For those of you who don’t know already, I got married to my wonderful husband (yes he reads my blogs so I need to butter him up!) on the island of Crete in the summer of 2009. If you haven’t guessed from my last name I come from Greek heritage. My father emigrated from the island of Crete when he was in his twenties. Crete is a beautiful island in the Aegean sea and the southernmost island in Europe (actually the southernmost island in Europe is Gavdos, an island off the southern coast of Crete but it has a population of about 40 people so we’ll leave it at that.
One of the first things you realize when you look at the island of Crete is that it is a sizeable island. Crete happens to be the largest and most populated of the Greek islands and is 160 miles from end to end. Now that is truly a lot of real estate and part of why there is so much property for sale in Crete! So the first thing is you have to decide the type of wedding you want (luxury, rustic, intimate, secluded, etc.) and go from there. The good thing about Crete is that you truly can have whatever kind of wedding you want. There are plenty of luxury wedding resorts for those who want to live large like Cleopatra and accommodate their guests with some of the worlds finest hotels. There are also many more secluded and romantic spots; places where you can put floating candles to sea and dance under starlit skies.
Another thing to think about is the wedding ingredients that are must haves for a memorable wedding…things like a talented dj who actually follows your playlist (brides you know what I’m talking about!) or a smooth jazz band, and food, and a photographer, or destination makeup artist, etc. One of the turnoffs for many brides thinking about a destination wedding is how will I find people do help me with all that stuff?!? The simple answer is that you won’t! If you want to have a wedding in Crete you will need the help of a wedding planner. When it comes to planning a wedding in a foreign country and dealing with all the ins and outs of planning you need some local “boots on the ground” to help you navigate the waters. So the second thing you need to do is find a good wedding planner. Don’t compromise on this one!
A third thing you should think about very carefully is the timing of your wedding. Crete may be an exotic location but the weather isn’t always exotic. Its helpful to see that the Greece is basically at the same latitude as Los Angeles, Beijing, Sevilla, and Tokyo, which all can get chilly during the winter. If clear blue skies and warm balmy nights are your idea of perfect weather then plan your wedding from the last week of May to the first week September. If you do plan your wedding for the last week of may or first week of September know that you are increasing your risk of poor weather. Also note that it can get really hot during the summer so shade or a planning your wedding in the early evening is advisable. Also keep in mind that it can sometimes get windy and that usually the wind is from the north to south. The wind often blows out by dusk but its something to think about. A good thing about Crete is that it gets less windy then some of the other Greek isles which is part of why real estate in Crete is so popular.
Chances are that most of your guests will be trying to squeeze your wedding into a weekend trip so if possible try and plan your wedding around a UK or US stock market holiday. In the UK they have a Summer Bank Holiday that usually falls around the 26th of August and in the US they have Independence Day which falls on July 4th and Labor Day which often falls around the first weekend of September. If you plan your wedding around those days its likely that more of your guests will take more time off and enjoy themselves a little more.
I could go on and on about how to have a wedding in Crete, but I need to save some of my tips for my next blog about destination weddings! I hope that you all have an amazing Monday!
Nicoletta Daskalakis is one of the top high profile makeup artists & hair stylists in the Los Angeles area. She is a makeup artist and hair stylist for bridal & wedding, fashion and editorial. Whether you are interested in wedding makeup services, bridal makeup or bridal hairstyling or even just interested in celebrity makeup and celebrity hairstyles and trend you’ve come to the right place to find out more!
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