Comment Response: Cake Thoughts

I am sorry this has taken four days to materialise and I hope the below ideas make it worth the wait!  On Friday Charlotteandglenn asked what our thoughts were on cake types to follow a meze styled dinner.  Now for me following that with a formal cake would not flow properly but there are so many different options out there nowadays to choose from, that you are not left without amazing options.  Here are a few of my choices:

The Cupcake Tower

Image from Manolobrides.com

As with all of my options it will be easy for your guests to grab one of these cakes and carry on mingling, not to mention very easy to eat.  Having the top tier as a normal sized cake of your choice will allow you to still be able to have the ceremonial cutting of the cake. 
If you are struggling to find a baker whose decorating skills are up to scratch the good thing about the cupcake tower is, you can always pack an array of decorations and set about designing them yourself (or delegate one of your bridesmaids to do the job!).  Don't forget there is also the option of decorating with real flowers.

The Ice Cream Cake

Images from caketodays.com & 123rf.com

Simple and yet striking. Again adapting the top layer to allow for the cutting of the cake but this time having individual wafer baskets filled with ice cream and fruit.  I personally love this but you will have to allow for the fact that the cake cannot be sitting out all night. As you can imagine it will not last very long in the warmth of the Greek evenings but would be a wonderful choice if you are looking to surprise your guests by bringing out the cake at the last minute.

The Dessert Tower

Image from sweetart.co.uk

Lastly, the dessert choice.  This was my personal choice for our wedding and worked perfectly.  I had a choice of 4 desserts (a mix of South African favorites and Greek) each, individually portioned in perspex pots.  On top was an ekmek kataifi for us to cut, although truth be told, we never got round to that part.  If you would like to see what our dessert tower looked like please click the following link http://littlewhiteagenda.blogspot.com/2010/06/nattys-catering-choices.html

I know that I have chosen 3 versions of towers but I think that this is going to be the most striking and perfect way to not only present your cake but also to serve it.  I hope this has been of some help to you and please let us know what cake you decide upon as we would love to see it!

NY

Menu Choices and Serving Options

I thought that a chat about menu choices is over due.  It is quite a hard call to make but I think the first choice to be made is if you want a buffet or table service dinner, or even a mixture of the two.  There are pros and  cons to both options depending on what kind of reception you aim to have.

Images from friends

 We went for a mixture of the two.  It was decided to serve the main bulk of the starters during the cocktail hour and for this we had a mixture of both served meze and a buffet table for those who wanted to help themselves.  I have been told by the caterer that never in the history of their wedding catering has anyone served so much food at a wedding (am not sure this is a good or a bad thing) and on the Sunday they were astounded at how much food had actually been consumed!  I am not going to lie, it does make me slightly proud that we hold the record with them for a hideous amount of food consumption!  I am surprised any of us could even dance afterwards.

For the meze we had a mixture of classic Greek, dolmades, keftedes, chicken and pork souvlaki to name a few.  Once the cocktail was over everyone was seated with bowls of olives on the table as well as houmous, pittas and melintzanoslata.  Then came the onslaught of the mains.  Spit roasted lamb, gemista, lemon roasted potatoes, gamopilafo and agkinares kokkinistes.  As you can see, it was a little excessive but it was delicious.  We opted for the classic, taverna style food as a lot of the guest came from abroad and we felt that a Greek menu was appropriate and I was delighted with the result.  It truly was mouth watering.  The main course was served to the tables although, the tables were not big enough to hold such a large amount of dishes along with all the water, wine coolers and candle holders.  But in a way it added to the atmosphere of the wedding when all the plates ended up piled onto of the coolers or on the ground next to the tables, sounds bad but was quite cool really.

Image from a friend

The desert course reverted back to buffet style with some table service.  As you all know we had mini puddings as our 'cake' so these were at the buffet table with some mizithra pancakes being made to order and an array of fresh fruit and ice cream cones!  I know, food over kill.  I just couldn't make up my mind so we had it all.  I found the mixture of buffet and table service worked really well and also enabled us to keep a handle on the time.  Buffets can lead to a disjointed dinner service if not organised well and I wanted all the guests to be eating their mains at the same time, we did over run a bit but as there was no time cap on the party it was not a deal breaker.

I think the important part of getting the menu and serving choice right is to establish what feel you want for your wedding.  Also taking into account what time limit you are on, is going to be key in deciding how you want to serve your meal.  Also what type of food and the amount will also play a key part.

NY

My Beautiful Bridesmaids!

Images by Annie
Angelopoulou &
Friends

What to dress to your bridesmaids in.  That was a real problem for me as I, personally dislike bridesmaids over a certain age to all be dressed the same and therefore did not want that for my bridesmaids.  Also I am extremely keen on the colour black and so is my friend Parks who was my M.O.H but my mother nearly had a heart attack over just the mention of the idea. Guess who one that fight!!!  It is really important to take into consideration the likes, styles, body shapes and characters of your bridesmaids if you are going to subject them to a public appearance in a dress they have had some, little or no say in.  I have been a bridesmaid 3 times in my life, the first time was traumatising and the other two times where fine as the brides took into account that I am extremely funny about wearing dresses and if I didn't like it, I point blank wouldn't wear it.  Now I know that it is the brides big day but honestly, you have to be a little considerate to your wedding party too.  Can I say one thing, there is never a good time for the colour nude, please, ladies, leave it alone. It truly is not flattering even on a super model.

So, my choices.  I had three bridesmaids:  Two in their 30's (one who was pregnant) and a six year old. Now I am not going to lie and say they all went out and bought their own dresses but I did send them through photos of dresses that I liked and thought would suit them and if I don't say myself, I did good!  Evie (the 6yr old) was not too keen on the colour of her first dress but Monsoon bought the same dress out in fuchsia and it was a hit and to be honest I completely agreed with her.  You really can get some great dresses out there that are a) not 'bridesmaid' dresses as such b) not a back breaking price and any tweaking that is needed can always be done.  The 2 older girls had a dress by Ted Baker and an Amanda Wakeley Elements dress (a range for Littlewoods.com and a bargain!) In the end, the fact they were comfortable, felt good and looked great was what was important for me and I think they did.  Obviously, your opinion is your own!

NY

A Bridesmaids Gift Idea

Images from theoldbagcompany.com,
Annie Angelopoulou & monsoon.co.uk

I don't know about you but when it came to deciding what to get my bridesmaids as a gift to say thank you, I was a bit stumped.  It is hard to buy one present for all as everyones tastes differ, so I decided to leave a beach bag in each of their rooms filled with some goodies that I thought would come in handy whilst they were in Greece.  I had 2 grown up bridesmaids and 1 who was 6 years old and altered the bags and fillers accordingly.  For the older two I got them very different types of bag as they are completely different personalities.  Hels loves green so it was a no brainer to get her a hand painted, handmade, green bag that I found in Chania town and filled it with Korres suncream factor 15, Korres aftersun, a book and a pink & white polka dot sarong. Parks loves monochrome and is very organised, the old bag company do a great spotted bag with magazine pockets which I then filled with factor 15 Korres suncream (and a factor 50 for her husband as he is of the pale skin type), aftersun, a book and a black sarong.  On top of this they also were given their antique brooches which they used to affix their pashminas at the ceremony.  As for Evie my bridesmaid of 6, I filled her cute bag with girly magazines, some jewelry from Accessorize and a little fabric jewelry bag ( she had just got her ears pierced and was very excited), which she loved.
The one thing I learnt from organising the wedding was things add up and cost start running away from you.  Rather than blow a lot of money on a gift, that a lot of the time they will never use (going from personal experience), get them something simple that they can enjoy during your wedding and beyond.  What the girls loved about their gifts was that I had thought them through individually rather than just giving them a generic present.

 NY

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.

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Sometimes DIY is Best

….  It really is!  With the previously stated problems with hiring, DIYing some aspects of your Greek wedding is really the easiest way to handle the problem.   Now I am not going to say it is all a bundle of fun, because some of it isn’t but the end rewards make up for it!  I found it very hard to stomach that 200 tea light holders were going to set me back at least £400 and that was without any candles in them. So I decided to make my own! It may have taken a little longer than expected but I got them done!  I found an online site where I could buy 200 small Jam jars for £60…perfect. Next I bought some fine wire from Homebase and some raffia!  After getting comfortable on my sitting room floor in front of a good movie I set about constructing the rustic tea light holders.  It took me about 2 weeks (don’t worry, I wasn’t sitting there solidly, only 1-2 hours an night) and too be honest they were perfect for what I needed).

The other detail that gave me a lot of jip (and Sara will definitely agree as I dragged her halfway round Athens looking for them) was the Bombonieres.  My god!  It was so painful.  I looked everywhere, changed my mind about 100 times and still wasn’t happy.  I have drawers of these things from all my family’s weddings and for me it was important not to waste a lot of my budget on something that I did not deem as hugely important.  In the end I put my mother and 2 family friends to work and made up some cute little packages with an evil eye and the Koufetta inside.  There was also an explanation of what the Koufetta stood for inside, for all the non Greeks.  My father did have some issues with this area as it is traditional to have something made of silver, for the family at least but in the end he caved and for me it was the best decision.  Most of the young (or not so young) were just happy taking away the hats and wigs.

NY

Natty's Guestbook

Ok so thought whilst I was on the subject of guestbooks I would share my choice.  I opted for a photograph (no surprise there really).  A friend of mine had done one years ago at their wedding in Mexico and I loved it.   I organised to meet up with our wedding photographer Annie in Athens on one of our trips out there and we spent and extremely pleasant morning drinking Greek coffee and wandering around the Monastiraki area.  We wanted a strip of photos rather than a single image and due to my love of black and white photography chose for the below strip.

Photos by Annie Angelopoulou

Now I loved it, as Annie managed to keep us at ease and also captured Jubby relaxed, which is a miracle in it's self.  After everyone had signed it, we framed it and it is now 6ft3in.  Massive!  It looks awesome though and is a great hallway filler.

NY

Natty's Wedding Invites!

God, where do I start!  We found this part of the organizing a little trying!  Scouring the Internet to find something appropriate, with a small amount of pressure from my father for a traditional styled invite.  There was only one thing to do, fuse the traditional with the modern!  I found a wonderful style in the Martha Stewart Wedding magazine.  It was named ‘destination wedding’ by www.papercupdesign.com and I loved it!  We wanted a travel theme for obvious reasons and what we liked about it was it was in a vintage style.  

Image care of marthastewart.com

I contacted the company and they were kind enough to send me some samples!  Step one accomplished.  The problem was they were based in the US and even though I loved the design and the concept, it was missing something.  My personal touch!  With the rough concept in hand I approached my wonderful printer, Patrick Dolling.  His wife is my Mothers oldest friend and so I was lucky to keep it all in house! So on to the fun part we went! We had been toying with the idea of giving everyone a guidebook of Crete but as you can imagine the prices were horrendous, so I ended up writing one myself!  It took time but it was so great when it was done and was a hit with the guest!  There is also a company that makes pop out pocket maps.  Sara contacted them for us and had them make up some maps.  What was great was they actually customized them to what I wanted and were extremely detailed as well as being easy to use due to their size, very evening bag friendly!

As the wedding was a three day affair, their had to be three invites. This was where the ‘destination design’ had caught my eye.  The vintage ticket stubs were perfect for the Friday and Sunday events and the wedding invitation was then kept as a more traditional invite with the traditional wording.

I know that these type of things interest me and other people are not that way inclined but I thoroughly enjoyed getting stuck into the designing of all of this.  It was great to work with someone who had such amazing vision and together we took the basic idea and made it into to something really awesome. The finished product was a travel pack (easy to travel with) which opened up to have a guide book, hand drawn map of the area with all the important sites (hotels, wedding venues, etc) on it, three invites, the pocket map, an RSVP and an addressed envelope to return the RSVP.  If I don’t say so myself…they were very cool!  See for yourselves.


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

Little Details Make the Day

Photos by friends and care of Artedona.com

I am all about the little things! I love the details, it is what interests me the most in planning parties. For the wedding we came across so many quandaries in this area and also had moments of clarity! It was quite hard trying to incorporate Greek tradition with English and to include bits of South Africa into it as well. At one point I was looking to find some Zulu dancers and even went to the extreme of trying to coax some of Jubb's friends into doing it themselves. They chose to decline! The one great thing about the Saffas is; if you put them in an area with all their mates, hand them a beer, add a little sun and have something cooking over a fire then they are set! So only to merge the other too nationalities. In our family it is traditional for my father and brother to carve the lamb at Easter. I wanted to have them do this at the wedding, obviously not all the lambs but the first. I refer to my Father as Big George, so I ordered two aprons for them (no man looks good in a DJ covered in Lamb jus). One with BIG GEORGE F.O.B and the other for my Brother with BIG GEORGE JNR KOMBARO. To say I was amusing myself is an understatement. For their thank you presents (my brother was also my Kombaro) I order two Laguile carving sets with Olive Wood handles www.artedona.com which were beautiful and appropriate! Bless them they looked so sweet standing in front of everyone carving and what was great was everyone went up and got involved!

Photos by Annie Angelopoulou and other friends

My page boy who was only two and a half at the time was a little too young for a full DJ outfit.  So I bought him the DJ suit but coupled it with a really cute rolling stones t shirt and a pair of converse!!!  It was this that lead me to put the idea to Jubbs that all the grooms party may like to join in on the foot wear idea!  Jubbs is not a naturally formal person and as half his party were Saffas I thought they may enjoy wearing a pair of cons rather than formal dress shoes!  I was right!  So instead of buying them a thank you present that would sit on a shelf and never get used we bought them all a pair of black converse boots and then bought the entire wedding party, girls and all a classic Greece Lightning T-Shirt we found on http://www.snorgtees.com. Priceless!

NY

Why Research and a Road Trip are Key!

Getting married is stressful at the best of times but when you choose to marry abroad you have to allow for a few more hurdles.  Remember you will not be at hand to deal with any problems that may arise and will need to think a little more a head to enable yourself to have as smooth a process as you can.

Obviously picking the right location is key.  Make sure you look into all the ways to travel to and from the location as well as the hotel, restaurant hire car amenities of the location as well.  You have to plan not just for yourselves but also for your guests.  As you are choosing such a wonderful country to get married in a lot of the guest will use your wedding as a reason to plan a holiday.  You will need to give them as much information as possible otherwise you will leave yourself open to a lot of questions and needed advice at a time when you already have vast amount on your plate.  This is why I believe a road trip to where you choose is vital even if this is the only trip you take before the wedding.  Hire a car and investigate the area.  Check out all the hotels and make sure you meet the managers so you can do a deal with them on rates.  The majority of hotels will be prepared to do this for you if you are sending them a large amount of guests.  Make sure you look at all the different types of rooms available; you need to see them with your own eyes and not take the hotels word for it. Choose you preferred selection of hotels and let your guests know what amenities the hotel has, room rates and also location (close to town, on a beach, on a main road etc). Although hotels generally have websites, we all know the photos have a tendency to be a lot more forgiving than the reality.  Letting people know what there is to see and do is also good.  It allows them to plan their time in the area and leaves you then with the peace and mind that your guests are entertained, without you having to juggle last minute planning with running around after them.

Sourcing logistics for them is also very important; what airlines fly to that destination, ferry options, hydrofoils etc; all of this needs to be researched.  Which car hire company has the best deals and the best vehicles.  I actually sent my invites out six months in advance with all the relevant information in it so my guests could get themselves organised in good time.  Another important tip is to make sure all your guests inform you of where they are staying and the dates they will be there; this can be done on your RSVP card.

The other obvious reason for going to your location is so you can meet all your suppliers.  Arrange food tastings, flower trials, see your venues in person, meet the officiate of your wedding ceremony.   Even if you are using a travel company who have a wedding planning service, it really is advisable to check everything out for yourself.  Normally these services will have a local working with them on the ground, insist on meeting them.  They are after all taking a large role in your big day; you should make sure they are on the same wavelength as you. 

I know that nowadays we are all busy with our work life and we don’t have that much spare time to do all this but if there is one thing worth making the time for it is the research trip to your destination wedding.  In the long run it will save so much stress and allow you to have an amazing wedding experience.


NY

Choosing a wine

Images care of oenorama.com and semili-wines.gr

When Jubbs and I were looking for wine for the wedding we thought that there was no chance we were going to get a great Greek wine.  My family and I had obviously tasted some very special ones over the years, a lot of them not to our taste.  By chance Jubbs and I were in Athens at the same time as the Oenorama wine trade expo was on.  So away we went with my Aunt.  Poor Jubbs came off the starting blocks a little fast not realising that Greece has a large amount of vineyards and was two sheets to the wind by the end of the first room.  Only 3 more to go!  The variety was huge ranging from more conventional wines to the more Greek style wines.  I was amazed to find such a vast amount of choice and it was from here we decided getting the red from Greece was a must.  

Back to the red: Finding a Greek who has good knowledge of their wines is the key.  Get their advice and then try, try, try. If that is not possible, there are websites out there, which specialise in Greek wines, read up! If you can, try and make it out to Athens for Oenorama (www.oenorama.com).  It is a great opportunity to have all the wines in one area and maybe be able to haggle the price of a large order directly with the vineyard.  I must confess we dealt directly with the vineyard with a little help from my Aunt.  Although we had a contact I do believe it is worth a contacting the vineyards even if you don’t.

We sat down for a nice dinner with my father and around 20 bottles of recommended wine. We all tasted and rated the wines and then the overall favourite was the one we went with. After 2 hours we had a winner Semeli (www.semeli-wines.gr).  I must admit it was delicious and we ended up bringing back an extra 4 cases to enjoy at home.

The white we actually brought from the UK.  My mother likes only certain types of white wine, not helped by her allergies to some, so we thought it was best to bring over a wine we new was good and was one of her favourites.  I know that there are some great white wines too, we just never got round to look for them for obvious reasons!


NY

Trash The Dress

Nowadays it is popular to have a trash the dress session. I must confess I too participated in this ritual! Personally I have never had the urge to either carefully keep my dress protected in a dress sleeve in a wardrobe nor, it framed in a large glass box on a my bedroom wall like a shrine! Yes it does happen! So I decided to have Annie photograph me in the sea with it!

It has been done in many ways; in water, on a quad bike, on mountains etc. The extent of how much you trash you dress is up to you. Originally the plan was to play around at the beach of Okeanos Beach bar and maybe partake in some jet skiing. I ended up on a small isolated beach which had a plateau going about 15 meters out into the sea. They turned out to be my favorite photos of the whole wedding.

Done well they can be amazing. They are great for abstract portraits and to be honest a blast to do. I highly advise it!

Photos by John Micheal Cooper, bq Photography & Brandon Wyness

After cruising the Internet for a while; here are some examples I rather enjoyed!  There are also sites that specialise in this a and it seems even the papers are writing about it!   http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/fashion/weddings/10trash.html?  Enjoy!

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A Little Help from our Friends

When Sara and I were writing the first installment in my Monday interviews we touched on how useful it can be to have local knowledge. I thought I would elaborate on this a little! Understandably the locals do not like to share their hidden secrets with tourists. I think we can all empathise with this train of thought. This said, if you spend a little time befriending them, you will find they are a wealth of information. I was very lucky, in that I spent a large amount of time in Crete sourcing suppliers, venues, accommodation and general organizing. I got to spend time with people and they shared vital information with me. I met a lovely English lady who had married a Greek and they ran a tavern called Drakiana north of Platanias. It was from these lovely people, after way too much Raki, that I found my Friday night Venue. A beautiful fish tavern situated in a suburb of Chania called Halepa. Thalassino Ageri was not only stunning but the food was positively divine and in some case managed to convert non fish eating guest to the delights of the Greek sea! Another endless source of help and information was a wonderful man named Nico. He runs a boutique hotel called the Ammos in Agii Apostoli, Chania. Not only did he help me find Sunday’s venue, which I changed to at the last minute! He also helped me find the cake and desert supplier and stored hats, lights and other design necessities for me until Sara and I arrived out for the wedding. The locals are an infallible source of information and really should be utilized to their full potential. Talk to your hotel managers. Talk to the tavern owners. They know who is top of their game in the area and Who is not. Who are the easiest to work with and who is a nightmare. Who has vision and who has not. I urge you all….befriend everyone in your wake! They will make you day the one you dreamed of and if not at least you can have a wonderful array of new friends!

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Natty's Catering Choices

Sara says: Ok, so over to the catering, what were your initial thoughts on the type of food you wanted to serve at the wedding and how was it approaching local caterers compared to those in the UK (if you have experience with them)?

Natalia says: I was always going to go with traditional Greek food. To me there was no point in going all the way over to Crete and eating what would be served at an English wedding. Lamb on the spit was a priority. Finding someone who would agree to it for up to 200 people was another thing! The local caterers differed on their reaction to me. As we have already covered the fact I am quite particular about things, it is no surprise that some of them were a little wary of me at the start. We had initial meetings with the caterers and then a food trial! The first caterer refused point blank to spit the lambs and then changed his mind once he realised I knew and loved my food! The one we ended up going with, was game from the start!

Sara says: I see this with Greeks all the time . The point blank refuse at the start and then come round to the idea as you talk with them in more detail! It's really strange!

Natalia says: I think the difference between the English caterers and the Greeks is; The English appreciate that you are the client and want what you want even if they know better. The Greeks don't really care if you want it they know better! It is your job to gently coax them round to your way of thinking and then let them believe it was their idea in the first place. Sound familiar ladies?!!!!!!!! Yes both my caterers were male!

Sara says: Exactly

Natalia says: Oh apart from the cake lady! And she agreed from the start!

Sara says: Because she was female

Natalia says: basically, yes!!!!!! She was lovely and so were her cakes and I ‘tasted’ a lot of them! Yummy!

Sara says: It really depends how modern and open the supplier is, most of them do think they know best and that there are only certain ways of approaching a job. They also think they should be able to choose what is most convenient to them rather than the client. It's an interesting concept and happens throughout Greece

Natalia says: If you have a planner or you know how to gently bring them round you will always end up with what you want

Sara says: It’s also frustrating when you try to investigate how exactly they are going to lay out and event or what process they are going to use for a specific event, they will tell you they have huge experience and everything will be great. Greek Men are simply frustrating. My main recommendation is to have EVERYTHING in writing

Natalia Yannaghas says: I agree and if they can't email you, get them to fax it! It is usually quicker! In the end I used a lovely catering company called Tzedakis

Sara says: They were so lovely, both the owners. Their main attribute was setting up the kitchens on site so all the food was cooked that minute rather than being transported which is usually what happens

Natalia says: For me they were great and they catered for the Saturday wedding and the Sunday lunch. Definitely would have been a deal breaker for me if they had not cooked fresh on site. The lamb was spectacular and the Gyro that they produced on the Sunday was out of this world. Just what the doctor ordered after a 12 hour bender! They were flexible and had a very open mind which is quite rare in Greece. Nothing was a bother and they gave us a wonderful food tasting session and one of their own homes! It was amazing.  think Jubbs was in heaven!  We also wanted loukoumades. A very controversial thing to ask for it turns out!!!! Apparently they are extremely hard to make on site because the batter doesn't like to travel!!!! Well that is what one caterer told us! Take it from me...Tzedakis batter travelled just fine and all the Greeks at the wedding said they were some of the best they had ever eaten!

Sara says: So what were the pros and cons of using a small local caterer rather than a large one from the mainland?

Natalia says: I suppose firstly the cost. It would have cost a lot more to have paid for logistics, and accommodation for all the staff coming from the mainland. I think if you are on an Island it is nice to give the work to a local. They know the traditional food of that island and also sometimes the small guys are better. Especially if you are going for Greek food. Some of the best Greek food is from recipes handed down b y generations. To be honest, Crete is a large island I so had anything I wanted there, food wise. Maybe if I had been on a smaller Island I would have been more restricted.

For me it was very important to taste the food of the caterers before I made any decisions on which I would use. Then to make them cook absolutely everything I had wanted for the wedding. It was at that point I set the menu and to be honest went on a 2 day starvation diet! Eating 2 days worth of food in one sitting kills you, especially after you have had gyro for lunch and cake tasting in the afternoon! I wanted to die.

Sara says: Oh yes, I too remember, we seemed to forget the tasting in the evening until very late in the day and then had to make room for a meal for 10. What about the set up and appearance of the food?

Natalia says: The set up and appearance was rustic! But that is what I had wanted. I checked their portfolio before and told them what presentation I like and what offended me! They were very good at listening to me! This helped! In the end there were some teething problems, nothing to do with the caterer I would like to add, but all went very well and it was delicious!

SP & 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!