‘….we did have moment were we walked to the edge of the venue just myself and Joe and looked out over the beach just as the sun was setting just to take the moment in and we looked back round to see all our family and friends having the best time, it really was a touching moment were realised how lucky we were.’
Venue Beach Taverna Wedding & Reception• Date 4th of August 2019 • Number of Guests 61 • Budget ££
Why did you choose to get married in Zakynthos?
Greece is one of our favourite parts of the world, we have been to several islands around Greece and always love it, the food, and our overall experience on holidays always made us want to return. When we saw the location of the venue we fell in love initially.
How long in advance did you book your wedding?
We booked our wedding in June 2018 giving us 15 months to our wedding date.
How many guests did you invite to your wedding and how many accepted and attended?
We initially had a rough number of 30 people as I have quite a large family, and we were overwhelmed with the response. On the day we had 61 close family and friends attended.
Tell us about your dress
My dress was designed by Ronald Joyce, which I found in the second shop we viewed dresses. I had previously tried on around 5 dresses and knew I wanted something fitted but not too heavy or thick we us getting married abroad. As soon as I tried I knew it was the one, with the detail on the dress it would sparkle in the sun and it fitted my figure exactly how I wanted. I felt amazing on the day!
Can you tell us about your shoes and accessories?
I bought my shoes from House of Frazer which were a simple Diamond sandal. I wanted something to match the detail on my dress. I was unsure on accessories at the time of purchasing my dress however after a trying a long veil on it just finished the dress off perfectly. I didn’t want to overload with lots of jewellery as my dress had enough detail. I decided to wear some of my late Nanna’s earrings which were my something old and very sentimental to me.
Tell us about the grooms outfit
Joe initially wanted a more casual look, however after I purchased my dress I knew that suits would be better for the overall look. He chose a Marc Darcy suit with a champagne tie to match the Bridesmaids.
What about the bridesmaid dresses?
I used my pinterest account to research ideas to then send to my bridesmaids. We decided on a champagne colour, and a dress with a cowl neck and a skirt with a slight side split which gave them a Grecian feel. They were made by a family friend her company is called something new – Wedding specialists.
What flowers did you choose for your bouquet?
I chose roses for my bouquet as they were my Nanna’s favourite flower, and white went in perfect with our theme.
What was your wedding theme?
We wanted to keep things very natural and romantic. I am not a massive colour fan so we went quite neutral with the theme, and stuck to champagne and white, with a hit of blush pink with lots of candles, and flowers. It looked perfect on the day. The decoration looked amazing they used there own initiative to create the perfect setting for what we wanted.
Tell us about the smaller details of your day.
We had a traditional Greek wedding cake which was beautiful and we brought with us our own wedding topper ‘Mrs and Mrs Thornton’ to add a personal touch. We also took our own table runners to give the tables a little more decoration and colour which was then topped off with fishbowls, candles and lanterns. We took our own sentimental photos of our loved ones that they placed on a vintage ladder it really touched us with how they thought about how to place them into our wedding, it really did look special.
We had the BBQ which was amazing, all the food was so tasty, warm and really fitted into our wedding as we wanted a more laid back feel as opposed to a sit down meal. Whilst we ate a Greek band played, we loved the more traditional atmosphere, it was everything we wanting.
To finish the evening with dancing we hired a DJ and partied the night away but not before the Greek Dancers got everyone in the mood. I would highly recommend them, they added so much cheer, fun and entertainment which included getting myself and husband up, along with our other guests and the videos of everyone attempting to Greek dance are my favourites.
How did you find the planning experience from booking to the big day?
I have witnesses people arranging a wedding, going backwards and forwards with decisions and still not being happy in the end.
We never experienced this.
Everything was so easy, attention was given to every little last detail. Any questions or queries were never too much trouble and the most stressful part was the seating plan which unfortunately you couldn’t help us with haha.
As we got to Greece we had a meeting with our amazing on the day team, this put us at ease straight away in a sense that you knew everything would run according to plan and we didn’t have anything to worry about .
What’s your best memory from the day?
To be honest the day was perfect from start to finish, I didn’t want it to end. However we did have moment were we walked to the edge of the venue just myself and Joe and looked out over the beach just as the sun was setting just to take the moment in and we looked back round to see all our family and friends having the best time, it really was a touching moment were realised how lucky we were.
What do you think makes a wedding abroad stand out from a wedding in the UK?
From start to finish we had no stress, you guys were amazing. However been abroad gives you a relax feel initially it was lovely. The lead up to the wedding instead of running around taking things backwards and forwards to venues, collecting flowers, dresses, ect everything gets done for you. The main thing for me was having people at your wedding that really want to make the effort to come, so you know the people that are there are truly special to you. Also to sit and look out to the beach, with a sunset with amazing weather was the thing that swayed me the most and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
What advice would you give to future brides and grooms who are getting married abroad
DO IT! I would do it all again in heart beat. If you love the sunshine, amazing views, to be relaxed and enjoy spending time with all your loved ones, getting married abroad is for you. Our photos are beautiful due to the amazing backdrop we had, THE BEACH at sunset doesn’t get much better than that. The only thing I regret was not having our video for longer as I wish I could look back on more of the day.
Again, I would like to thank you for everything. I get emotional writing about it. It was perfect. 🙂 hope this is ok, I still cant express how beautiful our day was for us.
