A TRADITIONAL MELBOURNE GREEK WEDDING

Nikolaos and Elpida married on the 11th February 2017

The wedding ceremony was held at St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, followed by the reception at the Vogue Ballroom.

Nikolaos and Elpida wore Story of Stefania crowns during their Greek wedding ceremony. They also had Story of Stefania lambathes (wedding candles) to match their stefana.

 

Why did you choose this stefana for your wedding?

We chose the white berries stefana because they reminded us of a traditional greek wedding with a modern take. The stefana matched perfectly with our wedding theme.

 

What was your theme or colour palette that inspired your wedding?

We wanted a traditional yet modern theme. We selected rose gold lighting, black tiffany chairs with white linen over the tables.

We had green and white floral arrangements as our centrepieces that matched our custom made olive tree wedding bonbonniere. The button holes for Nikolaos and his groomsman’s were white Aimee Lou rose with olive leaf backing. The guest’s button holes were baby’s breath with olive leaf backing and Elpida’s bridesmaids had gypsy baby breath’s bouquets.

Any special/unique details included in your wedding?

Elpida: Our ceremony started at 12:30pm, conveniently Nick’s family home is around the corner from the church and our new home is opposite the church! In traditional Greek style, the groom, groomsman’s and our guests walked to the church with the band playing their instruments and singing traditional music from the island of Crete. They arrived early, so to pass the time and to calm the nerves, dancing began outside the church.

Then it was my turn, the band came to my house singing and I could hear them from the balcony. It was a beautiful moment. We then all walked to the church, my dad right beside me and all my family and friends behind me singing, as I walked to marry the love of my life.

A special detail was that the groom, groomsman’s and guests wore a white sariki around there shoulders. A sariki is a defining element of the traditional costume of Crete. White is a sign of joy for occasions such as weddings and baptisms.

 

About the wedding day…

Our wedding was a gorgeous sunny day celebrated with all our family and friends.
Sadly my mother who passed away 11 years ago, couldn’t join us but she was watching us all. On my flower bouquet I had put a photo of my mum around the flower stems, so she could be a part of my wedding day.

Once the church ceremony had finished, we took our photos in one of Melbourne’s famous laneways with amazing graffiti, arti -Hosier. We also took photos in front of Melbourne’s Chanel store.

The reception I would describe as a big fat Greek party. Our entrance was so fun, we were introduced as Mr and Mrs Vourvahakis with 5 drummers doing there thing along with the greek band! It got the party started! We then said our speeches, had a our first dance and the rest of the night the dance floor was on fire. We had the best day and night ever!

We felt so blessed to have shared our wedding day with our closest family and friends, especially with our relatives who travelled all the way from Crete, Greece.

Thank you Elpida and Nikolaos for sharing your beautiful wedding story. It was so nice getting to know you Elpida, you are such a kind person and i was so excited for your wedding day! I was so honoured to have made the stefana and wedding candles for your big Cretan wedding! You looked truly stunning and it was so special that you had your mum part of your wedding day. Thank you for sharing your story with us.

 

Suppliers:

Venue: Vogue Ballroom
Wedding dress: Andrea Gorrie bridal couturier
Bridesmaids dresses: White Runway
Bridesmaids jewellery: Mimco
Bridal jewellery: Ronza George
Groom/groomsman’s suit: Prinzi Collections
Cake: Cakes by LV
Flowers: Flowers by Elizabeth Victoria
Hair and makeup: Ellie Makeup and Kimage hair
Photography: Alex Pavlou Photography
Videography: Pro Eye Video
Music: Anagennisi band