Wedding Reception in Stunning Location on Rhodes Island

As promised, I am back with the gorgeous photographs of the reception that SP Weddings planned for the lovely couple that travelled all the way from New York to hold their wedding festivities on the island of Rhodes.

The venue was located right on the water front and offered incredible views over the sea!

The colour scheme was crisp white, grey (the groom's favourite colour) and a lively, sunny yellow that really accented the colour palette.

We decided that all the decoration should blend with what was already in existence at the venue, so we used small olive trees on the tables and hung rice lights from the wicker umbrellas.

Lanterns and candles were placed on as many surfaces as possible, creating a romantic atmosphere with diffused light that was just perfect!

This is a view of the venue from afar once it got dark, it looked stunning!

All photos are by Spiros Tsambikakis

A summer wedding at St. Paul's in Rhodes

Good afternoon everyone, I'm sorry for the delay in posting this week, however I am having laptop problems and in the process of moving from one to the other, so it was impossible to log on yesterday!

Today, I am posting a beautiful wedding (one of my all time favourites) that was held on Rhodes island at the picturesque chapel in the bay of St. Paul's in Lindos! This is a setting that many couples choose for their civil wedding, however this couple held their Greek Orthodox wedding here and travelled from New York along with guests from both the US and Karpathos in attendance!

The bride arrived at the church, I thought her gown was so elegant and refined!

I love this picture, the girls were in charge of handing out the parasols to the ladies attending the ceremony, it was so pretty to see all the women taking their seats and using their parasols to shade themselves!

The ceremony took place in the courtyard of the chapel overlooking the water

This is a detail of the kochlaki detail in the ground of the chapel, we had a half wreath placed on it to frame the area where the bride and groom stood to be married, it worked really well and was very pretty for the guests to look at!

I love this image, this is the fun part of Greek Orthodox wedding ceremonies and you can see everyone is enjoying it including the wonderful Priest who is such a lovely person!

I will post the absolutely stunning reception images on Thursday (it is a public holiday here today), it is really worth checking back for them as the setting was truly beautiful!

Loukia, wedding dress designer

Happy Friday everyone!!!

I am finishing the week on a real high, I'm can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel that autumn is coming (no still not reached us here in Greece really), days are drawing in, time to travel, see more of friends and family and plan for next year! I absolutely adore planning weddings and find the creative part of thinking up a concept so exciting, the possibilities are endless and when you start throwing ideas about, you never quite know where it might take you!!!!

So my final post for this wedding fashion week is on the awe inspiring Greek designer Loukia. She is recognised throughout the fashion world and recently had a dress voted as the best dress in the Golden Globes.

She designed a dress for a colleague of mine, that was just so beautiful I can't really put it into words, the dress had a very low back with leaves sewn on made of the same fabric as the dress and there were several leaves sewn on in different parts of the dress to look as though some had fallen off and floated down, it was truly dreamy!

I adore this dress, I love that it looks a little unfinished and there are little bits of lace floating off the spaghetti straps, it makes the model look eatherial!!!

 

Fabulous movement of this dress!

 

Very eccentric!

 

 

For more information visit http://www.loukia.gr/

Greek Wedding Cakes

Today I wanted to explain the pros and cons of choosing a Greek or foreign style wedding cake to serve at the wedding reception.

Greek wedding cake is very creamy, typically there are very thin layers of sponge amongst layers of syrup and cream. The outside is "iced" with more cream and decorated in a style to complement the overal wedding theme or choice of the couple. It is common to have a cake stand with many cakes placed on it, however due to the lightweight style of the cake and the fact that it is not iced, there isn't a way that Greek cakes can form the popular tiered look that most are used to.

It is quite common in these times for Greek couples to want to achieve a modern or what they percieve as a "European" style wedding, so the need has arisen to create tiered cakes with hard icing that resemble those we all see in wedding magazines, however there are two issues with creating these cakes, one is that the Greeks do not actually want cake after their dinner, this is more of an accompaniment to their morning coffee, the second is that a typical Greek wedding has at least 300 guests at the reception, it is extremely difficult to bake enough circular cakes in tiers to feed all these guests. So the chefs in large hotels took on this challenge and found a solution that always makes me smile when I see it being practiced, the create a white cake made of styrofoam, that is then iced and they bake the top tier each time and decorate it as specified by the couple, the bride and groom then cut a piece out of the top tier as is traditional and all the guests get served from sheet cakes (meaning the same flavour cake is cooked in an oblong container).

Increasingly however, you can find bakers who are trying to create "real" wedding cakes, that can be presented in tiers and flavoured as in the rest of the world. We at SP Weddings are in touch with the bakers that we feel are experienced enough to be able to produce a gorgeous and tasty wedding cake in any shape, style or form requested and aim to offer this service around Greece to our clients.

We have created cup cake towers, shot glasses of puddings, traditional fruitcakes and cakes in many different flavours and continue to experiment with new ideas and decoration techniques!

Wedding Dresses on Sale at Pronovias in Kolonaki

Just a quick update to let you know that Pronovias is having a sale of up to 60% off the 2008/9 collection at the Kolonaki showroom until Saturday the 24th of October.

If any brides are interested then follow the link to book an appointment:

http://www.pronovias.com/index_entrada.asp?idioma=gr

Rita Pateroni # 2

Today we are visiting some of Rita's latest fabulous wedding dresses!

I must say that I adore the set up and styling of the pictures and feel that they could sit amongst any International designer happily. I am so pleased to see the quality of photography and website finally improving, as until now most have been abominably poor!

So cute, the sash, the bow on the dog, the roses in the bucket all add to this fabulous set up!

 A Spanish inspired dress with beautiful movement! This would be such a cool dress to dance in! Of course the bride would just "have" to do an Argentinian Tango as her first dance, it would be so fitting!

Another dress with a gorgeous low back, the entire back view is simply beautiful with the tiered, vintage lace and big bow! This is the dress for the bride that is a true romantic at heart!

 

This dress is quite regal, and certainly very Ancient Greece inspired! The bodice is draped, shaped to complement the contours of the body and the skirt fabric is slightly pleated adding to the romance and feather light appearance of this dress!

Fabulous Wedding dresses by Orsalia Parthenis

I am so excited to have seen this fabulous photo shoot of the latest collection of wedding dresses by Orsalia Parthenis! The shoot is exquisite, fashion forward and really inspiring!!!

Wide belt trend, check, turban, very cool, draped dress, gorgeous, I love this look! I think it's so stylish, so wearable and looks extremely comfortable! Ok, so I might draw the line at the turban but I love the styling and the background, sooooo cool!

How cool is this picture? Of course I love the windswept veil and the tiered gown, just gorgeous!

I left my favourite for last, how slinky is this gorgeous long wrap around dress complete with attached veil? I love the hair, the model reminds me of Kate Moss and I simply adore this dress! I would definitely be happy in this style dress on my wedding day!

Costarellos Wedding Gowns

Today we are on a fashion update mission, showcasing some of the most talented Greek  wedding dress designers who really do us proud and prove that there is great talent and creativity in the country!

So over to the beautiful dresses created by Mr. Costarellos.

I think this is my favourite image, the model looks like a fairy with beautiful, transparent wings!!! Ok, I have to agree that most brides will probably not be using this pose on their wedding day, but I do think it is a beautiful dress and can imagine it moving while on the dancefloor. This dress really demonstrates my taste and is certainly something I would choose to wear on my wedding day!

I am really attracted to the bodice of this dress, I think it is so fresh and new, I love that there is no beading, yet it is such a feminine, flowing dress that is cut beautifully!

This is the dress for the modern bride, with it's tiering (an oh so trendy feature of wedding dresses at the moment), I love that the layers use different fabrics so some are shiny and others matte, it creates a really interesting effect with contrasting textures, again another major trend in the fashion world! I do think it is quite Spanish looking as well and very forgiving for those wanting to disguise any small body flaws.

Again and again you will notice that my "thing" is the back of the dress, I just think that it is the area that you can really show off without being too revealing or offending anyone. It is also easy to cover up with a veil or shawl while in church if you feel the back is inappropriate.

Ribbons, ruffles & lace

Credits: Sweet Monday Photography, Dollface Studio, "Sunday Rose" by Monique Lhuillier, "Acapulco" by Watters and Watters, "Adele" by Amsale

I have to say that I am in complete agreement that a girl can only go all out with her fantasies of being a princess, indulging her girly side and just wearing a fairytale dress that would look out of place in all other circumstances!

I am all for going all out and choosing a dress with some completely over the top elements that will make you feel special on your wedding day! Try on many different styles, try some that you might not have even thought of trying, you may just surprise yourself with what you pick!!!! Most of all have fun and ensure that you enjoy every minute of wearing it!

Greek Wedding Dress Designer Tsouranis

This Greek designer shares a similiar vision to myeslf, she likes to keep it simple, use great quality fabrics and crystals (swarovski), pay attention to detail, design, creating clean sillouetes that complement many womens figures.

I personally love the gown in the centre, I think low backs are so pretty and it's actually a view that most people will have of the bride during the ceremony, while she is dancing, so it makes sense to have some intricate detailing on the back of the gown.


Further details on www.tsouranis.gr

Shalimar Bridal Gowns

I absolutely adoooooooooooore the gowns made by Shalimar, they are a little bit hippy, very romantic, and slightly vintagey!

Each bride has an initial consulation to discuss the design and style of the dress, which is handmade and fitted to the bride!

Shalimar is perfect for the woman looking to be comfortable and stand out on her wedding day!

Further details on www.shalimar.gr

Mpomponieres or Favours for weddings in Greece

Hi all,


Following up on yesterday's post regarding Stefana, I have decided to showcase some of my favourite favours that I have come across over the last few weeks. Bobonieres are handed to guests after the ceremony is complete to thank guests for attending and for them to leave with a "sweet taste" in their mouth! The packages usually contain sugared almonds, although in the last few years we have seen a lot more options available, with flavours, chocolate, colours, sweets that look like pebbles (perfect for beach weddings)! The sweets must always be an uneven number, this symbolises that the couple cannot be divided and separated, usually couples choose to have 5 or 7 sugared almonds in their favours.

 

 From top left: liveloula.gr, an-agapas.gr, pountzas.com

e-mpomponiera.gr, pountzas.com, mpomponieres.gr

A thought to keep in mind when choosing your favours is that these can help donate to a charity, the Hamogelo tou Paidiou in Greece is an organisation dedicated to making the lives of abused children better, even if you're one of those couples that cares little about favours yet for some reason "has" to have them, consider sourcing them from a worthwhile source and helping this organisation with it's important humanitarian work!

www.hamogelo-eshop.gr

Choosing your wedding Crowns-Stefana

Picures:  top left, right and lower centre, mymemories.gr, top middle and lower left, thallo.com, bottom right, palladium.com.gr

This is a small collection of some of my favourite stefana collections that are on sale at the moment, I particularly like the pair that look like blades of wheat, the white and yellow gold leaves and the minimal wire strings with occasional crystals on them!

The Stefana symbolise the crowning of the couple and this part of the service is considered the most important of the entire ceremony. Originally the crowns were made of orange blossom, myrtle leaves, later this evolved to something a little more permanent with semiprecious stones and metals, or threads of gold and crimson, which represent the royalty of marriage. The koumbaros (best man) is the person in charge of purchasing and presenting the couple with two crowns joined by a white ribbon, symbolizing the couple's unity. The priest places the crowns on the couple's heads while they face the altar, then the koumbaros swaps the crowns on the couple's heads three times. According to ancient custom, the crowns are to stay with the couple for life (some couples are even buried in them!).

Wedding Shoes, probably my favourite subject!

As some of you may already know, I have a degree in fashion and consider myself quite a stylish person, more than anything hwever I absolutely adore shoes, shoe shopping and of course shoe wearing! It is my belief that your choice of shoes can really make or break an outfit and when is your outfit most important? Of  course on your wedding day!

So over to the board featuring some fantabulous shoes:

Credits: Cheri Pearl
 

I have to admit that overall I am not a fan of red shoes, but have included a pair on this board, and no I am not taking back my statement, I do admit that when used sparingly , red can be pretty, espeically for a winter weddin. Please, please do not match the bouquet to the shoes though, red can look very harsh on white, especially red or burgundy flowers have your florist create a looser arrangement with several types of flowers!

So to sum up, I advise you to have fun with your outfit, don't take it all too seriously and invest in some drop dead gorgeous shoes to ensure that you strut down the aisle and straight on to the dancefloor with style and attitude!

Delicate, Sheer and Sassy Pink Wedding Inspiration

As promised I am posting another creation that I am inspired by, this is completely different than my first board, it is much more "pretty" and girly than the other was and focuses more on the details and bride rather than the overall look!

Credits: Meg Baisden Photography, Lisa Lefkowitz (3), Jose Villa

I love this board because it is so feminine and expresse what every little girl that dreams about her wedding would want! A lot continue wanting this "fluffy" pink wedding right into adulthood and go on to actually make this dream a reality.

I hope the boards inspire you for your wedding planning and whatever your dream for this day is, I hope that you are able to re create it to perfection!