Time to lay the Table

I thought I would share my choices and experience of the table settings.  As Kindelis was such a beautifully rustic venue, it made sense for the tables to compliment rather than fight the surroundings.  I love flowers and try to always have some in my house but we had decided that we did not want large floral centerpieces in Greece rather simpler potted herbs and terracotta tea light holders.  The advantage of having potted plants also meant that the plants would not wilt under the heat of the day.

Images by Cristina Olive, Marthasterwart.com & Pixi

 We met three florists in Chania, one point blank refused to put ‘earth’ on a table (a little strange) and to be honest he was rather insulting to both Sara and Me.  It takes a lot to annoy Sara and she was fuming by the time we left, so he was canned. The second was great.  Not only did she know her stuff and have a very open mind about what I wanted, she also kept a constant supply of Greek coffee coming my way.  The problem, as is everywhere in the world was her prices as soon as wedding was mentioned.  She even tried to charge me E1000 just for earth, I think not.  Then we found the amazing Birgitte.  She was wonderful and actually more than fair.  She not only potted up the herbs in really cute terracotta pots but also sourced the terracotta tea lights, which I adored.

The table numbers were put onto the wine bottles to help save space on the tables as I had got a little over excited with the amount of food we were going to have.  I noticed after the wedding that the caterers had put table numbers on the table with their logo on them, which did not amuse me.

The escort cards had been made by my wonderful printer and kept the vintage travel theme going.  These were tied around the napkins with raffia, whilst the seating plan was brown labels tied onto a fishing net, which we draped over an up-lit bush in the courtyard.  It looked beautiful when all lit up at night.

Images from Annie Angelopoulou & Cristina Oliver

On the morning of the wedding it became apparent that the tables for 10 were actually tables for 8. Disaster!  I had to rearrange all the table plans at 4 pm with my hair in rollers on the back terrace.  A headache I could have done without.  It got done and there were a few cock-ups but what could be done.

All in all thought it looked good and it made me laugh that by the time we had all the plants and tea lights on the table there was not much room for the empty food plates…. They ended up in piles on top of the wine coolers and on the floor.  I wanted rustic and I certainly got it!

NY

Lighting Your Stage

A subject we haven't discussed yet is lighting, which is key to setting the atmosphere for you wedding.  It is vital you put some thought in how you want your venue lit and by what form of lighting.  I was working with a beautifully rustic canvas and had split it into 4 areas.  The courtyard was the reception area, the raised patio was the chill out area, the back lawn was the dining area and lastly, the orchard pool area was the party zone.  I therefore needed lighting to depict the usage.  I obviously had some help!  I used a company from Heraklion called Sound design.  Not only did they provide all the Greek dancers and band but they also did all the lighting and DJ-ing, Manoli was fabulous.  He came to meet us in the February and we walked around the grounds picking out which trees to accent with up lighters (common areas also need addressing in certain cases) and his vision was also on the same page as mine.  Some venues will direct you in what needs to be done whilst others will use some imagination, it really depends on what type of venue you have chosen.  Kindelis, which was my reception venue was so beautiful in its own right that very little dramatic lighting was needed.  Only really in the party zone where I used pink lighting instead of normal which looked great against the turquoise of the lit pool!  Uplifting was really all we did with the rest of the venue.  We up lit key trees and the the house so it stood out a little more and also we lit a couple of the pots as accents around the courtyard.  The photos are below so decide for yourselves what you think.  I loved it!

Photos by Annie Angelopoulou and friends

Once you have decided on your larger lighting then the fun part comes with the smaller details.  I wanted to have a lot of candles in the venue and also to have the Chinese lanterns which I adore.  Although, in relation to the Chinese lanterns, it was not exactly what I was wanting I had to compromise.  I had envisioned a sea of large and small globes but due to the vastness of the back lawn it was impossible.  They would have sagged too low and we were unable to put in supports as it would have been a) messy b) too much of a liability for the guests.  So in the end I had to make do with 2 strings of large white Chinese lanterns in the dining area coupled with very simple candles on terracotta dishes dotted about.  On the tables I used beautiful terracotta tea light holders which were made locally and I rented off the florist. Now I know I said hiring is hard but we found a wonderful florist who bought them all and charged me a smaller rate as she was going to re sell them in her shop.  I would like to add she was so kind she gave me about 20 of them to bring home and if I say so myself, they look gorgeous on my garden table.

Leading to the party zone from the dining area was a beautiful walkway covered with bougainvillea and roses.  This needed to be lit as at night it was very dark with little lanterns hanging from the pergola and larger ones on the floor, it was so romantic as well as guiding people to the next step in the wedding.  I  used the tea lights that I made all down the driveway as well.  It was magical to look down and just have candles twinkling in the trees.

In the party zone I had fuchsia Chinese lanterns to accent the up lit trees and back lit wall.  It just gave the area the added light that it needed and made it stand out from the rest of the venue.

photos by Annie Angelopoulou

My advice to you all is take some time to think about what you want from your wedding, what atmosphere and address the lighting accordingly.  It is well worth the time and trouble and can completely change a venue from beautiful to magical.

NY

Natty's Preliminary Decisions

Sara says: How did you decide to have a wedding abroad?

Natalia says: Although I have been born and raised in England I have always felt an affinity to Greece.  My husband is also from South Africa and a huge fan of hotter climates, so we thought it would be great for us to get married on a Greek Island rather than in the UK.  Greece for me is a more magical place than England and the idea of having all my friends in one place for a week was too tempting to miss!

Sara says:  What made you chose Crete out of the hundreds of islands in Greece?

Natalia says: My Grandmother was from Southern Crete a place called Sfakia. So I decided that it would be nice to have it on her island.  Also it gave me more options than most of the islands as it was bigger and logistically easier to get to from all the relevant destinations the guests were coming from.

SP & NY

Sara says: So you didn't really even consider other destinations? It was steam ahead to Crete really!

Natalia says: I was looking into a couple of Islands at the start. Spetses and Skiathos were a couple of my choices. It was after looking into the options and of course talking to you, my wedding planner (!) that I decided on Crete

Sara says:  Crete is a large island, did you research on the internet and decide on Chania?

Natalia says: I had long conversations with my father who knows Crete very well and we decided that that side of the island was quieter and more untouched than the eastern side.   The internet was not particularly helpful as most Greeks do not have a website and if they do they are either written in Greek or are just rubbish!

Sara says: So you decided on Chania because you were lucky enough to have a father that knew the area!

Natalia says: Partly, and partly because it was beautiful.  We arranged a road trip down there; my parents, Jubbs (my husband) and me to go see it we liked it.  A little daunting for Jubbs as he was about to get stuck in a car with my father and me which is always interesting to say the least…we are a little too similar for our own good.

Photos by friends

Sara says: Really that is the only way to go about it?

Natalia says: It was the most efficient way in our mind to go about it.  I could have delegated everything to you but as you know, I am too much of a control freak for that.  We hired a lovely Renault Megan and set off searching the area for appropriate venues

Sara says: But that's actually a better way to go about it.  I stress when a bride has only seen her venue on the web she may hate it when she arrives.

Natalia says: I agree and from experience they really do look very different in photos than real life.  For example the monastery which we chose. The stone would actually change colour at different times of the day.

Sara says: So how did you end up choosing your ceremony and reception venue?

Natalia says: We had decided on a 3 day event. As everyone was coming from far and wide we felt that it would only be fitting to put on a Friday dinner, Saturday wedding and a Sunday lunch. So finding venues for them all was a bit tricky and they did end up changing a few times. On the initial trip we managed to find the church and the reception venue, which we stuck by!  You sent me through a few options of reception venues and on there was a place called Villa Catani.  It is a beautiful villa, run by Katrina and Costas who are gorgeous!  When we went to see it we realised that it would not be suitable for 200 guests but Costas new of another villa which could work.  I had always wanted an old Cretan building rather than a hotel so when we arrived at Metohi Kindelis it was love at first sight!

Photos by Cristina Oliver and friends

Natalia says: It was an old renovated Cretan farmhouse.  Manoli the owner studied in Italy and had come home, renovated his family home and started an organic fruit farm on the land! He has done it beautifully.  The outside still has all character and charm of it's original self yet the inside has been designed to fuse the modern with it's old, original character.  Quite breath taking really.  It is very rare to find an original building as up until lately the Greeks tended to flatten the old and just build new.  With the reception venue ticked off the list, the next venue to find was the church! 

Photos by friends

Natalia says: As I am a Greek Orthodox, I wanted to get married in the Orthodox Church. Jubbs, it turns out is a Catholic, despite having lived his entire life believing he was Church of England (I will elaborate on that another day!). He therefore had no arguments (or basis for one!) to get married in my church. This is where we got very lucky.  My parents neighbour in their sleepy little village in Oxfordshire, used to be the head of the archeological museum in London. He very kindly put us in touch with the head of the archeological society in Chania, who was amazing. We ended up getting permission to marry in the monastery at Aptera which is steeped in history and surrounded by an incredible view over Souda Bay.

Sara says: It really is about who you know in this country!!!

Natalia says: It truly is!  Contacts get you everywhere as we found out more and more as the process went on.  My advice is you don't lose anything by asking!

Natalia says: Only 2 more venues to go plus a florist, caterer, light and sound, entertainment.  Oh and the priest!