A beautiful intimate wedding in picture perfect Monemvasia has truly captured my heart. The wedding of Daniel and George had a rustic and masculine theme and was complimented with the flawlessly stylish decorative touches of Ioanna Vamvakari Events. Every image, every tender and heartfelt moment captured with pure brilliance by talented photographer Adonis Kekidakis. Enjoy this beautiful masterpiece!

“We visited Monemvasia in 2010, and fell in love with the area, with a landscape combining olive groves, vineyards, the azure Aegean and the unique castle on a rock. It was the perfect spot to show off just what Greece has to offer to our friends and family, and is a beautiful setting for a wedding. In addition, the Kinsterna is one of the best hotels we have ever stayed at, with brilliant service, warm and professional staff, a chef worthy of a Michelin star, and stunning architecture. We felt this was the ideal spot for a wedding, and even enquired about it on our stay when it opened in 2010”.

“We met at a bar one night in Rotterdam. George was there alone, and saw Dan in the mirror with his friends. You could say it was love at first site!”

“We realized quite early on that we would spend the rest of our lives together. We were truly in love! As a gay couple, we were a bit hesitant about marriage at first. However, we then started to realize that we would like to make our relationship official and celebrate it with our friends and family. We were talking about it for a number of years, and finally, Dan asked George on a cold night under the Aurora Borealis in Iceland”.

“We actually had no specific thoughts on the decoration, and thankfully had Ioanna to guide us and provide suggestions throughout the planning process. All our guests were very impressed with the design of the event, as were we of course”.

Ioanna shared with us about the gorgeous and carefully selected decorative details: “We used a combination of round and rectangle tables that added a dimension to the reception decoration. The centerpieces were floral bouquets with lavender, aster, safari sunset & chrysanthemum were placed in various shaped glassed jars, and vintage books were used as wedding table numbers”

More than 1000 candles were placed in reception area of the Kinsterna Hotel creating a magical setting. We loved the advice box idea! As Ioanna mentioned to us: “An old wooden trunk was used for the advice box. Guests shared their wishes, advice and gifts for the couple. White candles, floral bouquets with protea flowers and delicate ivy decorated this beautiful area”.

The rustic boutonnieres were a surprise gift from Ioanna: Each one created with different flowers to match their attire: White rose, lavender and craspedia for Daniel and pale pink rose, lefkadentro and chrysanthemum for George.

“The best decision was, by far, hiring The Wedding Experts in Greece to plan our wedding, who introduced us to Ioanna. The wedding planner and decorator took a significant weight off our shoulders, both in the planning and during the actual event honestly, the event would not have been as perfect without the help of these two ladies, who also collaborated very well with the staff at the Kinsterna (who were also marvelous). I can’t really say that we made any bad decisions – that would take away from the brilliance of the day”.

For Daniel and George the best moment of the wedding was: “The moment we were saying our vows, both of us in tears, with the rock of Monemvasia in the background and all our closest friends and family sharing this moment with us”.

The couple’s advice on planning a destination wedding: “Try to do everything to make it easy for your guests to join the celebration. We organized transport between venues, nannies to keep children occupied during the dinner and to baby sit during the party, and meals the day before and after the wedding. This was all done with the help of our wedding planners, which would be our second suggestion: the wedding planner and decorator made took all the stress away from us in the planning”.