Zoe and Corey’s Dream Pampas grass beach wedding

To say I enjoyed every moment of planning this wedding is an understatement. Zoe and Corey originally contacted me in February 2022, as busy professionals & parents they needed help to create a dream beach wedding in Rhodes.

The couple were so relaxed and trusting, even with, lets say a ‘bump’ along the way with the original venue. Chatting with them over Zoom whilst on holiday (in Tenerife I think), they accepted the changes with ease and grace, as long as they got married abroad in the vision they had in mind, the couple would be happy.

Zoe didn’t ‘sweat the small stuff’ whilst paying incredible attention to tiny details, she is a truly creative bride.

Zoe’s pampas grass beach wedding vision developed from a few images she shared of another pampas grass beach wedding, lots of discussion back and forth over ideas and details and we found a way to personalise the look to create Zoe and Corey’s dream wedding.

I’m blown away by the results.  WOW is all I can say.  The images (which I seriously struggled to edit) show the gorgeous and stylish set up.

But more importantly I think, they show a joyous, fun, romantic and meaningful day.

Reading Zoe’s favourite memories made me tear up!

Zoe and Corey it was a complete honour to be a small part of your wedding, one I can promise I will never forget.

Why did you decide to get married in Rhodes?

We have always wanted to get married abroad. Holidays are huge for our family and we are never more relaxed than when we are away. When we first got engaged we did look at weddings in the UK due to a close family member’s health but it just never felt like it was for us. We always knew that we didn’t just want one day, we wanted a whole fortnight of celebrations. Luckily they ended up getting signed off by the doctor to travel and we got in touch with The Bridal Consultants straight away. Rhodes had so many beautiful places to get married and it wasn’t too far from the UK. We found a hotel perfect for our two children and then we were set.

How many guests travelled with you to Rhodes to celebrate?

We invited all of our close friends and family (over 100 people) and we ended up with 68 guests. We were absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of people that came as we knew how much of a big ask it was. That’s the best thing about abroad weddings in my opinion. It really shows how much you mean to someone, they would travel across the world and pay out of their own pocket to be there.

WOW, you’re dress is incredible, tell us about it.

My dress was Elysée and I got it from TDR (The Dressing Room) in Birmingham. It was the first place I went to try on dresses and honestly I did not expect to find ‘the one’ as I didn’t think I was that type of person! I chose five dresses to try on and the stylist chose one. The one’s I chose were quite fitted, lacey and boho style. I tried each of them on and liked most but didn’t ‘love’ them. When I tried on the final dress chosen by the stylist I burst into tears, my bridesmaids and mum were all in tears. We just knew. It made me feel perfect as I was. I didn’t need to go on a strict wedding diet or wear shapewear to feel nice. I also didn’t need to worry about hitting the all inclusive for 10 days before the wedding haha.

Also – IT HAD POCKETS!!

And your accessories?

As we were getting married on the sand I didn’t want to spend a fortune on shoes so we all had pretty cheap ones from Asos. As soon as I walked down the aisle they were kicked off anyway. My HUSBAND brought me the necklace and earrings as a wedding gift and they were from Carat London. I had my Grandma’s necklace in my pocket as something old and borrowed.

We adore Corey’s suit, the men looked so handsome, did he choose these or you?

He always said he wanted a tux. It was the one thing he actually wanted to make a decision on so we went with that. After looking at hiring at many different places I actually found these in Next! They did all different sizes and fits which was perfect for the different ages of men. They also did the matching boys suits which was perfect. And they were an absolute bargain.

We love the tone of the bridesmaids dress, it fit in so perfect with your floral choices. Did they take long to find?

I wanted my bridesmaids to feel lovely in their dresses so we looked at many different styles. We ended up choosing a multiway dress from Kate’s Dresses. These were great because they could have the dress in whichever style they felt most comfortable and they fit everyone so nicely. The colour was called Cappuccino and matched perfectly with my dress and wedding theme too!

Lets talks flowers and theme!

The scenery spoke for itself so I didn’t want lots of bright colours taking over. Neutrals and golds are flattering on everyone and are absolutely timeless so we went with that. The flowers were beyond anything I had imagined. I found pictures for inspiration and the florist just absolutely smashed the brief. We took all of the dried flowers home with us and have them all round the house. Also another great thing about dried flowers, you can keep them for a lot longer.

Did you bring any decor from the UK?

We brought the signs, sign stands, olive oil bottles (we filled with local olive oil from the Olive Oil Factory in Rhodes), the name tags, cheesecloth napkins and table runners and the children’s wedding favours. I’m quite creative so I wanted to make the olive oil bottle tags and children’s favour boxes myself. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be bringing stuff from home. Everyone offered to put a couple of bits in their suitcases too which made it easier.

What is your best memory from the day?

I have 3 main parts that were my favourite-

1. My absolute favourite part of the day was when we were in the middle of our first dance and the fireworks were going off round the dancefloor. I looked up from Corey and the Acropolis was lit up in the background, the moon and stars were shining and our guests were all dancing round us with sparklers in their hands. I don’t think my heart has ever felt so full. I well up just thinking about that moment.
2. Our daughter Thea, age 7, created a poem with one of my bridesmaids (who is also a teacher) and read it before we exchanged our vows. She had been practicing for weeks and read it so clearly. It was one of our most proud moments as parents.
3. The final one is ending the night with everyone standing in a huge circle round the dancefloor whilst singing and dancing to Wonderwall by Oasis. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

What do you think makes a wedding abroad stand out from a wedding in the UK?

As I said previously, everyone is there because they really want to be there. They spent money to be there and travelled far and wide. It’s so special. You also get the memories of the holiday to look back on, whereas weddings in the UK tend to be just the one day. We didn’t experience wedding blues because we still had time to be with everyone before we travelled home. Another huge reason is cost. We spent a fair bit on flowers, lighting and decorations but it still worked out cheaper than a wedding in the UK.

We’ve planned a UK party too for those who couldn’t be there so now we have that to look forward to too!

What advice would you give to future brides and grooms who are getting married abroad?

If you are lucky enough to find The Bridal Consultants then absolutely put your trust in them. Be clear on what you want and find ideas to help them run with your vision. I came up with ideas and Lisa would email me back making sure she understood and also came up with ideas as soon as she got what kind of thing I wanted.
Finally – try to relax and enjoy every single moment. Abroad weddings tend to be later in the day so you have time to have a relaxing breakfast with your best girls and actually enjoy the food. I went for a massage and sat in the jacuzzi after too. In the afternoon I sat on the bed and said to my bridesmaid “it’s my wedding day, and I literally have nothing to do”. It was amazing.

Thank you so much for everything Lisa and team. We feel so fortunate that we found you.

If you would like to create a pampas grass beach wedding at Starry Skies or another beach venue then contact our team today!