Christina and Anthony celebrated their nuptials with a destination wedding in at Island Art and Taste in Athens, Greece. The couple tied the knot in front of all their nearest and dearest—literally 169 of 170 invited guests made the journey—in a waterfront ceremony and reception planned by Stella & Moscha. Cheery florals by Secret Garden and bold citron and pale pink stationery by Bright White add personality to the day and Elias Kordelakos captured all the happy moments.
What made the wedding special and unique?
At the very beginning of our “wedding planning” process, Anthony and I drafted up a guest list composed of around 170 guests, all very dear and close to our hearts, friends and family included. However we knew, as like most weddings, not all guests who are invited actually attend. Especially since ours was a destination wedding, we estimated the number of RSVP’d guests to range anywhere between 100-120 guests MAX! Lo and behold, 169 guests went all the way to Athens, Greece to be a part of our celebration. That for me makes our wedding so special. The feeling of loved ones surrounding us on our special day was beyond special. I will never forget all those who traveled far and wide just to be with us.
What made the wedding unique was the fact that the average age was around 28-30, so you can imagine how fun and crazy the crowd was. I have honestly never been to a wedding that had such a young vibe, where everyone was so comfortable (The attire was: No suits for men and no heels for women).
Tell us about the gown and where/how you found it!
Oh, the gown! It was LITERALLY love at first sight. No one believes me when I tell them this story, but it was the first wedding dress I saw and the first wedding dress I tried on, and it was the last! I automatically knew it was the dress for me. The fit was perfect, the simplicity of it matched my style perfectly and it was effortless. I had my mother accompany me during my dress shopping adventure, and when I told her that I didn’t want to try on any other dresses she thought I was crazy. She begged me to at least compare it with another one, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t see the point. If I loved that dress, why would I want to cloud my judgment even more by having OPTIONS?! Thats the last thing a bride needs :) You can call me simple.
I found my beautiful Lazaro dress at Esposa, a local bridal boutique here in Lebanon. However, I wasn’t too fond of the veil that came with the dress so I opted for a veil designed by the brilliant Oscar de LaRenta, also purchased from Esposa.
What were some touches added to make the wedding personal?
As a person, I am all about details and Anthony knows that about me. We wanted to make sure our guests were ALWAYS taken care of, especially since they were all in a country other than their own. We created personalized “welcome bags” where each guest had their name stitched on the front. With the help from our amazing talented wedding planners over at Stella & Moscha, we were able to distribute these bags to numerous hotels across Athens, since all of our guests were scattered along the Athenian Riviera. We split the bags according to gender. Women received items such as a compact mirror, travel size pink lip balm, travel size toothpaste/toothbrush, travel size comb, etc. The gents also received similar items but geared towards male products.
Another personal touch was reading our vows during the ceremony. Usually in Lebanon, where Anthony and I are from, writing and reading vows isn’t very popular. But we wanted to do something very special since we believe we have a very special relationship. Our ceremony was very unique, catered to our liking and comfort.
What was the most memorable part of the day?
This answer might be a bit cheesy and cliché, but the most memorable part of the day was our first dance. The song we chose to dance to had so much meaning and history for us, it was a very emotional dance. And plus, it was the ONLY chance we had to be together during the whole day. So it was a pretty nice 3 minutes of peace and quiet for the newlyweds.
Tell us how you met and became engaged.
Anthony and I have known each other for practically our whole lives. We were in the same school, same class for 9 years up until our high school graduation. However, we were always friends throughout all of those years. It wasn’t until the first year of university (yes, we even went to the same university!) where we started to click more, talk more and fall in love more, this was in 2007. Before getting engaged, we were together as boyfriend and girlfriend for 9 years, long time! It wasn’t until our Italian summer trip, just the two of us, where he proposed to me on one knee in a family owned winery in Tuscany on top of a hill with the most breathtaking view. It truly is a day I will never forget and I will forever cherish the intimate moment we had. He knows that I don’t like an audience, so what made it so precious was that it was just the two of us, and the Italian family running the winery, who of course joined in on the celebrations and were so excited for us.
Anthony and Christina – wedding highlights from Nikos Dimou on Vimeo.
Photography: Elias Kordelakos // Event planning & styling: Stella & Moscha // Flowers and Décor: Secret Garden // Stationery & Graphic Design: Bright White // Wedding Venue: Island Art and Taste // Pre-wedding Venue: Grand Resort Lagonissi // Videography: I like to movie it – Nikos Dimou // Letter Signs: The Letter Co // Wedding dress: Lazaro // Veil: Oscar de la Renta Bridal // Bridal shoes: Badgley Mischka // Wedding bands: David Nader // Groom’s attire: Gucci // Groom’s shoes: Tod’s // Bridesmaids’ Dresses & Groomsmen Attire: Custom Made // Bridal Makeup: Faceplace by Julia // Bridesmaids’ Makeup: Dimitra Manta // Wedding Cake: Choice // Jewelry: Falamank by Tarfa Itani // DJ: Hicham Salem // Live music: Sandra Clark, Sami Clark jr., Hanine Daou // Furniture: Zazoo Event Rentals // Art de la Table: White Lilac // Fire Fountains: Nanos // Light and Sound: Long Play