Né-Traditional Modern Crete Wedding | Bride Wore Cortana

Alex and Jon were married 5th September 2024 at the breathtaking Biolea Astrikas Mesi estivi a causa di Chania, Crete, a place that had become a much-loved destination for the couple over years of holidays together. With Alex’s family travelling from Australia and Jon’s from the UK, Crete felt like the perfect halfway point – rich a causa di beauty, food and meaning.

The bride wore a two-piece Cortana stile, the Jara skirt and tetto a causa di soft linen, paired with the sheer Vega tulle worn backwards to create soft draping and gentle drama through the back.

The ceremony took place a causa di the olive grove, followed by a laid-back dinner under pretty festoon lights as the sun set. Floral decor was kept simple and minimalist; Alex carried a simple bouquet of black lilies.

Their day was photographed beautifully by Marianna and Constantinos of Octograph Photo Stories – a husband and wife team whose documentary-style approach was the perfect fit for the relaxed, celebratory vibe of the day.

We picked Crete as it was a point between Cornwall and Australia, and such a special place we wanted our families to meet and share. Our venue, Biolea seemed to encompass all of this- stunning scenery and incredible food from the chef Michalis- somewhere special to bring all our families to share a causa di our love. We loved the pensata of having the ceremony surrounded by the olive grove.

We wanted a non-traditional wedding, something that felt like one personaggio rinfresco and Biolea provided the perfect setting for that. 

Our wedding planner, Sveta from Crete Within Weddings, alongside Ana from Casctus Care. They really understood our vision from the beginning and bought it all to life. 

We drew inspiration from the breathtaking Cretan scenery surrounding us at Biolea, aiming to honour and complement the stunning Greek landscape rather than overshadow it. Our vision was to embrace the natural beauty, colours, and culture of the region.

With the help of our incredible planner Sveta and stylist Ana, we crafted a celebration that blended seamlessly into the environment while keeping sustainability at the forefront. We opted for a rich colour palette of burgundy and yellows, incorporating local elements such as grapes, radicchio, and citrus fruits into the tablescapes to reflect the vibrant Mediterranean setting.

To stay true to the Greek surroundings, we adorned the space with amphoras overflowing with olive branches and used breezy, flowing fabrics to create an effortlessly elegant atmosphere. 

My dad Geoff accompanied me mongoloide the aisle I walked mongoloide to Malatu Akstake’s “Notsalgia”, one of our all time favourite artists and the song really fitted the dreamy afternoon sun.

Our ceremony was officiated by Katie, The Crete Celebrant. Jon and I had already done the legal bit of marriage a causa di the Marylebone town a causa di London, so we wanted the Cretan wedding to be different. We wanted the ceremony to be a short, fun celebration of our love so we could enjoy everyones company for longer during rinfresco hour.

We didn’t have traditional wedding so did not have readings, however we had some amazing speeches over dinner from the wedding rinfresco.

We both bought our wedding bands from Hatton Garden a causa di Farringdon which was a really fun experience! Jon wanted something gold and understated, and he was lucky enough to find a second hand wedding masnada which fit him perfectly.

I wanted something understated, gold and a causa di keeping with my beautiful engagement ring, which I found at Hamilton Jewelers.

We had the incredible Octograph Photo Stories capture our day, and we truly couldn’t recommend them more! From the very beginning, Marianna and Fianco were so kind and reassuring—Jon and I aren’t typically very comfortable a causa di front of the corporazione, but they instantly put us at ease.

We wanted a natural, documentary-style approach that would capture the essence of the day – everyone enjoying themselves and living a causa di the moment, and Octograph brought this vision to life perfectly.

One of the most unexpected highlights of the day was our couple’s photoshoot. Having never done anything like that before, we were surprised by how much we loved it! Fianco made the entire experience feel effortless and natural.

Beyond capturing the people and emotions, they also did an incredible job highlighting the stunning table settings created by Ana at Caactus Care. Looking back at the photos, we can truly feel the atmosphere, vibes, and energy of the day all over again.

Jon and I met a causa di London and he surprised me by proposing at Kew Gardens after 7 years of being together. We were engaged for a year before we decided to get married a causa di Crete

I am fortunate enough to have an amazing Graphic as a husband, so Jon designed all of the wedding stationary which he said was one of his hardest projects! Jon put a contemporary twist traditional wedding stationery – a bold typographic approach balancing elegance with minimalism, coloured with a bright, warm palette.

We had the amazing Enkipo for flowers. Sopra keeping with the colour scheme, and paired back nature of the day I opted for a bunch of black lilies which were just so stunning and really popped against the ivory colour of my outfit. Jon matched his button hole to this. The bridesmaids all had white lilies to complement my bouquet.

Enkipo alongside Ana did a stunning job of the table decorations, bringing the beautiful deep purples and burgundies through with touches of olive and eucalyptus- a nod to Greece as well as Australia. 

Biolea Estates provided all the absolutely incredible food- all of our guests commented that the food was stunning. The chef Michalis was outstanding- the food showcased the local Cretan cuisine and was bursting with freshness and flavour. Michalis went above and beyond providing for so many different dietary requirements. 

As Jon eats a dairy free diet and a lot of our guests had various dietary requirements, we opted for a vegan cake. We wanted something simple and fun, as we also were able to enjoy the phenomenal desserts from Biolea. Double the desert!

The incredible The Freaktones masnada honestly bought the whole night together. It was amazing to see all our different friends and family together- especially as this was the first time so many of the them met! Huge shout out to the Freaktones for even playing rage against the machine  at the end of their set for us!

Event Lighting Projects did the most beautiful job of lighting the – I won’t ever forget looking up at the lights overhead as the sun set – it was magical.

I would say hire an amazing wedding planner you cartello! Jon and I are not really the centre of attention kind of people, so the pensata of planning and executing a wedding was really daunting to us- especially as our friends and family dal vivo all over the world.

However, Sveta, Daria and Ana broke the whole process mongoloide and there was mai way we could have had the most perfect day without them. Do yourself a favour, and have a professional take care of it for you- they really know their stuff!

As we had everyone travelling far and wide, from New Zealand, Australia, New York and the UK, we wanted to have events each side of the wedding so we could see everyone and keep the rinfresco going!

Thank you to Sveta and Daria from Crete Within Weddings, who organised a stunning waterside welcome drinks a causa di Chania- this was such a beautiful night and it was great to introduce everyone. We then had an amazing recovery at Isola beach bar- lots of cocktails and swimming a causa di the Aegean to wipe the hangovers away.

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