3 Day Eventing

Ok so if you are getting all your family and friends to travel abroad for your wedding, you are more than likely going to organise more functions than just the wedding. So in reality you are going to find yourself with more work and a little more stress than normal. This is ok if you make sure you have a structure to your events. Let's say you are organising a 3 day event. Friday night dinner, Saturday Wedding and Sunday Lunch. Now that is at least 2 venues and 3 menus to organise. A lot of work but if done well, truly worth it.
Jubbs and I opted for the exact layout as above. Finding the wedding venue turned out to be easy. Sorting the other 2 venues, a little more tricky. Not only that but it meant thinking through 2 other menus.  I knew exactly what menu I wanted to have for the actual wedding reception (lamb on the spit with an array of other Greek dishes) but then I had to organise the other two event's menus to compliment that evening.

Images from Okeanos Beach Bar on Facebook & Friends

Originally, we were going to use the villa where Jubb's family was staying, as the venue for the Sunday lunch. The caterers were going to sort all the food, drink, tables etc and it was to be a casual, swimming party affair. After a little more thought it was decided that that was actually a terrible idea as his poor family were to have 150 people invade their privacy and make a complete mess of their villa. So 2 months before the wedding, the wonderful Nikos from the Ammos hotel, showed Sara and I a cool beach bar called Okeanos. It as right on the beach, had a pool, obviously a bar and the guests could stay as long as they like. As for the menu; the caterers made amazing pork gyro, chicken souvlaki, with chips, salad and Loukoumades for pudding, what else does anyone want when horrendously hungover!

Images From Friends

So only the Friday to sort out and this is where my advice on befriending the locals comes in handy. A lovely lady who runs the Drakiana Taverna, nr Platanias, told us, after plying us with a substantial amount of Raki, about a fish restaurant in Halepa. The next day, after drying out, we headed down to check it out and were astounded by what we saw. OK so it is no oil painting but it is right on the water and has stunning views over the sea of Chania harbour. The fish was renown for being spectacular and the owner insisted that my father came on the day of the party to check the fish out personally, otherwise he would not agree to have us there. To be honest he nearly cancelled it at 2pm on the day of the party because Dad had not turned up already to check out the catch and he had to rush down there to appease the poor chap! It turned out to be my favorite evening. I know I should say that the wedding day was but the Friday was awesome. We could relax and enjoy our friends and I got a little too drunk for my own good but I had a blast doing it. The only let down was my Mother insisted that I had to leave before 12am because Jubbs was not allowed to see me after that time and I was forcibly removed from my own party by a family friend. I would like you to know it was not without huge protest.
Seriously, if you get the right places to hold the events they really make the wedding a memorable one. You could just have 2 venues and hold the Sunday event at the wedding reception venue, whatever works for you. As long as you make sure you are having a diverse array of food it will be amazing, as each event will set a different atmosphere.

NY