My Daughter’s Wedding in Santorini

bride and groom Santorini

Ok so back last Summer, the only thing we had planned for this year was our ‘travelling’. Little did we know that Scottish Mik would propose to oldest daughter Helena and they’d decide to hold their wedding in Santorini! What a treat! A wedding and honeymoon in one for them and a wedding and holiday in Santorini for us!

From an engagement under a Christmas Tree in a German Christmas Market in November to a wedding in Santorini in May is pretty good going but Helena is a born organiser and her meticulous planning meant that the wedding went off like a dream. They did use local wedding planners, who coincidentally were called Elena and Michael, so that all the legal malarkey was covered as much as anything. Though having them around to organise transport for the day and sort out the flowers and wedding cake amongst other things, was a god-send.

Karen Millen shoes
(I love Helena’s Santorini blue Karen Millen shoes – something old and something blue in one!)

They decided early on that they wanted just immediate family at the actual wedding in Santorini but so that the wider family and friends could get involved they also had a wedding party in Edinburgh when we all got back from Greece. Both parts of the wedding were lovely but the actual day in Santorini was magical.

Her dress was simply gorgeous and the biggest surprise was that she bought it in the first shop we went to.  She only tried on a handful  before finding the dress of her dreams which I think you’ll agree looked stunning on her. When she tried it on in the shop it had a lacy back but she had it altered to make it backless and what a good call that was.

Helena wedding dress

The Nitty-Gritty!

We spent many hours on Expedia checking flight prices.  Once that was sorted, we arranged the car hire for Santorini.  I wasted an awful lot of time looking at mother-of-the-bride outfits that were totally unsuitable for me and the wedding climate! I eventually ended up buying a flowery, summery maxi dress from that catalogue shop that Lorraine Kelly advertises, Simply Be I think it was called – or was it J D Williams?! The dress was much more Me than any of the stuffy, formal stuff that I’d been trying on in John Lewis and the like and what’s more I’ll be able to wear it for going out on summery days and holidays for many years to come!

Helena’s sisters were the bridesmaids and the Mum & Daughters’ trip into town to buy the bridesmaid dresses was a breeze. We genuinely bought the dresses in the first shop we went to, House of Fraser in Cardiff, and after trying on a few we decided that it had to be the two Biba dresses in Santorini Blue, which had Maddie and Megan laughing and twirling around like Disney Princesses.

Bridesmaid Megan

Maddie bridesmaid

Santorini bride and bridesmaids

bridesmaids with bride

After a few hours of girly champagne-quaffing, sandwich-eating, pampering and getting ready, the wedding took place in The Santorini Princess Hotel in Imerovigli.  The backdrop for the actual ceremony was stunning, the most scenic wedding I’ve ever been to . The ceremony was conducted in Greek for legal purposes but the officiant also translated everything into English. I know it’s a bit of a cliche and I’m her Mum but Helena truly looked radiant. You could tell that she was so happy from the inside out, you really could. She’s quite a quietly-spoken young woman but the clear and confident, smiley way in which she said her vows, showed us all how ‘right’ it all was

wedding ring

wedding ceremony

Mik and his brother Matt, the Best-Man, must have been roasting in their traditional Scottish kilts get-up although I think they did modify parts to make it more comfortable on the day. Both I and E, Mother-of-the-Groom, shed a few tears when the ceremony first started but it wasn’t long before we were laughing and smiling with the rest of the party. The wedding photographer and the videographer did a great job and they have some amazing pics of their special day. Between us all, we probably took 1000s of photos ourselves too but everything about the day was so photogenic, you couldn’t stop clicking.

kilt groom

A piano player played while we milled around drinking champagne before the Reception. The food was probably the best food I’ve ever had at a wedding and there was so much of it too. 5 courses!!

wedding family group

Now everyone knows the sunsets in Santorini are spectacular and May 25th 2017 was no different. We had to have a break between courses to ‘Ooo’ and ‘Ahh’ lots at the view from the terrace.

sunset Santorini wedding

wedding cake

The word ‘awesome’ is bandied around constantly nowadays in the most mundane of contexts, but that sunset was truly awesome and was a breathtaking ending to a simply beautiful day. Congratulations Helena and Mik and here’s to a long and happy marriage.

Happy bride and groom

Read more about our holiday in Santorini here.

Mrs C
In a nutshell, I'm a Mum to three gorgeous daughters and two step-sons who are gradually making their own lives and leaving Mr. C and I plenty of time to enjoy life just as a couple again. I'm a big fan of Afternoon Tea & Corrie and hate, with a vengeance, violence in films! I love reading 'proper' books though I concede that my birthday Kindle was brilliant on holidays.
https://thethumbsup.co.uk

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