Today I get to share with you the gorgeous weddings (Yes there are two celebrations in this one!) of Sarah and Chris that took place in Rhodes, Greece (Magdalene Kourti Photography) and in York (Walker & Walker Photographers) both are gorgeous locations.
We knew straight away that we wanted a wedding that really captured ‘us’ and represented our style, our personalities, our favourite things and our love … relaxed, fun, unique, positive, spontaneous and pink! Soon after getting engaged, we went on holiday to Rhodes and fell in love with St Pauls Bay and the beautiful little chapel at the end of the bay. There was no question this was where we were going to get married.
We just wanted the day in Rhodes to be about us… no formalities, no stress, no speeches, no huge guest lists. Just us, close family and friends and spending time with each other in the most beautiful place that was so special to us. Our wedding in Rhodes was everything we dreamed and more. We had just 6 guests and after our ceremony we walked across the beaches and up into the village to eat at a little Greek taverna with our guests. We had time to ourselves and sat on the beach to watch the sunset. Just us… what we wanted it to be all about. Our photographer Magdalene Kourti was amazing. She gave us beautiful pictures that completely tell the story of our day… nothing staged, nothing posed, just breathtaking beautiful pictures that capture us completely.
The highlight of our wedding in York was being able to share it with Chris’s children and our friends and family in our beautiful city. We wanted a ceremony that would be quite informal and symbolic so that Ellie and Jacob could feel part of it and understand what was happening. So in addition to the usual vows, we had a Sand Ceremony. We all took part in pouring our coloured sand into our family jar, blending the grains of sand together, representing us coming together as a family. We couldn’t afford another photographer, but our amazing friends Kerry and Del bought us one as a wedding present! It was the best wedding present ever as it gave us some beautiful pictures of the children and memories of another special day. Ben and Lynn of Walker & Walker Photographers were also amazing… They captured our day perfectly and we have some stunning natural pictures of our day, our family and of our beautiful city.
We made sure there were no schedules or deadlines and that the day was about chilling out, having fun and spending quality time together. In my view, everything in life is better when it’s pink. Unfortunately, a pink wedding dress (at a reasonable price!) is difficult to find, so hot pink shoes had to suffice… heels because they were the most amazing shoes I’d ever seen and his n hers converse so we could wander the beach and cobbled streets of Lindos afterwards. We also love dance music and Chris’s friend, who is a music producer, did us an exclusive mix of ‘You’ve got the Love’ to walk down the aisle to! Chris is also a bit of a VW geek, so a campervan had to be involved somewhere!
I’m very creative and this was the perfect opportunity to design, spend money and create! I designed and made the wedding invitations and Order of the Day cards myself – with a little help from my stepdaughter Ellie, who drew a beautiful picture for us to use. I also made my bouquet myself, after booking myself onto a wedding bouquet day course (didn’t really enjoy this and flower arranging is not my thing!). I made children’s activity boxes for all the children that came to our wedding here in the UK, the candy buffet and I also made our wedding cake! I have a small business making cupcakes so couldn’t get anyone else to do them! I was decorating them the morning of the wedding! We also had a Polaroid DIY guest book in the UK, where guests took pictures of themselves and signed the photos. These are some of our favourite pictures and we have them framed in our hallway.
I love my tattoos as they represent me, so I wanted a dress where some of them could be seen. The dress hunting was a bit of a nightmare… I found a dress I absolutely loved on eBay, it was really different so I went to try it on and it fitted perfectly, so bought it. When I tried it on again two months before the wedding I changed my mind! Finally found another, but it’s not easy finding a wedding dress 8 weeks before your wedding day!
As for our couple’s tattoos – We booked in with someone who has a large waiting list so we’re very excited to finally get them done. We are getting a lock and key – we wrote our own wedding vows for our UK wedding and they finished with these words… “I am yours. You are mine. You are locked in my heart. You are there forever.”
Our wedding day in a sentence – “The most beautiful, intimate, perfect day that showed our love for each other in the way we wanted – our souls connected as one forever, in the presence of the people we hold closest to us.”
Wow – How great is Sarah and Chris’ story? Thank you to them both and to both of their photographers for sharing their weddings with Marry Me Ink today! Be sure to leave them all some love!
