My ideal wedding in Greece

Credits: Erin Hearts Court, Marianne Taylor Photography, Mark Brooke, Linda Chaja, Docuvitae, Raya Carlisle Photography, Meg Baisden Photography, Meg Baisden Photography

To make a refreshing change, I thought that I would post an inspiration board that I put together that sums up what I consider to be important when planning a wedding in Greece.

First of all, we have the location, if you get this right, then the rest of the planning will more or less fall into place, so for me an open air venue/garden location preferably overlooking the sea is ideal!

We then add, fairy lights overhead, hundreds of candles, a bar with inspirational cocktails and of course some great food and you have the recipe for the perfect wedding, according to me!

Now some people may feel that seafood and fillets are the way to go for a wedding and I do get this concept and in some ways support it, however I am not certain that this is what I would want for my own wedding! I feel that my guests may feel as though they would have to be on their best behaviour, when what I want is a real party atmosphere with some elegant touches to distinguish from a simple party!

So I have added chips in cones to my inspiration board, I guess the ideal would be a souvlaki and chips stand and an Italian chef making pizzas in another corner! Simple, good quality food that will fill everyone up and is easy to eat! It is also very welcome after several hours of drinking and partying!

I did forget to mention that my ideal wedding reception has no sit down meal, it is a stand up affair with some comfy cushion corners for those that want to lounge for part of the evening!

For entertainment I would ideally combine a live band followed by a DJ, let me tell you that I am not referring to a live Greek band, as I find them entertaining for around 20 minutes only and then start to get a headache, no we are talking about a pop/rock band.

The drinks would start with champagne cocktails for the first hour and continue with mojitos and caipiroscas, eventually this would have to lead into the classic Greek bar arrangement where you open several bottles of liquor and mix your own drinks!

The fashion is perhaps the foggiest part of this "ideal" wedding, as having a degree in fashion, I have very strong opinions on what I do and don't like, I guess this would include a lot of trial and error, although I am certain that I would avoid any meringue shaped dresses and go for something that would be considered by most a very simple dress! Absolutely no to a veil, gloves and especially the pointy white satin shoes that I see a lot of brides in!

For the men, I am more open to options here, although I would like to see them go for something quite fashion forward with skinny ties and some colour to complement the overall colour scheme!

I am considering creating several moodboards with my "ideal" weddings and would appreciate hearing from you on which style appeals most!

Greek favour ideas for wedding's abroad in Greece

Todays post is a little different from the theme of posting weddings that SP Weddings has organised over the past in Greece. I thought I would showcase some ideas of how to use local products as favours. I have found that guests love receiving a small gift from the country that they have travelled to and if you use locally produced items, the favour becomes even more authentic and memorable to your guests.

Small (or large) bottles of your favourite Greek wine, perhaps the one that you have chosen to serve at your wedding reception is a lovely keepsake for your guests to take away with them.

Consider customising the label with your names, the wedding date and location of the wedding for a more personal touch.

Greek coffee, this is the perfect favour for those that love coffee, easy to transport back home and a product that you will use again and again!

Consider providing personalised instructions on how to make the "perfect" cup of Greek coffee!

www.loumidisfoods.com

Olive oil is of course associated with Greece and a very useful favour that all your guests will appreciate receiving and certainly use when they return home!

You could include a personalised note on where and how the specific oil has been made or a couple of Greek recipes that feature olic oil quite prominently.

Mastiha is a product you may or may not have heard of, grown only on the island of Chios, this is basically a delicious tree sap that has been made into many products, you can find beauty products as well as edible items. Mastiha in it's best known form is like a chewy, very sweet paste that you take a spoon of and dip in ice cold water, you then slowly consume the paste with the water!! Sounds strange but is actually very enjoyable!
Of course I would recommend adding a note explaining how to consume this product!

www.mastihashop.gr

Finally most people are aware of the cool cosmetics company called "Korres", started by a Greek this is one of the most succesful companies to emerge in the last few years and can be found around the world with high street stores in New York.

The products are made with natural Greek products and smell and feel amazing!

Consider giving after sun lotion to your guests or perhaps some body lotion with a smell that you love. If you are using herbs or olive leaves in your wedding flowers you can perhaps link this with the product that you choose as the favour for your guests!

www.korres.com

Beautiful Wedding in Filerimos Monastery, Greece

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Today I am featuring a wedding that SP Weddings organised at the beginning of May on a beautiful spring day. The Greek Orthodox wedding took place in a stone built monastery called Filerimos, which is considered one of the must see sites when visiting the island of Rhodes, so of course this is an amazing spot to hold the wedding ceremony!

I love the entrance to the church, up these stone steps amongst the fir trees, it always sets the scene for the prettiest pictures!

The couple opted for a pair of olive trees decorated with fuschia roses for the entrance to the church, I do feel that this setting can take these very bright colours, although white is always so elegant against this background.

 

The ceremony was beautiful, the wedding party consisted of about 35 guests and was the perfect size for a quiet and intimate ceremony!

The newlyweds leaving the church!

 

 

The reception meal was held at a 5 star hotel in the Ixia area, the restaurant we hired out exclusively, the couple played their own music on CD's that they had brought with them!   The evening ended with the couple cutting their wedding cake and throwing the bouquet!   

 

Whimsical wedding in Stone villa, Rhodes

 
My post today concerns an absolutely lovely couple who I worked with to plan a very special wedding! All the guests were travelling from afar, some from South Africa, some Australia and some from the UK! The couple wanted to create a beautiful setting for their guests to enjoy their day, with really traditional Greek food and many whimsical and rustic elements that complemented their chosen venue!!!

So plenty of fairy lights, coloured candles, rustic wooden chairs, set against crisp white linen tablecloths and lots of handpicked flowers were used to style the venue! The simpler CD player with carefully chosen music from the couple set the tone for the meal and the DJ took on the job of getting everyone on to the dancefloor afterwards.

The civil ceremony was held in the walled courtyard of the house, this ensured complete privacy and was a very plain background that accentuated the brides chosen hot pink colour palette.

The food was served meze style in the centre of each table and the evening started with a bottle of ouzo so everyone could get a taste. Next there was a BBQ of meat and vegetables. Finally the couple chose to serve ice cream in cones which everyone loved and a selection of honey soaked greek pastries in tiny bite sizes.

The evening was a great success and finished with the bridal party going out to get souvlaki in the early hours after all the dancing and then eating it on the terrace until the sun came up!!!! (sigh) just perfect!!!

Photo's By Annie Aggelopoulou!!!!!!!!

A Beautiful Summer Wedding in Athens

Hi All, Yes it has been ages since I last posted, I have been travelling and am preparing some wedding events for close friends, it seems to me that when styling an event for close friends more of my time is taken up, as I not only have to ensure that everything runs smoothly, I also have to ensure that I have blow dried hair, a pretty dress and manicured finger nails!!! This is a challenge I can tell you!!! Anyway, time to post some lovely pictures by my "oh so talented" associate photographer Antonis Giannelis. This wedding took place on the coast of Athens on a very warm summer day, the guests were all extremely well dressed and I absolutely loved that the couple had asked all the men to wear black tie and the men in the bridal party wore white suit jackets to distinguish themselves, it looked really fabulous in the pictures! So, the wedding began with an "unoffical" ceremony outside the chapel located in the venue grounds, the couple were held their official civil ceremony in the town hall close to their home the previous day and wrote their own service which I was asked to perform! It is always a lovely touch to write your own wording, vows and have the service go exactly as you would like! I always find it quite difficult to retain my composure despite having no emotional involvement the atmosphere is always quite emotional and it is contageous, most people have tears in their eyes, the bride and groom are sometimes sobbing and I have to continue the service and try my best to show no emotion! I have to say that I have managed it each time! So after the wedding, guests were invited to have a champagne cocktail, family pictures and finally sat down to dinner just before sunset! After the meal there was dancing which literally went on until dawn when the groom and most of his guests jumped into the sea!! I loved the colour palette that the bride chose, it is so fresh and complements the natural setting perfectly!!!! We decided to ignore the connotations that the yellow rose has (it is meant to mean hatred) and used eucalyptus leaves as the main foliage in the bouquet, I love the colour green, it is quite muted almost silvery and smells lovely when cut!!! By far my favourite greenery for in arrangements! How wonderful is this image????? Gives you an idea of what it feels like to be a bride and groom standing at the alter!!!!