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!!!!

Wedding in Hotel in Kiotari, Rhodes

This is a wedding that I thoroughly enjoyed planning, the bride and groom were a really lovely couple and obviously very in love with each other!! They chose to hold their wedding in one of my favourite hotels on Rhodes island, I think that the grounds are so vast that there are many options open for clients to pick and choose from, you can have a garden or beach ceremony, a poolside wedding reception, or a more private dinner in a private restaurant or even a barbeque on the beach! There is also a disco, overlooking the pool that is perfect for after dinner parties! The wedding dress was beautifully embroidered with small flowers, it suited the bride extremely well and accentuated her figure! The bride and groom chose to hold their wedding on a small "island" in the grounds of the hotel, we set up seating for the guests and the couple and registrar stood under a flower covered trellice! This is the bride's entrance as she is accompanied by her father! Confetti is thrown as the ceremony ends and all guests are invited to follow the couple for a champagne cocktail hour in the square of the hotel! A close up of the bride's dress, bouquet and ring! The bride and groom had a quick look at the tables before inviting everyone up to be seated for dinner, the weather was just perfect and we timed the seating so that everyone could enjoy the sunset! The setting was incredibly elegant and the brides choice in flowers reflected this, I think the white and cream flowers really complemented the venue!

Wedding in 17th Century Farmhouse, Chania, Crete

One of the most spectacular venues I have ever seen in Greece, has to be this incredible farmhouse located in Chania in Crete. The property is a renovated 17th century farmhouse, where organic strawberries are still grown on the land around the houses, the main house has been coverted into three flats, each has it's own garden and pool! Truly a luxurious and very relaxing place to stay if you like organic food, lot's of lush flowers and greenery and total relaxation! Each flat is equipped with a full kitchen, built in sofas and a raised bedroom and a very luxurious bathroom. I have seen many hotels and villas over the past few years, this is certainly the best renovation that I have ever seen, I cannot recommend it enough! Now on to the main event, the wedding!!!! So the bride decided that she would like to rent the property for a week (this is the minimum) and to hold her wedding reception at the venue in the largest of the flat's garden (plenty big enough for seating 200 guests). The main courtyard was used for the welcome cocktails, we created a chill out area by the lilly pond and used the third area (another garden belonging to one of the flats) as the party area for after dinner! This is me (in the turquoise) and some assistants putting the final touches to the tables before the guests were invited to take their seats! Subtle up lighting was used to accentuate the features of each area, over in the party zone, we decided that hot pink was a complementary colour and went for party lighting in this colour! The decor was kept to a minimum, with teraccota pots, candles and plants only, so as not to interfere with the venue's natural beauty!The wedding took place in an Archaeological area called Aptera, around a 20 minute drive from the farmhouse and was a wonderful venue, all the guests were blown away by the historical setting and incredible view from behind the stone walls! Finally, this was the garden outside the bride's flat that we decided not to utilise for the wedding, it was the prettiest garden, with a bed of wildflowers, several hammocks and the most beautiful outdoor dining area, just perfect!

Wedding in Private villa in Pefkos, Rhodes

Today, I am showcasing a wedding that SP Weddings organised for the loveliest couple that I have met, they were both very relaxed about the wedding and allowed me to make a lot of suggestions and push some boundaries as they weren't the sort of couple that wanted to spend a fortune on flowers or traditional wedding decor. We came up with the idea of having a fuschia pink ribbon theme and this ran all the way through the event, the emphasis was rightly on providing good food, drink and entertainment for their guests and the day was so pretty and the weather absolutely lovely! The couple chose to have a live rock band for after the meal, which was a great success and had everyone on the dancefloor until the early hours and several guests trying their hand at a little karaoke!!!! The bride was stunning and after a few tense moments and her winding walk down the aisle, she completely relaxed and the couple both enjoyed their wedding day!

The bridal party walked down the aisle on a rose petal scattered aisle! The couple stood either side the ribbon wrapped pillars, facing the sea with their guests looking on behind them, a champagne cocktail hour followed immediately after the ceremony!

The couple had a photo shoot on the beach at the foot of the garden!

The guests were next invited to sit at the tables and were served a heary Greek meal, mezze style!

The lanterns that were lit overhead really added to the ambience of the wedding!

The area next to the pool was used as a dancefloor and bar area, the band set up under the pergola! All photographs were taken by Antonis Giannelis, his website is www.giannelis.com

Wedding in a 16th century mansion in Rhodes

Last month, we organised a very whimsical wedding in Rhodes in a villa I simply adore for it's unsurpassed view, rustic setting and overgrown garden that is simply gorgeous for those looking for a wedding venue that combines both authenticity and Greek charm! The bride and groom were both very good looking and their colour palette refreshing! The coloured bottles, yellow runner and ribbons tying the napkins really added to the colourful wedding in the very lush garden. I also loved the pictures hanging on the washing line using wooden pegs, each of these had the table number of each guest! The civil ceremony was held in the entrance lower courtyard, the nuptials were followed by bellini cocktails, dinner and plenty of dancing into the early hours of the morning! I think you will agree that the pictures are stunning and the bride's smile infectious, I defy anyone to look through these without a grin on their face! The pictures were taken by a very talented friend of mine, Spiros Tsambikakis, he is launching his career in photography and is available to hire as a wedding photographer, please contact me for his email or telephone number and I will gladly pass these on.