We are all doing our best to practice our patience now with weddings and delayed trips and it is stories like these that remind us to stay on track…
Susana and Asterios went to the other side of the pond together for a year, got engaged and got married within 48 hours at the Chicago City Hall, and six years after got married in a church in Greece with their little daughter.
And while the wait may seem long to many, the day was definitely worth it. Getting married in a traditional Greek chapel and partying by the pool on the cliffs of Halkidiki, this wedding scene is about as dreamy as Greek weddings can be!
Destination
In the summer after our wedding at the town hall, we went hunting in Greece. We visited Santorini and Halkidiki. I fell in love with Villa Galini. The view was breathtaking. I began to imagine my marriage. Simple, elegant and let the view of Vila Galini take care of the rest.
I discussed this during our first conversation with Konstantina from soo Events, my wedding planner. I wanted an elegant wedding with unique white details to contrast the sapphire view of the ocean. I wanted a saxophonist and a pianist at the reception. And most importantly, I wanted my friends to have a good time. We started the festivities with a boat trip on Thursday, a dinner on Friday and a wedding on Saturday. It was the 3 most beautiful days with our friends and family.
Planning and design
We designed our wedding design to blend in with the villa and its elegance, so Konstantina has created a mood image for us, with completely white and gold details, with refined and timeless designs that give a feeling of luxury.
We started to implement all these details in our suite of wedding invitations, which turned out to be spectacular. Our graphic designers have created white cards with a pressed sheet of golden letters, an almond colored envelope and a gold wax seal stamp with our customized logo. They also designed and created beautiful matching welcome boxes with our logo on the cover, which included traditional Greek treats such as mastiha liqueur, sesame deserts and honey for all our guests traveling from abroad.
Favorite moments
I love creating memorable moments for my guests and making sure they have as much fun as I do. My wedding was elegant and romantic. Our closest friends were there to celebrate our special day and I couldn’t have jumped for a more beautiful wedding. I think the best part of my marriage was our first Naser. I wanted it to be magical and unforgettable. I chose “There For me” – Sarah Bightman ft Jose Curra. In the 2.42 minute of the crescendo chorus, we had flares in the background.
Flower
For flowers, we decided to choose white peonies for my wedding bouquet and a selection of white flowers for floral compositions such as roses, hydrangeas, orchids, lysianthus and others. After the ceremonies, our guests arrived at the villa and were greeted by our welcome sign, our room plan and a dessert table full of goodies.
We have selected round tables with cream damask sheets, white Tiffany chairs and gilded metal stands with white flower arrangements for our guest tables. We wanted our family table to stand out, so our wedding planner suggested a long white table with a wooden frame filled with flowers at the top. Our dishes were all white with a gold border and our cutlery was vintage and golden.
Photography and Videography
The wedding day will pass very quickly. I wanted a photographer and videographer to capture our special moments for eternity. My wedding planner gave me a list of photographers she had worked with in the past, and my husband and I looked at their portfolios. I knew that I wanted my photos to be bright, stylish and with attention to detail. When I saw Paul’s work and attention to detail, I knew I wanted him as a photographer. In retrospect, I would have liked to go into more detail about the pictures I would have liked to have taken.
The same goes for the video. We examined various videographer works. Yanni Hood’s videos were timeless and that was what I was looking for in a videographer.
Advice For other couples
Our best advice for a destination wedding is to start planning EARLY. Book your date, wedding planner, venue, photographer and videographer as soon as possible. Our hectic schedule only allowed us to start planning our wedding less than 6 months before the wedding day. Some of our very good friends had already planned and booked their summer vacation, so they could not attend our wedding.
In addition, if you have problems with one of the providers, you will have time to change the details or negotiate. Fortunately, our wedding planner took care of every detail, from logistical issues to creative issues, and made sure we had the wedding of our dreams.
The day will pass so quickly that it will be over before you know it. Having a timeline of the day was very helpful to us, although we couldn’t fully stick to it, and I was after for the wedding ceremony – the typical bride. If you are preparing in a place other than your hotel room, make sure you pack your bags the day before. If you have a toddler, as we did, make sure you have a nanny for the day.
Last but not least, the most important piece of your wedding at the destination is a wedding planner. We were constantly looking for a planner when we came across Konstantina from soo Events. We saw her work and immediately knew that we wanted to work with her. Some of our decisions therefore had to go beyond our original budget, but we still talked to our planner about how to organize the wedding of our dreams while keeping the costs as much as possible below our renewed budget. If you have a great planner, as we did, it will make the simple things perfect, beautiful and unique.
