We never know what life might throw our way, and this amazing couple decided, despite challenges, to still follow their dreams, and that meant saying “I do” in the hills of Tuscany. Surrounded by family and friend, they celebrated all they’ve overcome together and toasted to a beautiful future. Peter & Veronika captured it all and this love story is not one to be missed – more this way!
From Bride… Evan and I met seven years ago when we were both working at a restaurant – Evan was working as a bartender temporarily and I was paying my way through university. We were friends first and then quickly became more.. after eight months we moved to the city and got our first apartment downtown. We both began our careers doing what we love: Evan as a Construction Manager and myself in Marketing and graphic design. Over the next few years we grew as a couple and as people – we went through great times and some intense personal struggles, but kept the focus on our life together and each other. We would always come out strong no matter what life through at us. Little did we know that it was this mentality that would prove to be extremely helpful when the biggest challenge we would face yet was thrown at us unexpectedly…
Two years ago while working in his dream job as a Construction Superintendent, Evan broke his neck when an improperly secured load of flooring weighing 3500lbs fell off of a delivery truck onto his head and neck. Evan was instantly paralyzed from the shoulders down, and was left without full use of his arms and no use of his hands or legs. He was lucky to have survived his accident without any head trauma. After five months in the hospital and intensive rehabilitation, we began our new life together – although very, very different, nothing changed our outlook on life or how much we love each other. Evan is now confined to a wheelchair and needs 24 hour care and assistance, all of which I do myself as we decided early on we didn’t want to live with nurses and care aids – we wanted to lead normal, private lives!
After Evan returned home from the hospital we packed up our life and moved temporarily to Southern California to attend a world renowned rehabilitation facility for five months in order to help him gain his strength and focus. While we were there, Evan proposed to me at our favourite restaurant in San Diego called Juniper and Ivy – completely by surprise! He had designed my ring himself with Dino at Harlings Jewellers in Vancouver while he was in California – he even had it shipped to California without me knowing with help from his therapist!
We decided to have our wedding in Florence because we had planned a trip to Europe BEFORE his accident happened that we had never been able to do – and we did not want his injury to stop us from visiting all the places we want to go. Our passion together is great food and wine and Florence, Italy was at the top of our list for destinations. We found an amazing wheelchair accessible seven bedroom villa located 45 minutes outside of Florence in the Tuscan countryside called Castel D’Acone, and the rest just fell into place! Our wedding was intimate as we decided to turn the whole thing into a group European vacation with our closest family and friends for the week. The wedding was perfect and our entire week there was like a dream. For our honeymoon we decided to stay in Europe and visited Rome, Barcelona, The South of France and Amsterdam.. and enjoyed every minute of our travels.
We hope to meet other couples from around the world who are going through similar situations as us. We are soon launching a new website soon as a vessel to connect with people we can help, and let others know that you CAN live your life to the fullest as a happy couple – even after devastation and loss.
Photography: Peter & Veronika | Floral Design: Marco Nocchi at Il Giardino Del Re Florist | Wedding Dress: Kathryn Bass Bridal | Bride's Shoes: Aquazzura | Rings: Harlings | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Plum Pretty Sugar | Catering: Giulia Panzariello and Angela Lamarra of Delizia Ricevimenti in Florence | Lighting: Castel D'Acone in Pontassieve | Groom's Attire: Canali | Officiant: Silvia Todini | Wedding Venue: Castel D'Acone in Pontassieve | Decor: Giulia Panzariello and Angela Lamarra of Delizia Ricevimenti in Florence