Santorini is – by far – one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. So when Shannon and Joss’ wedding landed in my inbox I didn’t hesitate to say “Yes, I want to feature it!” They had their ceremony on a terrace at Marizan Caves in Oia, a reception dinner at Katharos Lounge on Katharos Beach. The following day they had sunset boat cruise around the Aegean sea.
“Joss has a very strong connection with the ocean and I have always loved the bohemian style”, wrote the bride. “We wanted to effortlessly combine the two to create a casual wedding. We had our wedding ceremony on a terrace at Marizan Caves. We both had a strong sensation we had to visit this island and Marizan Caves was the first place we considered and we never looked back.”
“Our reception dinner venue was Katharos Lounge (just down the cliff from Oia). We were looking for something beach side, close enough from our ceremony that had a killer menu and a great atmosphere. As we didn’t book Katharos Lounge exclusively, we also opted for a second day of reception celebrations by booking out a boat through Santorini Cruises just for us and our guests. We cruised around the island, visited the hot springs and watched the sunset. We chose this as a more intimate venue for the cutting of our cake, our dance and speeches.”
The bride wore a custom made dress from Babushka Ballerina in Brisbane. “I had a cropped bustier bodice with a satin and chiffon skirt in ivory with a two metre extended train”, she said. “I always loved the idea of having a cropped bodice. A little less formal, a little bit fun and it fit the boho brief I was going for. My gorgeous flower crown made was made from wildflowers including lavender and daisies.”
“We didn’t have a lot of flowers but we used a local florist, Fabio Zardi, for my flower crown and bouquet. Everything was done by email and they were so great in advising what flowers could be sourced and appropriate for the climate. We wanted bohemian, romantic, effortless with a cool palette. They used lavender, daisies, million stars, blue stars among wheat and millet. These were flowers I had never heard of before, nor seen at home in Australia. It felt risky but it was worth it, it was the most beautiful bouquet I have ever seen.”
“I designed, printed and sewed our invitations witch consisted of simply an anchor and our initials on the front and details on the inside of the card (in blue) on Kraft paper. I sewed a little detail on the cards with twine and ivory cotton. Our guest favours included the card, fabric invitation to the surprise cruise as well as a little Santorini donkey souvenir we picked up the day prior from the street stalls. The cards read ‘there are tall ships, small ships, ships that sail the sea… but the best ships are friendships, may they always be’ as well as printed on fabric our surprise invitations to the boat cruise the following day, tied with twine as a scroll with little anchor charms.”
“Our cake was made by another local company, Lixoudis Bakery in Fira”, she continued. “They answered my emails promptly and everything was easy. As I was indecisive on the flavours and style, they encouraged us to visit her during the two days we had before the wedding. We were so glad we did. We taste tested the Greek sponge and end of story. We had a three tier nude chocolate/vanilla sponge with cream and fresh strawberry filling.”
“Have fun with planning your wedding”, Shannon concluded. “We went through a few stressful times not really knowing anything about organising a destination wedding, but we did our homework, read reviews and trusted our vendors. Our biggest tip for people planning destination weddings would be to trust your vendors and listen to their advice. Our first vendor lead to booking another, who recommended another. We didn’t always choose what was given to us, but we learnt more and more by speaking to the locals.”
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- Photography: Chris Spira Photography
- Ceremoney Venue: Marizan Caves
- Reception Venue: Katharos Lounge
- Boat Hire: Santorini Cruises
- Bride's Dress: Babushka Ballerina
- Flowers: Fabio Zardi
- Cake: Lixoudis Bakery