It won’t take long before this destination wedding in Crete takes your breath away! From their al fresco ceremony set with serene ocean views, to their beautiful dinner in muted neutral palette, adorned with white linens, candles and flower bouquets, this setting couldn’t have been more romantic. Sarah and David’s wedding took place in a luxurious villa in Crete, filled with greenery and white florals, with a giant flower arch designed by Moments Weddings & Events. All the mesmerizing details and emotional moments were brought to life by Hanna Monika Photography and we are just soaking up every little bit of inspiration of this wedding is full of!
The bride shared with us: “In the summer of 2002 two groups of friends finished their studies for the summer and jet setted to the island of Crete, to the party town of Malia! Due to it’s popularity, both groups of friends could not find accommodation in Malia town so headed to the nearby town of Stalis. At first disappointed they were not in the hubub of the party, little did they know Stalis was much more beautiful, clean, quiet and this hotel was about to change our life forever…The two groups of friends met at the pool the first day playing water polo and listening to the hotels only CD at the pool bar- Mary J Blige on repeat. We also met this day and the two groups of friends became one for the rest of the holiday.”
“Upon returning to the UK, we left for university. I left to Leeds and David to Sussex. We were both studied media and communication courses and later set out to pursue a career in TV. After not meeting for three years whilst at university, we decided it was time to met again. Our first date was at the very sophisticated All Bar One in Leicester Square where we spoke of our first experiences of life in London after university. We continued on a very similar journey in the world of television working on shows together such as The Weakest link, Big Brother and Celebrity Scissorhands. Six years after we met in Malia and we finally began our adventure together in October 2008. We were very excited to return to the island of Crete in 2017, 15 years after we met to start the next chapter of our adventure together.”
“David proposed me in January 2016, while traveling to Melbourne in Australia to visit my brother Greg. Little did i know, a big surprise was coming… In the second week of the trip, we flew to the Whitsunday Islands, home of the famous Whitehaven Beach and gateway to the Great Barrier Reef where they flew over the stunning ‘Heart’ reef in a helicopter very apt, considering the day before David had got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Here is the romantic story of the proposal.”
“The date was the 27th January 2016. We awoke to quite an overcast day, a major spanner in David’s proposal plans which he had set in place for that night. It began to rain and so the we hired a golf buggy (the only motorised transport allowed on Hamilton Island where they were staying) and decided to take on a tour of the Island including a trip to the top of One Tree Hill. This is the highest point on the Island and provides incredible views across the bay and to the other neighbouring Islands. The weather had cleared by now and it was turning into another baking hot day, the sun was shining and the timing felt right. Later that day after some serious sunbathing by the pool, David made the decision to propose at sunset. He suggested that we take the bottle of Chandon we had in the fridge up to the top of One Tree Hill at sunset in their buggy so they could take in the sunset and drink the bubbles. In the room, David had slipped the ring in his pocket before they set out so everything was ready for the proposal. However, when we got to the top of the hill there were lots of other Island guests taking photos and just generally getting in the way of David’s plans. We drove around trying to find a secluded spot where we could have some peace and quiet but initially couldn’t find anywhere. David was panicking by this point but finally they found a picnic bench, empty and on its own with a perfect view across the bay. We had begun to drink the Chandon when David stood up and walked over the edge of the hill to get a better view. He called me over and we toasted, took some selfies and then David took the plunge. He took the ring box out of his pocket, dropped to one knee and asked me the important question… ‘will you marry me?’ You might imagine that I immediately said yes given how charming and romantic David was being. However, her initial reaction was to laugh… a lot. But of course, then I recovered and said YES, much to David’s relief! It was official, we were engaged to be married.”
“During our visit to Crete, we also met with an amazing Wedding Planner – Caroline from Moments. She was fantastic in recommending and communicating with suppliers. She also advised that we would legally need to get married a few days before our villa wedding in a town hall or on a beach in Rethymno that allows weddings. We opted for the beach and she therefore helped us to plan two ceremonies.”
“Once I had chosen my dress, together with the venue, this helped to dictate the color scheme and overall style for the day. For the beach civil ceremony I wanted to incorporate a lot of bright and soft pinks to match the flowers in the Sassi Holford Marilyn dress. For the Villa ceremony, since my dress had layers of different colors, I wanted to keep everything more neutral. The bridesmaid dresses were a blush pink to compliment my dress and I incorporated rose gold accessories in order to coordinate with the waistband of my dress. I had so many ideas from Pinterest and endless wedding research. I looked at Love4Weddings a few times. David and I both wanted to keep the theme very elegant, modern and chic to echo the beautiful villa however still keeping it dreamy and fairytale like. We both have a love for champagne and we decided to name the tables after different champagnes. As favors for the tables we bought two bottles of premium champagne for each table that corresponded to the table name.”
“Although my head was swimming with ideas, the Villa was so beautiful we did not need to add too much decoration. The DJ lit up the palm trees and we added some extra candles and lanterns. Our wedding planner recommended the florist she works closely with in Crete. For the beach wedding I wanted to include brighter pinks to match my dress. For the villa wedding I chose ivory flowers, keeping the color scheme more neutral to match with the dress. I wanted to have a larger waterfall bouquet so they did not get lost in this grand venue. The bridesmaid bouquets matched mine, together with the floral arch. I sent some photographs from Pinterest to our wonderful wedding planner Caroline who said they could create what I had in mind. I love Peonies and although Peonies were not in season they were able to source beautiful flowers from Rose grower David Austin and they were just perfect. We had 6 tables and 6 bridesmaids so we used their bouquets for the table center pieces.”
“Once I had chosen my dress, this helped to dictate the color scheme. For the beach wedding I wanted to incorporate a lot of bright and soft pinks to match the flowers in the Marilyn dress. For the Villa ceremony, since my dress had layers of different colours, I wanted to keep everything more neutral. The bridesmaid dresses were a blush pink to compliment my dress and I incorporated rose gold accessories in order to coordinate with the waistband of my dress. I had so many ideas from Pinterest and endless wedding research. David and I both wanted to keep the theme very elegant and chic as well as fairytale like. We both have a love for champagne and we decided to name the tables after different champagnes. As favours for the tables we bought two bottles of premium champagne for each table that corresponded to the table name. These were used for the toasts during the speeches. Instead of a traditional seating plan I hired a small tree from our wedding planner, underneath I made a sign ‘The key to your seat’ Each guest had a key hanging on the tree with a name tag and on the back of their name tag was their champagne table name. ‘The Key to Your Seat’. Their place cards were placed in champagne corks which we collected and took with us. I made all of these with the help of my mom and David’s mom and sister. I also made the menu cards and order of ceremony booklets myself.”
“I loved every single second. Creating the most magical day & lead up week for all of our close family and friends to be together. There were so many highlights however, the intro to the Bridal Party around the pool, hosted by my brother was legendary. Accompanied by the song ‘We came here for the love’ by Sigala. All of my friends still talk about that moment to this day.”
“Finding the perfect dress was one of the most exciting parts of the planning process but also one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made. It was a special adventure I shared with my mom and will treasure forever, including many pub lunches and bottles of prosecco! Â I have always dreamt of having a big fairytale dress, however I tried on many different styles to make sure I was making the right decision. We traveled to many boutiques across London and Surrey. I tried on the Marilyn dress by Sassi Holford in Miss Bush in Ripley. I fell in love with it however, it was not what I had always pictured myself in. When I stepped out of the changing room, I will never forget my mums face, she did not have to say anything, I knew how much she loved it also. We both agreed it did not match the setting of the villa, however it could be perfect for our civil ceremony. We walked out of the shop with it there and then and I was so excited. I had it altered to fit me properly and decided to customise it taking the top layer of fabric off to create a sweetheart neckline. Julie at The One Bridal did the most amazing job altering. After purchasing this dress I spoke to the wedding planner and asked if there was a nicer venue where we could conduct our legal ceremony- rather than the town hall. She suggested a beach in Rethymno which was perfect. From there the plans for the civil ceremony escalated. I knew I needed to get the photographer involved and add some extra special touches. This was going to be a very special moment in time and I had a very special dress .”
“The search for the perfect dress for the Villa wedding still continued. I knew I needed something grand but also light and modern in order to work with the venue and the weather. I fell in love with many dresses by the designer Lazaro and knew I would choose one of his designs. I knew as soon as I saw my dream dress, which coincidentally was on the front cover of the Lazaro magazine in The One Bridal Boutique, Sevenoaks, where I tried it on. It encapsulated the big fairytale dress I had imagined, whilst it also had a modern day catwalk style, it was unique. The dress had a beautiful large train which fell naturally. The different layers of tulle had many different colours that shone in different lights. These elements together with the crystal waistband and open back made it so special and added an extra dimension to what I was looking for.”
“As it was hot I also bought paper fans for every chair for during the ceremony and many parasols on eBay that we also used as decor around the villa. We had a lounge set up on the grass underneath the palm trees in the shade. There were 6 babies at the wedding so this was an area we decided upon for the kids to rest and shade. We hired the blankets, cushions and chairs from the wedding planner and it was decorated beautifully with lanterns and our parasols. We hired a wheelbarrow from our wedding planner and filled this with beer. We made a chalkboard sign to go with it. This was for our guests to enjoy before and after the ceremony. Although my head was swimming with ideas, the Villa was so beautiful we did not need to add too much decoration. The DJ lit up the palm trees and we added some extra candles and lanterns.”
“This was the best time of my life. You should not only enjoy the day itself but the lead up to it the week before and the whole year or two you spend planning it. You will never experience a time like this in your life again and you must cherish every second. I tried to make every part of the process a special event including dress shopping with my mum, lunches with the whole family after fittings. The more you can do ahead of time the less stressful it will be leading up to the day. Plan ahead and you can relax and enjoy the few weeks leading up to the wedding. Hiring a wedding planner was one of the best decisions we made as well. This took all of the stress out of the day itself and Caroline from Moments could not have been more helpful with every step of the planning process. She was there to guide me and assure me with any questions or worries we had. Don’t worry about the small things on the day, just enjoy your wedding day. No one will notice if you didn’t put the guest book out or some extra lights on a tree. Make sure you have a photo list in advance for the family and friend portrait shots. This really will help the photographer and you to get through them all so you can enjoy the night. Elect a bridesmaid or groomsmen to take charge in rounding people up for the photographs. Follow your heart and what is special for you and your partner. Do not let anyone else influence your decisions, it is your day after all.”
