Oia wedding… an evening to remember

There are thousands of weddings on Santorini every year… people from all over the world dream about getting married on this magical island. They come to experience the mystical landscape and the mesmerising vistas … their visit often fulfilling a life-long dream. Hundreds of thousands of photos get published annually… but it’s very rare that you would get a glimpse of a “local” wedding… especially an “Oia local wedding”.  Lucky for you your friendly cave dweller happened to attend one last weekend…..

as you would expect Oia put on a splendid showing for one of it’s
favourite sons… looking stunning in the autumn sunlight!

 

the young couple chose a tiny church that is perched high on the cliff…
with a view that would make every woman gasp/cry/sigh… all at once!

the bonbonniere (“koufeta” in Greek) were all ready for the guests…

 

and the tiny church was decorated simply and elegantly…
for it’s part in the fairytale…

 

suddenly the young couple appeared…being led into the church by the
groom’s brother and his fellow musician…

 

the ceremony in the tiny but truly beautiful church was understated & elegant…
a fitting simplicity in such a traditional island-village setting

rice & rose petals await the happy couple as they exit the church…

as if in total harmony with the proceedings Oia put on one of it’s best
autumn sunsets…making the view from the church courtyard
absolutely breathtaking

 

the happy couple emerges to a chorus of cheers…

 

and a cloud of rice and rose petals…

 

you’d have to agree with me… one of the advantages of getting married in Oia
is that you don’t have to go far to have a sublime setting for your family wedding pics… no??

 

by all accounts the happy couple danced the night away at the family home till 5am… long after your correspondent was catching zzzzzzz’s in his cozy cave ; ))

 

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse of a “local” wedding… a rare privilege indeed in this tiny community perched high on the Santorini cliff face…..my best wishes to these lovely people and sincere thanks for allowing us to share the event with them !!!

PS: before you send emails… I DO NOT organise/plan weddings… I DO NOT know how you can book the little church or the priest or the florist. So there… Actually… correction… I do know how you can contact the florist. But that’s IT !

PPS: Hi to all the blog readers that dropped by to say hello during summer…
; )))

Hazy sunset & a gorgeous Japanese bride…

I’m sorry to say that the sunset gods were not with us tonight. It was hazy and the breeze was a touch strong for a perfect sunset. I went out to my favourite secret spot to get you the best photos… and there were some very good ones, but it wasn’t a classic Oia sunset. 

 

 

We’ll try again tomorrow night… I promise you it will be worth the wait ;-)

Meantime I thought I’d share with you some pics of a lovely young Japanese couple that dropped by Allison’s studio….at 10am no less, in search of some wedding photos. That’s right….wedding photos at 10am. Japanese wedding…Santorini style.

Unfortunately by the time I got my camera they has already moved from the front of the studio and started walking up the narrow street. But I managed to capture them just in time…

These lovely young kids were just trying to get some good photos around Firostefani (village where studio is). Bride in full glory, groom in sneakers and a simple white shirt…. and the little person with them, well she was just odd (the bride was 5 feet tall… their photographer ??? ). But at least they HAD a photographer…which is more than most of these young Japanese couples have. 

But you have to love them. There they were…walking around from house to house, hotel entrance to hotel entrance, looking for the perfect shot. They asked so politely if the could have their photo taken by the front door…then smiled and bowed, thanking us and promptly moved on to their next “location”. Which wasn’t very far away….

They decided they liked the entrance to another small house as well…so they quickly set up a pose and “click”. Just like that!
I know it’s not easy to see them on this pic…so here is a close-up:

The proud samurai and his gorgeous young bride. Notice he is almost standing at attention… come to think of it so is she. No hugging and kissing for these guys… but I can tell you their faces were beaming with happiness. They were on the island of their dreams…. getting married the way they wanted to. Nothing fancy here folks…just two lovely young kids living their dream.

Take note all you guys that are about to get permanently attached to a bridezilla. This young Japanese girl was very happy to walk around a village at 10am in full gown with the man she loves. Nothing is a problem to her…she has the man she loves and she is on the island of her dreams. So what if she has to walk a kilometre or two to take some wedding photos.  

On the other hand your future mrs is asking you for a $100k wedding reception and a carat diamond for her petite wedding finger?

Hmmm…. does the image of a “one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest mean anything to you”?
That will be you for the rest of your life if you marry her !

O the romance of it all !

There are lots of weddings on Santorini every year…. that’s looots, as in 3 zeros, as in thousands. People from all over the world come here to get married, each couple having it’s own special reason for choosing this magical island. 

The weddings range from the sublime to the ridiculous. There are people that have traditional weddings, others totally non-traditional (read: on the volcano itself). Some do it discreetly….in their own hotel, or even their own balcony over looking the magnificent view… along with half a dozen friends and/or family. Others have more elaborate weddings….hiring an entire hotel and decorating it like a magical kingdom out of a fairytail. 

Then there are my Japanese friends. I say this with a big smile on my face….you really have to hand it to these young people. They often come here alone, they get married on a balcony by an official and then proceed to walk through the whole village trying to take their own wedding photos. Now….go with me on this. The bride quickly changes into runners (sneakers) under the wedding dress and she usually carries the tripod. The groom is carrying camera, lenses, his jacket, flowers and any other props they may want to use in their “professionally” taken wedding photos. So off they go… from roof top to roof top, looking for good angles of the caldera….he sets up the camera while she props herself in front, on, or against something. He sets the shot, clicks the timer and runs like hell to get in the shot…. often having to go back and do it again…and again…and again. Meantime the bride has either changed back to her “wedding shoes” or is pulling the wedding dress like hell to cover the sneakers she is wearing. Oh…and this is often done in the middle of the day ( a curious phenomenon seemingly applicable only to the Japanese)…. which means in mid-summer it is at least 35C. They are both perspiring like mad and the Japanese bride usually has a small umbrella to protect her snow-white skin from the harsh sun. But do they care?

Nope…. you often see their faces beaming with happiness that they are doing what they want, in the place of their dreams. You see them kissing under the frilly umbrella, then quietly packing the “set” and moving on to the next location so they can do it all over again and again and again. THAT is romance Santorini style as far as I am concerned ( I also love the way the locals often come out and offer them cool drinks…right there on the roof tops).

On the other end of the scale you have the rich-bitch bridezillas. Our friend Kat, the local hairdresser, tells us stories of women that throw a fit because the flowers look wilted, or they don’t like the suit on the official marrying them (they are lucky he didn’t turn up in his sandals). They complain about the heat, or the cars or the balcony decorations, or or or… I am always amazed how the guys marrying these women can’t take a hint of things to come.

But the large majority of couples getting married on this island are just ordinary people who had a dream (there is that word again). They save their money, bring their family and friends and they get married in the way they have fantasised…often for years. Simple, elegant weddings, usually at sunset overlooking one of the most stunning views in the world. You watch their faces and you know…you know that this is what they have wanted to do ever since they decided to get married. In fact….it often starts long before that. One or the other had visited the island and fell in love with it. Or…they met here, or they saw it in a movie or a poster or a video… and decided THAT was where they wanted to get married. Do you blame them?

Looking out over the caldera view does things to you….even to someone that has been looking at it for more than 25 years. People get mesmerised, their mind drifts and they become lost in their own thoughts. I remember last August I saw a couple get married on a hotel balcony. The bride looked gorgeous and her groom was beaming. They had less than half a dozen people there as they stood side by side. They got married as their friends watched and they kissed…then turned and looked out at the view. I would’ve given anything to read their thoughts at that moment. The next afternoon I was taking photos of the sunset and I saw them sitting on a roof top… alone but together. No words were spoken between them as they watched the red August sun setting. As the last traces of the sun were about to sink into the Aegean horizon… they turned and kissed. They looked at each other…hugged and then sat there looking out to the endless blue below them. No words necessary….their “dream” fulfilled !

There are of course people for whom money is no object. They can afford to do things with a bit more style and if they can afford it… who can blame them. Last night I came out just after sunset…looked down below and saw this:

It’s one of the regular sunset sail boats from Oia…. but this time the sails were lit up and there was a wedding on-board. My picture does not do the image I saw justice. But I can tell you that it looked fantastic. For them…looking up at the village all lit up, it must have looked like a dream. They must have money…sure. But they also have impeccable taste and you’ve got to love that…

It makes no difference how simply elegant or extravagantly people get married here…they are true romantics.

Cheers to them and all the romantics everywhere !