Archi” (three arches) & enjoyed some live Italian music.”
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“During dinner, Shawn surprised everyone (especially me) by playing a song that he had written, sung and recorded for me as a wedding gift. What, you didn’t believe me that he was incredible? Told you. It was the most romantic thing I could have imagined. More tears. It was beautiful. 
We ended the night dancing to his song.” 
Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

Heather Wilkinson | photographer

 “The experience at times really did feel like a fairytale, but for me the blessing to marry the man I married was the biggest fairytale of all.” 
Shoes: Badgley Mishka
Grooms Shoes: Vince Camuto
Dress: The Handmade Bride
Groom’s suit: Moores

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Associates

The Wedding Planners Institute of Canada

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Phone: 416.390.9292
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