.ceremony.

We'll be getting married at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church. Our parish is not available on our date, so we're joining a new church. I was kind of bummed at first, but this church is actually prettier, so I guess it worked out! We plan on attending this church now until the wedding so that we can get to know the priest and feel like we have a connection there. 

.reception.

After a lot of deliberation, we have finally booked a reception venue- Oheka Castle. When we recently visited, it literally took my breath away and I knew that this was the perfect venue for our reception. 

In addition to the cocktail hour and plated dinner, an after party will take place in the Grand Ballroom. We're serving a breakfast fuffet, sweet treats, and having an open bar. There will a DJ to provide the music as well as other entertainment. 

These photos simply do not do this venue justice!

Without further delay, here are photos of our stunning venue!

Aerial View

The Entrance

The Foyer (Champagne entrance for guests)

The Formal Dining Room

There will be cocktail stations in this room as well as tables for guests. This just one of the rooms that cocktail hour will take place in. After the reception, we're hosting a viennese hour which will partly take place in this room as well. 

The Loggia

This will be available for guests to sit in during the cocktail hour. A cigar roller will be set up here as well.

The Grand Ballroom (this is just one side)

Cocktail hour and viennese hour will be in this room in addition to the formal dining room. This will be the sole locale of the after party. 

The Upper Lawn 

During cocktail hour, there will be lounge areas for guests as well as passed appetizers. This will remain open during the reception, viennese hour, and after party. 

The Terrace Room

This is where our plated dinner will be served and where plenty of dancing will take place. 

I can barely decide on a location, let alone colors! I'm usually pretty drawn to neutral color schemes and since I'm obsessed with metallics, I figured I would combine these two loves. 

   All White

    *some champagne, gold flecks, and hints of fuschia* 

       Lots of sparkle, glamor, and opulence. Sweet, but still spicy. 

We are having a traditional Greek Orthodox ceremony. Decor wise, we don't have to do much. Greek churches are generally very elaborate. 

.decor.

This is my main inspiration for the ceremony. I love that it still makes a statement but is dramatic. I'll be going for mostly all white at the ceremony. I do really like the idea of the tree lined aisle. It's very earthy and pretty!

There was something I really loved about the tree lined aisle at the Royal Wedding. 

And how dramatic is this?

.greek traditions.

During a portion of the ceremony, the bride and groom are crowned with "stefana" (crowns), joined by a white ribbon. The priest blesses the crowns and the koumbaro/koumbara (the Greek version of MOH AND BM) are exchanged three times over the couple's heads. This symbolizes unity and how the husband and wife should treat each other as King and Queen. 

These are some of my favorite stefana designs. 

.programs.

We're definitely doing programs, especially to explain the Greek wedding ceremony to my father's family who are not Greek. 

To be completely honest, I am not a fan of any of these, but they seem pretty standard enough. *shrug* 

Glamorous. Over the top. Sparkly.

We're going for a mostly all white decor. All the flowers will be white. There will be touches of gold (chiavari chairs, napkin rings, etc) and a few hints of fuschia (lounge pillows).

I want the room to be really chic and romantic. I haven't decided on uplighting colors, but I plan on using lighting to really evoke the fun ambiance we want.  

.escort cards.

I saw this on a wedding blog and knew right away that I had to have this at our wedding. This is how we're going to do our escort cards. Escort cards hang from the crystals on this beautiful 7 foot tree. In this blog, this arrangement is later used in the candy buffet. Gorgeous!

.chairs.

We're having gold chiavari chairs. Our top choice venue provides them. 

To accent the beautiful gold chiavari chairs, we're adding these beautiful "curly willow caps". It looks absolutely stunning!

.linens.

I really do not want to get too intense with linen choices. After browsing through various pictures, I'm really liking the idea of adding a different texture with the linen. I want really sparkly and over the top centerpieces, so a glittery linen would be overkill.

We're renting these beautiful feathery linens for our tables. The texture is absolutely amazing. I really think that these linens give our tables an extra touch of glamor! 

.the centerpieces.

I love flowers and I love bling so I'm looking to incorporate both into our centerpieces! Tall centerpieces are a must, but I'm toying with the idea of mixing both low and tall designs. The centerpieces will be surrounded by mini votive candles and will be sitting on a bed of crystals. 

This is the look we are recreating for our tall centerpieces. It's absolutely gorgeous!

This is my inspiration for the low centerpieces. It'll be a smaller version of the tall floral arrangement, surrounded by the same crystal candleholders. Beautiful!

.charger plates.

I want something a bit funkier than the traditional gold charger plate. This is my favorites. 

.place settings.

Each place setting will be adorned with a white napkin, a beautiful crystal napkin ring, and a menu decorated with gold and fuschia. 

These are the napkin rings we will be using. The napkins will be white, however, instead of the black in the picture. 

I love this menu. The gold scrollwork around the edges is perfect. We will add some fuschia crystals for added bling and color. This is another DIY project of mine.

I love the look of this place setting with the flowers!

.the sweetheart table.

Just my sweetie and I! hink this, but in gold instead of platinum. :) We're going to have a big love seat instead of 2 chairs. Our table will be accented by the candelabra, mini floral arrangements, and lots of candles. 

.the dancefloor.

We're having an all white dance floor which will have almost a canopy like structure around it. Just like this!

Oheka Castle, our venue, provides the cake. We have the option to go with a cake that will be included in the price, or can be charged extra for a more elaborate cake. I'm trying to gather as many ideas as possibe so I can bring in photos and see in which category my ideas fit into. I'd prefer to NOT have to pay extra since we're 

.the look.

I have a feeling I'm going to stick with this all white theme pretty much throughout all the details. I much prefer an all white cake, but something that definitely makes a statement. 

This is my favorite cake thus far...

Other inspirations...

 .flavor. 

We haven't gone for a taste test yet, but I'm hoping that we can do a cannoli cake! Yummy. It's always been one of my favorites. My FI has a cake flavor at his family's restaurant that it was delicious- black and white cake with chocolate fudge. Mmmm. I can't wait to taste out a bunch of flavors!

.topper.

I'll probably forego the cake topper all together. I don't really like them. However, I did see a crystal topper that I thought was pretty cool!

Oh dresses! I know I'll definitely be having 2 dresses, one for the ceremony and one for the reception. I'm waiting to see if I'm going to add a third one in for the after party, but honestly, I think two is enough. I'm going to want to wear each of them for as long as I can without cramming in a third!

My amazing mother is purchasing my ceremony dress for me. As my wedding gift, my godmother is purchasing my reception dress. Could these two ladies be any more amazing?!

.dress 1.

After developing an online obsession with the Vera Wang Dorothy dress, I came to find out that the dress is discontinued. Boo! Right now I'm waiting on Aphrodite by Monique Lhuillier. The only change is that I'm going to do a completely completely blinged out sash around the waist instead of the plain one shown. 

.dress 2.

Some elements I'm looking for...

• Sexy
• Old Hollywood Glamor
• Either trumpet or a fit to flare silhouette 

My favorites are Jolie by Ines Di Santo and Gemma by Vera Wang.

Celebrity by Kenneth Pool

Knockout by Kenneth Pool

Hair

I want a very romantic, but still glamorous look- soft waves, but pulled back with some volume. 

I also really love this updo!

Makeup

I love dramatic makeup, but for the ceremony I really want to pretty. A light smokey eye, some blush, and a nude lip. For the reception I plan on heightening the drama by making my eyes darker and my lips glossier. 

.shoes.

My mom recently purchased my dream wedding shoes for me. She is the best! They are definitely pricey, but I will cherish them! I was struggling to find shoes since I wanted something in between a kitten heel and a high heel. I'm 5'10" and with my FI only being a few inches taller than me, I wanted something to keep me from towering over him!

Here they are! Christian Louboutin's You You...

.perfume.

I'll be wearing my signature scent, Black Orchid by Tom Ford. 

I can't wait to do these. Here are my inspirations...

Outfits...

.engagement party.

I'm leaning towards doing something casual as we want the wedding to be over the top. I'd like that juxtaposition. If we end up going to Greece this summer, we are just going to do something small with family before we leave as it's traditional in Greek families that the engagement be blessed by a priest. 

Evening Dinner

Formal Affair

Daytime Party

.dresses.

These are my two favorite bridesmaids dresses, thus far. I am looking for something flattering, sleek, and feminine. I'm really trying to stay away from the traditional bridesmaids gown. 

This is beautiful charmeuse, soft A line gown from Alvina Valenta. I love the style and color. 

This is another Alvina Valenta, but strapless. I love the sweetheart neckline and the flower on the bodice! This dress is a modified A line chiffon gown. 

I love the trumpet silhouette on this taffeta Lazaro gown! The broach detail is so pretty. There's something so formal and elegant that I love!

For our honeymoon, we'll be going to the Maldives for 10 days. I am so excited! We've already chosen our resort. For 2 weeks after that, we'll be going to Greece. Since we'll be surrounded by family I don't exactly count it as the honeymoon, but it's still a wonderful extension before entering the real world!

.maldives. 

We'll be staying at the Anatara Digu Resort. It's absolutely gorgeous! 

.greece.

My FI's family owns a house in Greece, so we won't be staying a in a hotel. These are some photos from the island we will be on.

.outfits.

I'm obsessed with fashion, so I'm already shopping for the honeymoon! LOL

.photobooth.

I love the idea of having a photo booth at the wedding! It's definitely something our guests would have a lot of fun with and the pictures would be priceless memories. My FI and I love to have fun. We are jokesters and so are our friends. Adding props to the whole idea would be super fun and definitely add in even more humor to the idea of the pictures. 

I'd love to scrapbook these pictures, something like this. I like how this is set up outside the photo booth so that guests can paste their pictures and write a message. This could actually be a great guestbook idea now that I think about it!

.cigar roller.

This is at the request of my lovely fiance!

.bridal bouquet.

My bridal bouquet is going to be all white and glamorous! This is my inspiration. I love how beautiful and crisp the white roses look. The feathers add that touch of whimsical beauty that I'm looking for! The crystallized stem is perfect, not too much but still sparkly. 

This bouquet is my other favorite. I can't take my eyes off of it!!

.bridesmaids' bouquets.

I'm still going for a neutral look, mostly white with champagne mixed in. We're definitely adding in some sparkle for my girls!

Our decor is all white. There will be a touch of gold, mostly on the menus/napkin rings/china/etc, but the majority of the decor is beautiful white, very modern and elegant. Pink is one of my favorite colors, so we've decided to do a "fuschia" uplighting. It's going to warm up the room and give that gorgeous girlie glow I'm looking for!

These are some inspiration photos. 

I came across this photo of our venue....how cool is this lighting?!

Love this look! Totally my inspiration :)

.inspiration.

How gorgeous is this?!

.inspiration.

Our cocktail hour (actually 1.5 hours I believe) is going to be spread out throughout the gorgeous grounds of the Oheka Castle. We are going for a modern, sleek, and glamorous look- lots of lounge furniture!

.decor.

I absolutely adore the idea of a midnight snack. How cute! 

Love these mini ice cream cones since we're getting married in the summer!

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Grilled cheese and chips, yum!

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Mini doughnuts with hot chocolate/coffee!

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Pie pops!! How freaking cute!

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Mini sliders...delish!

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Milk and cookies, a classic favorite!