Destination wedding in Greece with olive theme | Leslie & Phillip

Leslie and Phillip: the wildly in love couple that travelled from Ireland to Greece to have their destination wedding close to their dear family.

The flowers that the bride chose for her bouquet were a divine combination of blush, ivory and pink roses. The pale colors gave a romantic touch to the wedding decoration.

Leslie got prepared for her wedding day at the luxurious Astir Palace Resort, a unique hotel surrounded by sun-drenched gardens of the private peninsula.

«We chose to have our destination wedding in Athens Greece because Philip’s grandparents live there, and we wanted to bring the wedding close to them. Philip has a lot of family in Athens and the surrounding areas, so it was wonderful to share the experience with all of them. Also, Athens is a beautiful city, especially Vouliagmeni where the wedding took place, so it wasn’t a difficult decision to make!»,Leslie told us.

Phillip got ready in one of the modern and elegant bungalow suites at the Arion, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, surrounded by the crystal-clear blue waters of the Saronic Gulf. Breathtking!

The wedding ceremony and the reception were held on the same location, at the unique wedding venue Island Art & Taste: «like a beautiful verandah overlooking the ocean, it was so peaceful and romantic… », said the bride.

The olive wedding theme was elegant and stylish. The ceremony chairs were decorated with olive branches and pale colored flowers.

Leslie mentioned about the vintage wedding decor: «We had a fantastic wedding planner, Vana from White Ribbon Boutique Events. She was a dream to work with from start to finish. She had excellent taste and was very easy to deal with… she made the whole wedding planning process so enjoyable. My favorite part of the decoration was the hanging flowers in glass votives… they were beautiful!»

Vana, the wedding planner told us: «Before the ceremony, we gave the guests home made peach juice that the groom’s grandma had made. For glasses we used small jam jars, tied beautifully with pale colored ribbons and straws in the same color.With the juice we also gave the female guests handmade fans with the wedding program. The male guests received the wedding program printed on black board pattern cards».(

«There were so many beautiful moments during the day but for me, the best moment was walking up the aisle with my father and seeing Philip standing waiting for me. It was very emotional… I will never forget the feeling».

Leslie and Philip met when they were 18 years old and were inseparable: «We spent 10 years together before getting married… during this time we both finished university… travelled the world for a year, and then returned to Ireland to begin our careers»

Phillip proposed on April Fool’s day… «We were having breakfast one Sunday morning and all of a sudden Philip was down on one knee with a ring in his hand, asking me to marry him. Because it was April Fool’s Day I thought he was playing a joke on me… so Ιhad to keep checking that it was serious!! It was a wonderful day, one of the happiest of my life! ».

Elegant Mon Cherie wedding dresswith a sleeveless bateau bodice, draped in tulle. Stunning belt with precious stone embroidery. «When I found my wedding dress, I was ecstatic! I knew as soon as I looked in the mirror that it was the dress for me, it made me feel beautiful and elegant, and I think that is something every bride needs to feel on her wedding day».

«The wedding venue was everything we were looking for! It is truly stunning and ticked all the boxes for us»

Instead of the traditional wedding guest list, wedding planner Vana used escort cards, that were placed alphabetically in picture frames. Brilliant wedding planning ideas!

Leslie and Phillip created with their guests a wonderful alternative to the wedding guest book by adding their finger prints as “leaves” on the tree and writing their warmest wishes.

It is tradition in an Irish wedding for some of the male members of the bridal party to give a speech before the meal. As Leslie shared with us: «At our wedding, my father, Philip and his best man all gave speeches. Philip actually had two separate speeches, one in Greek for our guests that did not speak fluent English, and one in English for our English speaking guests! »

The bride’s advice to all the other couples planning their own wedding:«My advice would be to hire a good wedding planner if you are having a destination wedding. It really simplified the process and is definitely worth the money».