91Ƶ

Skip to content

Retired B.C. teacher gets invite to Property Brother wedding in Italy

Drew Scott and his fiance Linda Phan say 91ƵI do91Ƶ during week-long celebration in Puglia
12319494_web1_180612-MRN-M-linda-mothers-day
Linda Phan and Nina Fowell at the Mother91Ƶs Day tea. (Contributed)

It91Ƶs rare that an elementary school teacher is invited to a former student91Ƶs wedding.

But in a little village in southern Italy on May 12, retired teacher Nina Fowell was there with tears in her eyes to see Drew Scott and his long-time girlfriend, Linda Phan, tie the knot.

Drew and his twin brother Jonathan are best known for the Canadian television series Property Brothers, on which they help couples find fixer-uppers and transform them into dream homes. Most recently, Drew was featured on Dancing With The Stars.

The ceremony took place in Piazza del Borgo, between Bari and Brindisi in Puglia, along the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Guests stayed at the Borgo Egnazia. The wedding was featured in People magazine.

Fowell taught the Maple Ridge brothers, including their older brother JD, in her Grade 6/7 class at Yennadon elementary.

91ƵA connection with a Grade 7 teacher is very special,91Ƶ Fowell said.

91ƵThe reason I like teaching that grade is because there is so much going on in their lives at that age. Their bodies are changing, their school is changing, who they are is at a point of growth,91Ƶ she explained, adding at that stage, the twins were hard to tell apart.

All three of them, she said, were creative.

They came up with their own company, called JAM, which stood for Jon, Andrew and mom, and they were always entrepreneurial.

When they left elementary school, the brothers went to Maple Ridge secondary before Thomas Haney secondary.

91ƵWhen they hit high school, they really became their own guys,91Ƶ said Fowell.

91ƵDrew was into basketball, he wanted to teach basketball in high school, and Jon became Jonathan Silver, the illusionist, and wore black and the bling,91Ƶ Fowell added.

But during that time they never forgot their favourite teacher.

When Fowell retired, they sent her a video congratulating her. She still has it on her phone, and she played it for the guests during the wedding reception.

91ƵBecause they said they weren91Ƶt going to kiss with the glass banging, you had to talk about some embarrassing moment and so this was mine. It was a visual,91Ƶ she said.

It starts off with JD saying: 91ƵYou taught Jon, Drew and I so much over the years. Me, personally, you were the first teacher I ever connected with.

Then Jonathan pipes in with: 91ƵFor me, you were an inspiration. You just taught me never to give up and always follow my dreams91Ƶ.

Suddenly, Drew steps into the frame, wearing a black wig, bright pink blush on his cheeks in a bikini top, skirt and headband, saying, 91ƵAnd you were a real inspiration for me too Nina. An inspiration in ways words don91Ƶt describe.91Ƶ

91ƵThe sound wasn91Ƶt great at the wedding when they showed it, but Jon said afterwards: 91ƵNow there91Ƶs a picture that will be stuck in your mind forever.91Ƶ91Ƶ

Fowell took her friend Brenda Jenkins to the wedding as a guest. It took three flights to get there and three to get back.

The wedding celebration was a week of events, starting with bachelor and bachelorette parties, a welcoming dinner, the wedding and, finally, a Mother91Ƶs Day tea.

Fowell remembers the food.

91ƵFor every four people, they would bring you four of something,91Ƶ Fowell said of the karaoke-style bachelorette party.

91ƵAnd they would just keep coming and coming and coming.91Ƶ

At the welcoming dinner, there were booths with meats, cheeses, salads and deserts.

Just before the meal, Drew and Linda thanked their 300 guests for coming. Drew specifically mentioned Fowell and his former basketball coach from Thomas Haney, Mike Shannon, who was also present, and Linda mentioned some of her high school friends.

91ƵI thought, 91ƵOh my God, I got a mention,91Ƶ91Ƶ said Fowell.

The wedding had a traditional menu, but Fowell says, it was extensive and you got served everything.

The Mother91Ƶs Day tea was an outdoor barbecue. The wedding took place in what appeared to be an 800-year-old building, although Fowell said she was surprised to learn it was only eight.

91ƵIt was beautiful and everybody cried, including Linda and Drew. Her dress was gorgeous,91Ƶ said Fowell.

Linda91Ƶs dress was designed by Claire Pettibone and was described in People as having a cathedral-length train with intricate, hand-beaded floral details on the bodice and sleeves and an open back draped in jewels.

Drew wore a Claymore Imports kilt made from Scott tartan in their family91Ƶs signature pattern.

91ƵYou have to be a Scott to wear a Scott tartan,91Ƶ Drew told People magazine.

The first dance started out as a waltz and morphed into a masterpiece choreographed by Drew91Ƶs Dancing With The Stars pro-partner Emma Slater and her husband, Sasha Farber.

The wedding cake will be featured on the June 25 episode of Cake Hunters on the Food Network. It featured vanilla with goat cheese and strawberry balsamic, organic red velvet, carrot and chocolate hazelnut with a butter-cream frosting.

Instead of gifts, the newlyweds asked guests to donate to WE Charity, formerly known as Free The Children, founded by Marc and Craig Kielburger, to provide people in need access to clean water and help build schools for communities in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Fowell, though, decided she still wanted to give them something personal that spoke more to their relationship.

91ƵMy in-laws homesteaded a farm in Brandon, Manitoba back in the late 1800s early 1900s. They actually walked out from Toronto with their oxen and everything,91Ƶ explained Fowell.

On their property, they had a one room schoolhouse for the children.

Fowell91Ƶs gift was the bell that the teacher used to ring to call in the children.

91ƵWell, I was their teacher and I thought that was appropriate,91Ƶ said Fowell.

91ƵThey have a huge family and I thought it would make a great dinner bell.91Ƶ

12319494_web1_180612-MRN-M-the-boys2
Retired elementary school teacher Nina Fowell with the Scott Brothers, from left, Jonathan, Drew and JD, at Drew Scott91Ƶs recent wedding to Linda Phan in Italy. (Contributed)
12319494_web1_the-boys
(Contributed) Retired elementary school teacher Nina Fowell with the Scott Brothers, Jonathan, Drew and JD. They were at Drew91Ƶs recent wedding to Linda Phan in Italy.


Colleen Flanagan

About the Author: Colleen Flanagan

I got my start with Black Press Media in 2003 as a photojournalist.
Read more



(or

91Ƶ

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }