And how things don't always go to plan...
When you are planning a destination wedding or renewal of vows, the most important thing is knowing you can trust the people you have engaged to help you. This is even more important when things go wrong or not according to plan.
Meet Dennis & Jodie, our London couple, hoping to celebrate with family and friends and mark their 20th Wedding Anniversary with a wonderful Renewal of Vows on the beach in Lassi, Kefalonia.
Dennis and Jodie got in touch with the Bride Buddy Wedding Planning Team in plenty of time and had discussions and video calls with Cherry to get all the arrangements in place. They had 39 guests coming to enjoy this vow renewal celebration with them and they were hoping for a ceremony on the beach followed by a meal and reception at a local taverna.
Everything was arranged by Katy, our Kefalonia Wedding Coordinator including chairs for the beach ceremony, flowers, a decorative arch, flowers and favours for the tables at the taverna, even hair and makeup, mandolin players, Greek dancers and of course a photographer.
With our couple and all their guests due in a few days, local politics threw a huge spanner into the works with the announcement that the municipal beach licences would be delayed and would not be issued in time for Dennis & Jodie’s ceremony. This meant that the usually pristine beaches would not be cleared of the drifted piles of seaweed and other mess leaving the beaches in a bit of an untidy state to be honest.
I won’t lie……I think that we were all a bit ‘panic stations’ and various ideas ran to clearing the beach ourselves, (Dennis and his crew also offered to get some beach rakes as soon as they arrived) finding another beach (but nearly all the beaches were looking the same and those that weren’t were not easily accessible) Hiring a boat and having the ceremony on there (but it was very short notice) or trying to find a pretty space back at their hotel.
Our couple decided to wait until their arrival in Kefalonia, a couple of days before their ceremony, so they could check out the beach themselves and see if it was still possible. Meanwhile, we were busy chasing contacts for availability at the beautiful St Christophers Chapel around a 15-minute drive away. Dennis had mentioned that the two of them had seen this beautiful chapel on a previous trip to the Island and how much Jodie had loved it there.
Well, I expect you can guess that once Dennis & Jodie saw the state of the beach, they asked us to try and save the whole holiday, not only for themselves and their special celebration, but for all their family and friends who wanted to be with our couple as the celebrated 20 years of marriage with a wonderful vow renewal here on the Island of Kefalonia.
The chapel came back to us that it would be available so, with 2 days to go, the Bride Buddy team hastily re-arranged a few things with suppliers and booked a coach to transport the guests to the ceremony and then from there to the Taverna for the reception. Now, because some of the other costs were cancelled, such as the ceremony chairs for the beach, this meant that the chapel fees (with chairs included) came in only a little higher than the original costs.
I guess that in a perfect world, wedding planners and suppliers showcase the best of the best of what they do and rightly so, but sometimes couples’ expectations do not match reality or, as with Dennis & Jodie, we had circumstances that were beyond our control. If you find your wedding plans are going awry because of something no one can really control or that suddenly your arrangements need to change, don’t get hung up on the little details.
Make sure that you feel comfortable with your wedding planner, get to know them. Know that they have your back and that they will do everything they can to help by finding last minute alternatives and working with your suppliers. You could end up having an even better day than you thought.
I will end with some photos and a few words from Jodie after their renewal of vows in Kefalonia turned into one of the most memorable days of their lives.
“Thank you Cherry, we have had the best week! Your photographer was absolutely fantastic, we loved her so much. Katy has been brilliant throughout she really put our minds at ease and made sure everything run smoothly on the day, and the celebrant was really nice.
The Taverna was amazing! The staff were all so helpful and kept the drinks flowing. Nothing was too much trouble, and our guests all enjoyed the food. Mandolin players were also amazing they did such a good job and it worked really well at the chapel as they played whilst we were doing the group photos. We cannot thank you & Katy enough for all your help. It really was a perfect day.”
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