Olivia + Kyle by Studio Chloe David - Together Journal

We love simplicity, and wanted to keep focus on the natural beauty we were surrounded by, highlighting all the earthy tones.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

Kyle is a corporate lawyer in Toronto, and I have been working in social media + content creation for over 8 years, recently starting an event content creation business with my friend, called Olive Ave Content. You can check us out on instagram @oliveavecontent. We both LOVE to travel (especially to Italy), and have been going for the past 4 years together 🙂

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We first met when we were 16 years old at a summer camp close to Montreal, Quebec. Later that year, our families ended up staying at the same resort in Mexico over the December holidays, and that’s where it all began. We dated for a bit when we were 17 (trying that whole long distance daily iChat and constant BBM’ing), with a couple of visits here and there, rekindling that next summer. We lost touch towards the end of high school, but ended up attending the same university in Ontario. Given that we had the same friend group at this point, we were often in each other’s company, but our timing for each other never really aligned. Fast forward a few years after graduation, Kyle was in Law school out east and would come back to visit Toronto here and there. And one of those visits, we rekindled yet again, and here we are!

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

I knew from when we first started seriously dating that this was it.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).

We love simplicity, and wanted to keep focus on the natural beauty we were surrounded by, highlighting all the earthy tones. Candle lighting adorned the long table, creating a warm, inviting atmosphere, adding that romantic element to our day. For the florals, I wanted to stay within that green, creamy, earthy tone vibe, and our first, Caterina Ruggieri, captured our vision perfectly. She built us the most beautiful chuppah adorned with hydrangeas, anthuriums, and so many more. For my bouquet, I wanted it to be on the smaller side and not overpower the dress, so we did some calla lilies, anthuriums and amaranthus.

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

It was the olive grove for us – being surrounded by all of these old, beautiful trees is exactly what we envisioned, and everything fell into place from there.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

I am a very visual person, so building pinterest boards to create my own vision for my wedding, and then actually making that a reality, was such a fun process. Definitely do your vendor research. There are so many talented vendors out there, but finding the right ones that understand you, your vision and being surrounded by people that make you feel comfortable and happy on your day is most important.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?

I bought the first dress I tried on and knew it was the one right away. I saw it online in yellow, and then searched to find it in ivory – luckily, I did, and found a clothing store nearby that sold the brand, went in and tried it on and bought it! I took it to a dress maker to have it fit perfectly, but it was the most seamless process for me 🙂

What was one, or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

We were determined to find a venue with an olive grove that would accommodate up to 100 guests, and one that would have room capacity for our immediate families. Don Luigi checked both those boxes, and so much more! We were also excited about the idea that we would be visiting a new region, and our guests wouldn’t be able to say no to a trip to southern Italy. We also wanted to find a photographer whose style we loved, both his/her style and who we would be comfortable shooting with all weekend. Our photographer, Chloe David, was the first vendor we booked, and we couldn’t have been happier! Chloe captured every emotion so candidly and made us feel so calm and comfortable in front of the camera. She seamlessly fit into the wedding weekend, capturing the most beautiful moments of us and our guests (who also raved about her!). Chloe has a genuine sincerity and warmth to her, which makes her feel like a close friend and not just an ordinary photographer.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

Luckily, nothing did! Our wedding planner, Valentina, was truly a miracle worker and made the process as seamless as possible, despite our major time change (she was actually in Australia the majority of our planning). We made all of our decisions without ever having been to Puglia, and we are so grateful to have found Valentina to guide us through it all.