Tuesday 22 December 2009

Christmas Holiday Break

Hi All,


I am just getting over a bad cold or flu, not sure which, and will have to panic buy some Christmas presents, do some baking and then of course enjoy Christmas, so I will be back with you next week!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, enjoy yourselves !!!!!!!!

Thursday 17 December 2009

Greek Island Wedding Inspiration

Good afternoon all,


I thought it was high time that I posted a little proper Greek Island wedding inspiration board! I normally shy away from this style, as I take it for granted and want to give myself more of a challenge, however I do think that sometimes it pays to take a step back from all the rustic, historic and luxurious venues that I source for a living and realise that simplicity works!!!!!

So in the hope of inspiring some of you readers:

Greek Island Inspiration

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Anything but....... a boring beige wedding!

 If people were to describe my style to others, I think it would be coordinated, quite monochrome, I tend to mix only one or two colors together per outfit and those tend to be white or beige in the summer and black and grey in the winter, although I do retain a little beige in the winter too!

So it makes perfect sense that I adooooooore this inspiration board, this one really is very me!!


Anything but......boring beige!

I would serve cappucino's and latte's at this wedding along with fluffy merangues and pavlova's!

Traditional Greek Wedding in Rhodes

Good afternoon,


Today I am posting a traditional Greek wedding that I assisted with of some good friends of mine who got married in September of this year. It is interesting as it is quite traditional and very large (over 800 guests were invited).



Before the wedding, the groom is dressed by his parents and best men (four of them in this case), in this image the groom is thanking his father and basically leaving the nest and moving to a new house with his new wife! A very tense moment that is a real tear jerker!


One of the best men help the groom put his suit jacket on, traditionally all 4 best men will do this before it is finally on for good!



The groom is waiting patiently on the church steps for his bride, in Greece the groom carries the bridal bouquet and presents it to his bride as she arrives!


Inside the church the bride is listening to the church service!


The stefana or wedding crowns are held in a cross shape to be blessed before being exchanged on the couples heads by their best men and maid of honour!



Once the service is over all the guests move to the reception hall to dance the night away! I love this image of the bridesmaids running in the entrance!



The bride dances a traditional zeimbekiko dance, where the onlookers sit around the dancer on their knees and clap them on!



And the grooms version of the same dance!



The happy couple dance the night away and share a kiss!


All pictures by Spiros Tsambikakis, www.STphoto.gr

Monday 14 December 2009

Wedding Photographer in Greece

Good evening all,


Today I wanted to introduce you to a talented photographer called Spiros Tsambikakis, he started working in 2007 taking some shots at weddings and has now set up his own studio and has been the main photographer at many weddings.

His shots are very photojournalistic, he doesn't like many posed images and likes to touch up images before presenting them to the clients!

Some of my favourite shots of his work are:




 


















 

 

 If you would like to see more examples of Spiro's work please follow the link to his website:

www.STphoto.gr


Friday 11 December 2009

Wedding at Lindian Village Hotel (Rhodes, Lindos Area)

Good afternoon all,


Today I am posting some images of a wedding that SP Weddings organised at the Lindian Village Hotel, which I consider to be the best resort hotel on Rhodes island. The wedding took place in the dome by the pool area followed by a dinner that was booked privately for the couple and a party in the disco area!



I love this image, this is of all the bridesmaids doing up each others dresses, so cute!!!




Final check in the mirror before leaving for the wedding!







 

Another great image!!! So fun!




The newly married couple take some time out together for a walk on the beach!




Heading back to the reception!




First dance under the disco areas bright lights!

All images by Antonis Giannelis, www.giannelis.com

Wednesday 9 December 2009

Winter White

Good evening, sorry for the long silence, I was actually travelling and have clients visiting leading to limited time in the office!

I thought I would do a post on winter white today, some might argue that this isn't immediately associated with a wedding in Greece, however at this time of year you really can have a Winter white wedding in Greece, especially the North, not many people realise there are many ski slopes and mountaineous villages to be found in the country, a new concept perhaps????


So, starting from top left we have a fake fur bolero by sewudesign's, perfect to throw over a flimsy bridal gown, I absolutely love the contrast between lace, chiffon even tafetta and fur!

To the right we have a feather fascinator by Satanica, perfect for a vintage inspired winter wedding!

To the far right, a gorgeous crochet cape by GimiKimi, I would also love this in an angora wool, but retaining the same design (I believe that is possible)!

Middle left is this veil and feather combination that I really adore, it's so fresh, so Carrie from "Sex and the City", so right now!!!! Made by Pomband Plumage.

Next we have Ekaminsk grey and white feather corsage, a perfect alternative to using flowers, I would also create bracelets for the ladies in the bridal party!

Acpetrille have created this snowflake inspired hairclip that looks beautiful fastened under a bun if the bride wants an up do!

Funkifolkart created the vintage sign that reads "Mr & Mrs", so simple but really sets the tone, I might ask the seller to create two smaller ones that are split to fasten to the back of the bride and groom's chairs at the reception!

The perfect headband, again this is very on trend and I think it really is very pretty, made by radokri.

I think it is important to add some personality and humour to the wedding and this penguin ring pillow by idotakeu is the perfect way to this and I love penguins!

Finally we have this drop dead gorgeous necklace which would be such a style statement when worn, created by bonheur!

Thursday 3 December 2009

Wedding Menu Ideas for a wedding in Greece

Good afternoon all, today I thought we should talk about a really important element of any wedding reception around the globe and that is the food that will be served to your guests!




Of course when having a destination wedding in Greece the three important elements are going to be finding a beautiful outdoor venue, preferably with a sea view, great wine and of course some great Greek food.
Some of your guests may never have tasted the local cuisine so it is a chance to incorporate some local dishes and perhaps serve the meal "meze" style, with all being served to the centre of the table so everyone can try a little of each!

As it's really difficult to choose one "ideal" menu that will suit all tastes, I will just indicate what I think should definitely be included on a menu and how I would structure it ideally!

Meze or starters

Great selection of bread, ask for the village loaves, perhaps small ones on wooden cutting boards for guests to slice themselves!
A selection of dips which must include tzatziki, skordalia, taramosalata and olive oil flavoured with oregano!
A Greek salad (obviously, although you could embelish with Cretan rusks, they call it Dakos salad)
Fried vegetables, this is really tasty, especially combined with the skordalia as above
Fried cheese (called saganaki)
Roasted feta with spices, absolutely love this dish!

You would then go on to include either seafood like kalamari and grilled octopus or meat based dishes like bekri meze (pork cooked in wine, the exact translation is boozy starter)


For main course again I would suggest keeping it simple with a large fish with olive and lemon dressing served with roast potatoes with oregano and lemon and some other vegetables of your choice.

Alternatively I would serve a fillet of meat that you prefer again if cooked well this is tasty with just some freshly squeezed lemon on top, but you could also offer a choice of pepper sauce or hollandaise for those that want to add some interest to their main course!

Dessert is really important to me, being a "sweet" loving girl, this is where my attention is focused, I think you must include a platter of Greek pastries i.e. baklava and kataifi, perhaps served with ice cream. Another vey Greek flavour is mastiha, do try before adding to your wedding menu, some love it and other hate it, I love it, so would serve mastiha flavoured ice cream.

Loukoumades are always a favourite as well, for those that are not certain what these are, dough balls with honey and cinnamon on top, served hot!

I have already posted about wedding cakes, please follow the link:

http://greekweddings.blogspot.com/2009/10/greek-wedding-cakes.html

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Mellow Yellow




Today's post illustrates how to use your theme colour creatively to bring all the elements incoroporated into your wedding together!

Mellow YellowCredits: Brett Buchanan, Harper Ferguson, Myrtle & Marjoram, Michelle Photography, Cake Stands by Raise the Cake, Jose Villa, Jose Villa Photography, Linda Chaja, Tanja Lippert, Caplan Miller Events, Kate Webber


The flowers, the favours, the accessories and even the food and drink that you choose will send a "vibe" to your guests, set a tone and dictate the way the wedding day will be flow! Do not be fooled, these choices are no more expensive than going for the "norm", what does this look require? Time and effort on your or your wedding planner's part, nothing more than that.

I believe the end result is worth it, I think your wedding is the only project/party that you will put your heart and soul in to (ok, maybe your children's parties in the future), but this is the one daunting and most probably largest party you will ever throw, so ensure that you do it in style and do spend that extra effort to ensure that it is gorgeous!

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Ring a ding ding....

As the holidays approach, many couples will take the opportunity to make plans about their upcoming nuptials, it is the time to dream, research, express your wishes, wants and hopes for the future together. It is also the time when proposals will take place and what better than to combine Christmas day with a romantic proposal and of course a gorgeous ring to seal the deal!!!




Starting from the top left hand corner, we have the perfect gift for those planning a beach wedding, created by star of the east, over on Etsy.com! Would complement the bridal outfit and is really funky!

To the right is a yellow gold ring with three pearls set in it, I absolutely love black pearls, I love looking at them, they are really pretty, so this ring is again one of my faves, made by sara westmark!

Just bellow is a textured band with a single stone that looks like it's hanging off the edge, very pretty and perfect for those looking for something out of the ordinary! Made by Kristin Coffin

To the left of this is a gold ring with three large stones set in to it, although more traditional than the other options on this board, I do love the shape and think this would be easy to wear day in and day out and I would certainly be proud to look down at it! By Mc Farland Designs

Just below is a ring set with a real fresh water pearl by eross jewelry, for the romantic at heart with it's light pink shade

Artisan Look created the ring with the gold disk with the pearl in the centre, this is for the more eccentric that like to draw attention to their jewelry choices.

One of my favourites created by bobbi jordan is the ring that looks like a little nest of pearls, I just love it and think it would make a beautiful addition to any lady's finger!

Eidel Precious created the fabulous ring with the green stone, it is quite earthy, but also glamorous!

Finally the tiny gold ring with different stones in the centre is simply gorgeous, created by Sara Westermark these are also suggested as stacking rings and think that is a wonderful idea, I can imagine a romantic at heart buying his lady one for each month/year they have known each other prior to engagement, or perhaps buying one on each anniversary in the early years until the stack is complete, perhaps even engraving each with a different message, can you tell that I like these?????