The gorgeous lovebirds of today’s wedding decided to seal their love in Tochni, one of the oldest villages of Cyprus island. Liza and Hector dreamed of a wedding that combines elegant and rustic style together. After their beautiful ceremony, the couple and their guests celebrated their love in an outdoor venue which was adorned with wooden tables, ghost chairs, greenery garlands, fresh white flowers and gorgeous gold tableware. The dominant hues were white, green and brown which were the perfect choice for such a beautiful rustic chic wedding! See all the details of this dreamy wedding through the following photos by Louis Gabriel Photography!
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
The bride shared with us: “We first met at a student Halloween party in Manchester, UK, but our story really began a year later. After a few years together, we went on what I believed was no more than our next little adventure together – a beach holiday trip to Santorini and Zakynthos. On our second day in Santorini, we decided to go on an island tour ahead of the date night Hector had arranged for us at some ‘famous fish restaurant’ that evening. As the tour went on, and we obviously ran late, I could tell that Hector was getting more and more nervous about ‘missing our reservation’. More nervous than I’d ever expect him to be about running late for a dinner reservation. Long story short, it all finally made sense when I realized that Hector had actually planned so much more than just another romantic date night. He’d planned out a beautiful and private evening for the two of us, kicked off with an unexpected intimate proposal at our dinner on the beach surrounded by candles and tiki torches.”
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
“The ceremony took place in the rustic and beautiful 19th-century Agios Constantinos and Agia Eleni church in Tochni village. The church is located on the sacred ground where Roman Emperor Constantine’s mother Helena had built a temple when visiting the island. The ceremony and prayers were led by two priests who performed the wedding ceremony in Greek, English and Russian. We mainly picked Cyprus as our destination to ensure that Hector’s grandmothers could attend and celebrate with us, but of course the warm weather was a lovely bonus! With friends and family travelling in from 13 countries across the globe, we wanted to ensure that the location would also make a perfect holiday spot (so we could spend a little more time with them too).”
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
“I wanted a wedding dress that not only looked great, but to also matched the overall theme of the wedding. It all came together in the classy and elegant dress by an Italian designer Eddy K from his exclusive Sky collection. It was an ivory, mermaid style backless dress made with exquisite and delicate lace, and a long train.”
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
“Funny enough, the favourite moment of our wedding is the same for both of us – first seeing each other before the ceremony. I was coming up the stairs that lead to the church with my heart pounding, worrying about whether Hector would like the way I looked and all the things that could possibly go wrong. However, the moment I saw Hector and his reaction, time froze and for a few moments it felt like there was no one else around. There was something very special in that moment of pure happiness and excitement to beginning a life-long adventure together.”
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
“The goal was an evening that felt both enchanted and elegant. By combining table-top elegance with a surrounding abundance of romantic candlelight under a starry sky, a truly magical atmosphere was created. The predominant colors we chose were olive green, gold and white. For my flower bouquet I picked white roses, blue thistle and assorted greenery.”
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
“We used a mix of round and long wooden tables to create a symmetrical floorplan that would allow our guests to mingle, move around freely and have easy access to both the dance floor and serving areas. To compliment the varying tables, we also chose a combination of wooden bistro and clear Kartell chairs. Round tables were decorated with tall white and green flower arrangements whilst the long tables had overflowing foliage garlands leading towards the dance floor. Our head table was decorated with a rich overflowing flower garland and the chairs featured a ‘better together’ cut-out. The entire venue was filled with hundreds of candles in clear, mercury and gold holders as well as tea light baubles hanging off the trees”.
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
“We also settled on a chess board floor which complimented the symmetric layout. The edge of the venue was turned into an ‘entertainment zone’ with a polaroid camera, props, guest book and some games for children who were attending the reception. The little cartoon characters we’d had designed for our wedding invitations also made some subtle appearances throughout the night, putting an emphasis on our story about finding each other even though we were born on opposite sides of the globe. You could find our little illustration 3D printed on the top of our cake, on our home-made honey wedding favors and on our bride-or-groom game sheets. Just enough to be seen, but not enough to deter from the theme of the evening.”
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
“Pinterest boards and wedding magazines were some good starting points, but we really wanted to create something completely unique to us and our story. Most of the ideas came from frappe-fuelled brainstorming sessions with our talented planner Stavros from Fresh Events, who helped coordinate and culminate so many of our ideas into a truly magical night.”
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
“On the topic of language and culture, we also made sure that some traditions from both our backgrounds were featured prominently. For example, we made sure to include the Russian ‘salt and bread’ tradition, which was both sentimental and provided laughs for our guests when we had to split the loaf to see who’d ‘wear the trousers’ in the marriage. Overall – don’t let external pressures take away from your special day – eat, have fun and celebrate with people who are truly important to you!”
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Advice to a bride-to-be: “Make it your own day and be sure to incorporate things that are important to you as a couple. We wanted to celebrate our special day in an intimate setting with our families and closest friends, but most of our guests had never met before. Hosting a boat party just days before the official ceremony allowed everyone to meet, mingle and overcome language barriers”.
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
“It is also extremely important to take a few moments to show appreciation for each other too. Planning a wedding can sometimes overwhelm you and result in losing sight of the fact that a wedding is your celebration together. Hector made a heartfelt speech and surprised me with a rendition of ‘Lava song’ performed by his best man. I surprised Hector with a Spanish dance – and you should have seen his face!”
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
Photography : Louis Gabriel Photography
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