Beautiful rustic wedding in Kythira | Nikki & Simon

Nikki and Simon created a dreamy wedding next to the sea that will mesmerize you! The outdoor venue of a white small chapel built in the rocks was the ideal place for an unforgettable wedding ceremony. The beautiful bride arrived at the church and impressed everyone with her unique wedding dress and her effortless chic style. After the ceremony, the couple and their guests enjoyed a delicious dinner and celebrated the big day with music and dance! The outdoor reception venue was adorned beautifully with wooden details, greenery garlands and white flowers… Don’t miss a single moment of this wedding through the images by Pahountis Photography!

“I met Simon at the horse races in Sydney Australia in 2014. On a trip to Greece in 2016, Simon proposed on a visit to the stunning island of Elifonisos off the coast of Kythira. Elifonisos has the clearest blue water I’ve ever seen!”, the bride shared with us. “Simon got down on one knee and proposed. When we sent photos home to family to announce the engagement, everyone was worried that he might have dropped the ring in the water, however the water is so clear it would have been easy to find!”

“My family is from the island of Kythira and my family are lucky enough to still have a house there. Kythira has some of the most stunning beaches I have ever seen and the food is just incredibly. It is my home away from home, and I try to get there as often as I can. When I met Simon (who is from Australia and does not have a Greek connection), it was important to show him “my island” and for him to understand why it was so special to me. Simon absolutely loved it and now likes to refer to it as “his island” also. The decision to have our wedding in Kythira was simultaneous with the proposal on Elifonisos and we couldn’t be more excited to show our friends and Simon’s family just how beautiful Kythira was.”

“My dress was designed by Jess Andreatta who was then at Pallas Couture. I underwent a 6 month process of designing the dress in collaboration with Jess and the Pallas team. It was so wonderful to have the flexibility to develop the style over time and it wasn’t until 6 weeks before the day that I had to choose the lace. It was the perfect design process. I loved everything about this dress – the silhouette, the low back, the crisp white fabric and the delicate flowers on the bodice. It was everything that I could’ve dreamed of and more. The style perfectly suited the Greek Island location and I felt it captured my aspirational style – a little bit fun and sexy but classic and elegant.”

“I was also fortunate enough to have Pallas Couture lend me a reception dress for the evening which was designed specifically for me by Jess Andreatta. The dress was a structured mini with the most amazing long threaded beads that shimmied as I moved. It was the perfect dance floor dress! I was also extremely fortunate to have a custom made veil by Daphne Newman X Elle + Adhira, a very special collaboration between the Canadian veil couture designer Daphne Newman, and bridal accessories specialist, Elle + Adhira. The veil was perfectly designed to complement my Pallas dress with 3D flowers intricately trickled throughout the bottom part of the veil. I also loved the softness of the tulle and the way it softly blew in the wind.”

“The ceremony took place in Kythira. We chose to the ceremony venue in the village of Mitata on the steps of an old cave-church on a dirt road that led to the reception venue. The church has icons inside dating back over 1200 years. The rustic scene over the colourful fields of the village of Mitata was just too good to be true.”

“For decoration we wanted a traditional Greek Island “village vibe” with rustic decorations, traditional music and village-style food that showcased some of Kythira’s most memorable flavours. I wanted to ensure we carried through the Greek theming with olive leaves and simple white flowers. To create a rustic vibe, we also had wine barrels and a whisky and cigar bar with single malt scotches and Cuban cigars. For my flower bouquet I picked peonies with olive leaves.”

“The best moment of our wedding was walking from the Church to the reception venue on donkey with all the bridal party following behind being led by a violinist and bazouki player! Oh, and the food! One of the most exciting aspects of our wedding was having our friends Cos and Toni Psaltis cook for us on the night. Cos and Toni used to run a restaurant in Sydney, Australia and having retired, they spend their summers in Kythira. Cos and Toni are incredible cooks and arranged the entire catering on their own with the help of locals. We wanted a traditional “village style” wedding with lambs on the spit, Octopus, Moussaka and haloumi. We couldn’t have been more proud and grateful for their efforts.”

“For the reception we chose The Windmill Resort in Mitata. My cousin Alex Poulos owns The Windmill Resort. It is a rustic hotel right in the middle of the island built around an old windmill. At sunset, the venue lights up with pink and purple hues and you really do feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. My cousin worked tirelessly for over a year to get the property in shape – manicuring the gardens and building a giant souvla spit pit for us to fit 6 lambs!”

“I found inspiration and ideas from the outset of the process my wedding planner, Ioanna Vamvakari asked me to set up a Pinterest page with inspiration on what flowers I liked. The styling developed through this. It wasn’t until the moment I walked out of my dressing room that I saw all of the flowers and decorations. I was truly blown away by just how elaborate the flowers and decorations were – they really did embody the inspirational style from my Pinterest page.”

Advice to a bride-to-be: “Finding an experienced wedding planner who knows the location well! With the right planner, everything will fall into place. I chose Ioanna Vamvakari who is based on the mainland in Monemvassia which is very close to Kythira. Her role was organising all of the vendors and also the beautiful flowers and decorations. She was particularly important for us given that she was on the ground and able to arrange everything in Greek time. Her professionalism and drive was amazing, and I highly recommend her.”