Oceanids Estate: All you need to know!

So, you are looking to get married in Santorini, and wish to host your wedding reception and/or ceremony at a beach venue? OceanidsEstate wedding venue would be a perfect choice for you! In the previous blog I shared some information about this wonderful venue. Now, let's dive in into more "technical" details.

Picture taken from oceanids-estate.com

First and foremost, why choose Oceanids Estate for your wedding in Santorini? As Nina told me, and as I completely agree, "the couples who wish to get married in Oceanids, should understand that upon entering our venue, stress stops to exist. Our goal is to make them feel like home. They should also prepare themselves for a " till you drop" party!". They really stand by those words! When planning on having your wedding at Oceanids Estate, you won't have to worry about a thing. Isn't this a perfect scenario for a wedding?

Weddings cost money, we all know that. When it comes to Oceanids Estate, you won't have to dig deep into your pocket for a perfect wedding. The venue has a really reasonable price for renting it private, and they offer much more than just the private use. Their rental price include a DJ for 5 hours and an audio system strong enough to cover a 150 person wedding. In other words, one of the major parts of a wedding will be covered, just by choosing this venue! Besides the audio system, the rental price also includes a full party lightning system, a detail which will make your party even more fun!

The rental fee for the private use of the venue includes as well the staff of the venue, all taxes, and some decorations, such as lanterns and vases, a beautiful vintage style lounge area next to the sea, and comfortable stone couches! If this isn't a great value for money, I don't know what is!

The next question some might ask, is how many people you can invite to your wedding at Oceanids Estate? There are no limits!

Oceanids Estate wedding venue is perfect for both small, intimate weddings of 20 persons, and big wedding of 300 persons or more! The space of the venue can be arranged in such a way, that it will neither look too big and chaotic for small wedding, nor you and your guests will feel too crowded in case of a large wedding!

Picture taken from oceanids-estate.com

When it comes to drinks, Oceanids Estate has its own bar. For the cocktail hour you can choose between a variety of different welcome cocktails for your guests, from a glass of Prosecco, to a cocktail of your choice. Alcohol free drinks are also offered as an option, should you be having guests that don't drink. For the rest of the reception, you can choose one of the many different 5 hour long open bar packages. After the open is over, you are free to choose between providing your guests with unlimited drinks till the end of the party, or opting for your guests to pay for their own drinks. Oceanids truly makes your life easy!

Oceanids Estate does not have its own kitchen, but that is not a problem at all! The location of the venue is so convenient that makes it really easy for catering companies to work with them. And since the venue owners have great experience when it comes to weddings, they know exactly what a catering company needs to provide you their best services!

Still need a reason to book Oceanids Estate for your wedding? Here are some of the great advantages of the venue. When booking the venue for your private wedding, you get it from 14:00pm till 8:00am! And since there are no noise restrictions at this venue, you will have the time of your life partying all night long, undistracted!

If you are lucky enough, and on your wedding day there will be a full moon, then you will have the chance to dance under the moon, which is directly over the venue. A great way to make your wedding day even more romantic!

Oceanids Estate is kids friendly and disabled friendly. It is flat, there are no different levels, and there is a convenient ramp from the entrance of the venue, meaning that if you will be having people with disabilities attending your wedding, they won't have any trouble getting around.

Picture taken from oceanids-estate.com

Should you be having children at your wedding, their parents won't have to worry for their kids to fall over the stairs while running and playing! And because the venue has no levels, as already mentioned, you will all be at the same level, and non of your guests will be divided during dinner or the party!

Because this wedding venue is right next to the sea, it's a perfect location for a beautiful and private beach wedding! If you are

dreaming of something different for your wedding, you can arrange a "Mamma Mia" styled wedding, or even arrive by horse to the ceremony, or after the couple's photo shoot.

Oceanids Estate is not good just for summer weddings. The venue has an astonishing indoor area, which can be used for winter weddings as well. This is also an advantage if you are planning on having your wedding in early spring or late autumn, as you won't need to worry about your "Plan B" in case of a rainy day. Oceanids Estate is a "Plan A" and "Plan B" combined!

If you are thinking of having special effects, fireworks, a spectacular stage for dancing, then you can choose Pro-Support to provide all those services to you! Why

Pro-Support. Because Pro-Support is owned by the same people that have Oceanids Estate, and you will profit by having combined packages with Oceanids Estate and Pro-Support!

To sum up, Oceanids Estate is a wonderful choice for a wedding ceremony and reception. With great prices, amazing location, complete privacy, no noise restrictions, you are guaranteed on having the best wedding possible, which will stay in the memories of you and your guests forever!

And As Nina and Nikitas say "A marriage in Oceanids Estate is a lifetime experience!"

Need more information on the venue? Visit Oceanids Estate's official website - http://www.oceanids-estate.com/

Thank you very much for reading, and I wish you a lovely day!

<-- Previous || next -->

Oceanids Estate: A look behind the curtains.

In the last blog post I wrote about the various wedding venues that Santorini has. This time, I would like to write in more detail about Oceanids Estate wedding venue at the beach of Ekso Gonia.

Oceanids Estate was opened in 2013. The building, where Oceanids Estate is housed, used to be a tomato canning factory. The building was built is 1937 from the famous black Santorinian volcanic rock, which gives the now wedding venue a really unique and amazing feeling. The owners of Oceanids Estate renovated the venue to a very high standard, but still kept the old style of the building.

The owners of Oceanids Estate, Nina and Nikitas, have great experience in the field of weddings and events, which means that when choosing this wedding venue, you will have people working with you who exactly what is needed to make your wedding unforgettable. They are friendly, professional, kind people, who will do everything they can to ensure that your wedding day will be both incredibly fun and stress free.

I've started working with Oceanids Estate in 2015, when planning some weddings for the summer of 2016. They made my job really easy, and where always eager to answer any of the questions the couple or I could have. They have a great method of organizing the weddings their hosting, that no minor planning detail will be forgotten. Nina is an excellent wedding planner herself, which has proven to be of great help, as she knows exactly what needs to be done for a perfect wedding. No couple or guest has ever left this wedding venue with a complaint or without a happy smile.

Another interesting and impressive detail, is how Nina and Nikitas treat their working stuff. They are understanding, kind, patient and wise employers, meaning that the waiters, the cleaning stuff, the barmen, and the DJs, all enjoy working at Oceanids Estate. You may wonder, why would I mention that? Well, because a tired waiter or a unsatisfied with the working conditions cleaning lady, can easily create a sour memory from your wedding. Oceanids Estate's stuff do a great job, they put their soul into what they are doing, which shows in the successful weddings the venues has, because they are treated as equals, as people!  

A great feature of Oceanids Estate, is that it is located right at the beach of Ekso Gonia. There aren't any roads between the venue and the beach. Your wedding reception and party will be literally at the beach, but without any sand getting in your shoes! Isn't that great? Not only that, but the beach in front of the venue is one of the best beaches of the island. And this is what makes Oceanids Estate venue one of the best places to have a beach wedding.

Will there be children attending the wedding? You'll be glad to know that Oceanids Estate is a paradise for children. They LOVE this venue! They have plenty of room to safely run and play around, and the indoor area can be easily transformed into a kids' room, keeping the little ones busy while their parents are having fun.

The venue also has a nice, big pool, as you have probably seemed from the pictures already. And there is no need to worry about safety, as the venue only allows the use of the pool if you hire a lifeguard. The pool is loved by both children and adults, just be sure to follow the safety rules.

For those of you who are thinking about having their wedding ceremony and/or reception at Oceanids Estate, you will be pleased to know that the venue has an amazing strategic position. It is located really close to Kamari, one of the beach resorts of Santorini. The farthest part of Kamari, the one that is right under the mountain, is no further than 5 minutes by car from the venue. You won't need to worry about tiring your guests with long transportation trips!! And even though the venue is so close to a living area, it does not have any of the noise restrictions that you will find at the caldera venues, meaning that you can freely party until sunrise!

In my opinion, Oceanids Estate is one the best wedding venues of Santorini for multiple reasons. It is definitely in my top 3 Santorini wedding venues!

Wish to know more about the venue? Stay tuned, to find out more information about Oceanids Estate on Monday!

Thank you very much for reading! I wish you all a good day!

<-- Previous || next -->

Santorini Wedding Venues!

Santorini has a number of great wedding venues. Some of them are located on the cliff side of the island, overlooking the famous caldera sea and the volcano. There are also plenty of wedding venues located on the beach side of Santorini, and believe me when I say that they don't lack the beauty of the caldera venues.

Le Ciel wedding venue

There are some differences between the caldera venues and the beach venues, and in this posts I would like to write about exactly that. I would like to compare the differences between the two types of wedding venues, making it easier for you to choose the venue that will be most suitable for your wedding.

Before I begin, I would like to point out, that if you are torn between a beach venue and a caldera venue, then there is a simple solution. Which one? Well, choose both!! You can easily arrange to have a wedding ceremony on a caldera venue, and then host your reception at a beach venue, combining the advantages of both types of venues Santorini offers.

Let's get into more detail…

As mentioned above, the caldera venues offer amazing views of the caldera, the volcano, the Thirasia island, and of course the so famous Santorini sunset. There never was a guest or a couple that wasn't amazed by the view their caldera venue of choice had. When the sky is clear, you can even see the nearby islands, which only adds to the greatness.

Venetsanos Winery wedding venue

When going for a wedding venue on the caldera side of Santorini, you can choose between beautiful wineries, like Venetsanos Winery, and combine your wedding with an educational winery tour for your guests, as well as a delicious wine tasting, and high class wedding venues such as Le Ciel wedding venue in Imerovigli.

Sea side venues are scattered along the beaches of Santorini. Admittedly, they don't have the caldera views, but the beauty they offer is no less wonderful then their fellow wedding venues on the other side of the island. The soothing sound of the waves, the clear night sky, and of course gorgeous sunrises, will still make your wedding day unforgettable to you and your guests!

Want to learn more about the choices you have for a beach wedding venue? Read this blog post, dedicated entirely to the beach venues of Santorini.

Caldera wedding venues are, as a rule, located near hotels, or could even be part of a hotel. This is a great plus, as you won't need to worry about transportation for your guests since they can stay at a walking distance from your wedding venue. With beach venues, you won't be able to find hotels right next to the venue, because they are usually located in more isolated areas. This is not a bad thing though, because this way the beach venues offer more privacy.

The proximity of the venues to the living areas of the islands, greatly affects the noise policy of each venue. In an older blog, I've already mentioned the strict noise policies that caldera venues have.

Oceanids Estate Wedding Venue

In most cases, you cannot extend your wedding party beyond 1 am, since this is the latest the music can be played at the caldera. With beach venues though, you won't have such restrictions and can stay and party until morning.

Beach venues also don't have the firework restrictions, that a lot of caldera venues have. It is not always possible to have fireworks at the caldera area for multiple reasons. One of the reasons is the previously mentioned noise policy. Another reason is the fire hazard. The cliff side does not have easy access to most of its point, and if a sparkle falls and starts a fire halfway the cliff, there won't be a way to put the fire down, something that is obviously quite dangerous. You should also take into consideration the wind, which is most of the time stronger at the caldera side of Santorini than the beach side. Wind and fireworks don't go to together well.

One last major difference between the caldera wedding venues and the beach wedding venues is the size of the venues. Caldera does not offer enough room for large venues. The biggest cliff side venues you can find, can host no more than a 100 persons. Beach venues, on the other hand, are perfect for wedding for up to 200 hundred persons, as they are more spacious and you will have enough room for your tables and a dance area.

How to choose between a beach venue and a cliff side venue? You'll just have to ask yourself what is more important to you: the magnificent views till the end of the wedding day, or an all night long party? If you are looking into having a small or relatively small wedding, which won't last longer than midnight, then caldera is your perfect choice. But if you prefer to invite all of your friends and family to the wedding, and have a sunset to sunrise wedding, then opt for a beach venue.

If you need more help with your venue choice, feel free to contact Cardoon Events for more advice.

Next blog will be dedicated to Oceanids Estate wedding venue, so stay tuned to learn more about this amazing beach venue!

Thank you very much for reading, and I wish you a lovely day.

<-- Previous || Next -->

Random Saturday #11: The depths of Randomness

Hello my dear Readers!

Hope everyone of you is feeling great, and getting over any difficulties life can bring with a smile and positive thinking.

I almost didn't post a Random Saturday today, as I had yet another morally challenging week. I don't really want to get into details at this point, as I prefer to leave it to a future Random Saturday, when the events of the last two days won't be as hurtful as they are at the moment. No need to worry, everything ended up just fine…

Instead of telling the amazing story of my Thursday and Friday, I decided to explain to you why I chose to name the Saturdays' blogs Random Saturdays. Well, the first reason is obviously because I

write about anything but weddings, but there is also another good reason for the "Random" in my Saturday.

My life is random in general. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way, sometimes in a funny way. I was even created randomly! My parents had an amazing night in July of 1989, never thinking about the consequences. Long story short, five months after that night they got married, four months after the marriage I was born… Their marriage didn't last long, for the record, and my life has been random ever since!

To give you an example of the randomness, I once helped a girl who was abused by her boyfriend and run away, so I let her spend the night at my house, so she didn't have to sleep outside. She went back to him of course, which wasn't really my business, until said boyfriend called me and started threatening me, because she had run away once again. Yes, I had given her my phone number, just in case, and she was stupid enough to give it to him. After the threats, I received a phone call from a police station to see a certain police officer for the missing girl case. Thankfully, I took a different road to the police station, just to realize upon arrival that there wasn't any police officer with the name given to me on the phone. I smiled, and went home. The boyfriend of that girl probably tried to trick me so he could meet me halfway to the police station and attack me… which never happened, as I decided to found my own way to the station, instead of following the instructions! Moral of the story, don't give your phone number to stupid strangers…

Another brilliant random thing that happened, was how I met my horse riding trainer from my childhood. The person I was dating at the time had a friend who played the piano in a country band. One day, the pianist told us to watch a video from a live performance that they had. To my surprise, the lead singer of the band was my childhood horse riding trainer, with whom I had lost contact for more than 7 years. This whole random event resulted in me getting into horse riding again, starting going to competitions, getting my first two horse riding students, and now working at Santo Horse riding in Santorini.

A third example of the randomness of my life has to do with my grandmothers death. She passed away in September, and on the day of her passing I had a wedding to supervise. I learned the news during the reception, but had to still have my happy face on, as I was working at the moment. This messed me up a bit, but I'm professional than emotional.

I first spoke on the phone with my aunt, then tried to reach my father, who didn't reply. Approximately 20 minutes after I tried calling my father, an unknown number called me, and because I was tired and emotionally messed up, I didn't think it could be anyone else but my father. I answered the phone and had a weird conversation with the person I thought was my father. We spoke in Russian and the conversion ended in the person getting frustrated. I didn't think much about it, as I believed that my father was just feeling sad really sad over his mother passing, and couldn't bear my weirdness that night.

A while after the strange phone call, my actual father called me. When I asked him if he had called me before, he told me that he hadn't. I mentioned that someone called me from a French number and for a reason I thought it was him, to which my dad replied that it was probably my cousin who supposedly was in France at that point. When leaving wedding to finally go home, I tried calling the strange number back, only to get a reply from a French speaking dude who yelled at me "I don't need you" in English and slamming the phone.

The next day, when I spoke with my cousin, and asked him if he had called me last night, I learned that he didn't call me, that at the moment he was in a train to England, and that he didn't even have a French cell number any more. I asked then my uncle, if he had called me from any French phone number, to which of course he replied that no, as he didn't have any French numbers, and no reason to call me from one, as he has a Greek number. Sounds logical to me.

To this day, I still wonder who was that mysterious man from France, who called me to tell me in perfect Russian that my grandmother had died. FYI, I have no other relatives in France rather than my cousin, who lived there for some years. It's random, it's creepy, it's weird.

Such events may happen to a lot of people. Some call it fate, other call it destiny, I call it randomness. My life's randomness goes so deep, that I reaches Davy Jones' locker. And because my life is filled with random events, I decided to call my Saturday blogs "Random Saturday", to share with you all this randomness.

Thank you very much for reading, and stay safe my friends!

Not to forget, here is this week's song. 

Random Saturday #10 || Random Saturday #12

Beach Weddings in Santorini!

Santorini is famous for its breathtaking caldera view, with the white houses hanging from the colorful cliff, its magical sunsets, and the churches with the blue domes. This is probably why Santorini is such a popular location for destination weddings.

I can understand that every couple would want to have a wedding picture on the cliff side of Santorini. With so many wedding venues located on the caldera, it is really easy to combine your wedding day with the beautiful views of Santorini, giving you and your guests amazing memories for a lifetime.

Still, Santorini is much more than just the caldera, as it also has the famous black beaches, which make a great place for a wedding ceremony. You should keep in mind, that since the beaches are

Beach wedding at Oceranids Estate

public, anyone could come and crash your wedding, should you choose to have the ceremony at a random beach in Santorini. Not to worry though, as If you choose a venue, which is located at the beach, you will be able to enjoy a private ceremony, without any strangers.

One such great venue, where you could have your beach wedding is Oceanids Estate. The wedding venue is located right at the beach of Ekso Gonia, which happens to be one the best beaches of the island. It is spacious, meaning that you won't have to limit your guest list, something that is always a plus. Afterwards, you can host your reception at the same venue, and enjoy an all night long party which will end with the sunrise.

Beach wedding set up at Akro Restaurant

Another beautiful venue by the sea for your beach wedding is Akro restaurant. This venue is located at the unique beach in Mesa Pigadia in Akrotiri. Its rocky landscape and romantic atmosphere will make your wedding day unforgettable, both to you and your guests. And if you are dreaming of having a unique entrance to your wedding, you can come to the ceremony on a horse, since the Santo Horse Riding stables are located not far away from the venue. Your guests will certainly remember this entrance, and you will get amazing wedding pictures.

If you are looking for an elopement or a small wedding on the beach, then Sea Side restaurant would be a perfect choice for you. Located in the very edge of Perissa, you will have a romantic seaside wedding and a great time with your close friends and family. After the ceremony, you can stay for a semi-private dinner at Sea Side restaurant's cute kiosk, or, if you prefer full privacy on your wedding day, book the entire restaurant just for you.

Beach weddings in Santorini offer a number of advantages over the caldera weddings. First of all, the beach venues do not have the noise restrictions that caldera has, meaning that you can party up until morning. You can have fireworks, since no one will be bothered by the noise, and fireworks make a great addition to any wedding. Even though during summer months you won't be able to see the sunset from the beaches of Santorini, the colors of the sky during sunset, along with the endless blue sea, still make great photos!

If you wish to have those famous wedding photos on the caldera, you can always go for the couple's photo shoot at the cliff side. Just leave your guests for an hour to enjoy their cocktails by the sea, and go to the caldera side for the pictures. Who said you couldn't have it all?

On Monday's blog post I will be discussing in more detail about the main differences between the caldera venues and the beach venues, so stay tuned!

Thank you very much for reading, and I wish you a lovely day!

<-- Previous || next -->

10 things you should not do to your wedding planner!

Having a wedding planner for your wedding can reduce the stress levels a lot. This is especially true when it comes to destination weddings. The wedding planner will help you choose the best vendors for you, the venue which will be perfect for you, and help you avoid all those "rookie" mistakes all brides do.

Your wedding planner is a person who knows everything about weddings and will help you and guide you to plan the best wedding you could possibly have. No matter how anxious you might get about your wedding, your wedding planner is there to help you and to reassure you that everything is going to be just like you dreamed about. After all, you are human, and it’s natural for you to worry about one of the most important days of your life.

Even thought wedding planners are quite tolerant people, and most of us don't really mind being bombarded with questions about every little detail of your wedding, still, there are some things that are better to avoid doing to a wedding planner:

1. Hiding information!

Your wedding planner should know everything about your wedding, as this is the main guarantee that you will have a successful wedding. Don't try to arrange different things with your venue or vendors, than what has been already arranged with you planner, as this is a recipe for disaster. Inform your planner about any changes you wish to make or made with your vendors, to avoid misunderstandings on the wedding day.

2. Disregarding your wedding planners expertise!

You want to have your wedding reception outdoors, but your wedding planner is trying in any way possible to convince you to have your reception indoors? Trust your planner's opinion, as he or she probably knows that you will regret your decision for the outdoor dinner, when the time comes. What your wedding planner suggests may not be your dream option, but he or she probably does it to avoid a complete disaster on the wedding day!

3.Not informing your mother or bridesmaids that you have a wedding planner!

It is only natural for your mother, mother-in-law, or maid of honor to want to get involved in the wedding planning. If your wedding planner does not know that though, it can get pretty messy! Inform you mother and bridesmaids that you will be having a wedding planner, and that if they want to have their input at the wedding, they should contact your planner. This way, you wedding planner will make room for that special bridesmaid dance your friends have planned for you, without ruining the whole schedule.

4. Forgetting that your wedding planner is a human!

Yes, your pay good money to your wedding planner, and you expect everything to be top-notch, from the communication between you, to the very wedding day coordination. Still, your wedding planner is a human being, which means that he or she will get tired, sick, go on vacations. Don't get mad if your wedding planner takes longer than usual to reply to you, or some days isn't as excited as most of the time. We all have our bad days, and since wedding planning can get quite stressful, it is normal for your planner to decide to take a day or two off work, to relax a little. Don't get mean when that happens, especially if you want your planner to be in his best form on your wedding day.

5. Not respecting the schedule

Building a perfect schedule for your wedding can be tricky at times. A wedding planner needs to organize the guests' arrivals, the ceremony, the photographer, the entertainers, the food, everything! A planner's job is to keep everyone happy, from the couple, to the guests, to the vendors, and a perfect schedule is the key to that. Deciding to put something extra on the schedule the very last minute, will create a mess, put unnecessary stress on the wedding planner, and as a result end up in a wedding disaster.

6. No surprises!

The only surprises a wedding planners like, are gifts (I personally love chocolate). Don't surprise your wedding planner by adding a sudden 20 minute grandpa speech before dinner, or having 7 surprise guests at the reception. This will mess up pretty much everything, and might have really negative consequences on your wedding. Your wedding planner should know everything concerning your wedding before the wedding day, so keep the surprises for your guests.

7. Not paying in time!

Weddings are costly, we all know that. Still, this is not a reason, not to pay in time your vendors. You may ask how this affects your wedding planner? Directly! Since it is your wedding planner who is making all the arrangements for you, including the payments, it he who will be bothered about the money if you have not made the required payment in time. A wedding planner has enough to think about, to have to chase you with the payments as well.

8. Don't treat your wedding planner as an enemy!

Your wedding planner wants what is best for you. He or she tries to get the best vendors for the best prices, just for you. All the suggestions a wedding planner makes, is for you to have a memorable wedding. Don't treat your wedding planner as an enemy, by not showing trust in his/her suggestions, arguing over everything, and going behind your planner's back. Believe it or not, most of the time your wedding planner knows what is best for you, better than you!  

9. Disrespecting the rules!

Every venue, every vendor, everything has its do's and don’ts. It can be noise policies, food policies, payment policies, children policies, anything! When your wedding planner tells you, that you cannot bring your own food to the venue, don't try to sneak the food in anyway! There is a reason for the policy, and by ignoring it, you not only causing unnecessary trouble to your wedding planner, but might end up ruining the whole wedding.

10. Panicking over nothing.

It is true, almost every wedding will have a detail that won't go as planned. Either the cake topper will break, a guest will run late, a song will not play. It is fine!! This is why you have a wedding planner: to take care of those things and make any mishaps magically disappear! By running behind your planner all the time, and not letting him to do his job, you are just making things worse. Don't panic unless you see your wedding planner panic!. If you wedding planner is calm, it means everything is under control. Relax, and enjoy your wedding day!

Remember, you wedding planner wants a perfect wedding as much as you do, and the calmer the wedding planner is, the higher the chances that nothing will go wrong on your wedding day. Keep calm and trust in your wedding planner!

Thank you very much for reading and I hope I was helpful!

I wish you a lovely day!

<-- Previous || next -->

Random Saturday #10: Feeling like a Marshmallow…

Hello my dear Readers,

How are you? How have you been? Is February treating you nice (you can reply in comments… don't be shy ;).

Ah… I feel terrible for not posting anything on Thursday, even though I said in the socials that I would… I really was out of ideas for the blog and was terribly tired to think of anything good. I didn't post anything on Friday either, which I mentioned in the socials as well, because I had the chance to spend some time with my beloved

boyfriend… and frankly, I wanted that more than writing a blog.

I've been tired lately, because I had to find a job until summer season would begin, which I did. I run out of funds to support myself…so now I'm temporary working at a bakery!

No, I don't bake anything. I sell everything! I also make coffee, clean, etc. etc. It is both fun and exhausting!! The plus side is that I lost some weight while working there, something I wanted to do anyway, because I'm too tired and too busy to eat anything, and because I'm standing all day. Also, I finally learned how to make coffee!! Woohoo…

It's a job for a month or two, still I kind of wish for it to end already. I cannot focus on things that I like the most, like promoting Cardoon Events, think about weddings and events, and on horses.

The fact that I don't have enough time to prepare the blog posts makes me nervous. This, combined with my efforts to train a horse I really like, and have some personal life, have sucked all the energy out of me. This is why I feel like a marshmallow… and I don't like marshmallows!

I have some really interesting articles for the future I can't wait to write, and I'm really disappointed that I don't have the time or energy, or both, to sit and work on them down. I want to write about some amazing wedding venues Santorini has, make 4 blog posts dedicated to wedding photography and two good photographers of Santorini, wedding flowers, and so much more!

I also want very much to start my research on weddings in Kefalonia. It is such a beautiful island, more people need to know about it! It has some amazing places for weddings and events, it’s a pity that it is not another cool place for a destination wedding. Kefalonia also has really good prices for weddings, like amazingly good! You could actually have there a wedding for more than a 100 persons for less than 20.000 euro!!!

Have you ever wished for the day to have 48 hours? Or to be able to leave without sleep without going insane? I know I have, and this what I wish for now. Sometimes it feels that the 24 daily hours are not enough to complete all the tasks I have set for the day. This feeling gets even stronger when you are working without any days off, which often happens in Santorini.

But, it is just temporary, and at least I know how to make all kinds of coffee now J Always look at the bright side, right?

Thank you very much for reading and I wish you a great day!

PS: I'm starting a new thing on Random Saturday, which will be the song of the week :) 

Random Saturday #9 || Random Saturday #11

Ideas for Wedding Favors!

cake pops favors
picture from sandyssignatures.blogspot.ca

Wedding favors are not only a great way to thank your guests for attending your wedding, but also a way to make your guests remember your wedding. Although your guests won't think bad of you if you won't have favors for them, they will most certainly appreciate a small gift from you, should you have one.

What can you offer as a favor to your guests? Anything! It can be an edible favor, a drinkable favor, a practical favor, a fun favor, anything that comes to mind. It is nice to have favors, which will match the main wedding theme. For example, if you are having a travel themed wedding, then you could have customized suitcase tags for each guest.

Here are some detailed description on what you could offer them:

Edible Favors:

Everybody loves candy, so having a small bag of candies for your guests, is always a good idea. You could have small candy bars or something more sophisticated, like a personalized cupcake or cake-pop. To make it even more fun, prepare a candy favor station, so that you guests could prepare their own favors.

If you and your guests are not into sweets, then prepare a mix of spices. All of us cook, at some point in our lives, and those spices could be of great inspiration for those moments. This wedding favor is even better if you are having a destination wedding, as it will be a way for your guests to take with them a flavor of the country your are marrying in.

Drinkable Favors:

Small bottles of alcoholic drinks is also one good idea for guests' favors, especially if your friends like to party. Find small bottles of the alcoholic beverages that your friends like, and give everyone their favorite drink. Want to make it even more fun? Prepare mini cocktail kits.

As with the spices, when having a destination wedding, you could have small bottles of the local alcoholic beverage as a favor. When it comes to weddings in Greece, you could have small ouzo bottles.

Hangover Kit Favors:

picture from bridedsupnorth.com

The morning after a wedding party can be rough… you know, hangover and stuff. I always found hangover kits, or emergency kits, as guests' favors a brilliant idea! Have some aspirin, some band-aids, a lip balm, chewing gums, a night mask, and anything else you find useful for a hangover or an emergency. Practical, and with a sense of humor.

Practical Favors:

It is always nice to be practical, even when it comes to gifts. But how to be practical with favors? This is really easy. Just think about what your guests might need for your wedding, that they wouldn't think about brining themselves. For example, if you are having a beach wedding, you could have flip-flops and swimming suites as favors for your guests. Everyone will enjoy the party even more!

Souvenir Favors:

When having a destination wedding, a souvenir will serve as the best memorabilia from your wedding. For your wedding in Santorini, for example, you could have small donkeys or miniature blue dome churches. To make it even more memorable, have them pre-ordered with your wedding date on them.

If you and your significant other like to travel, then you could bring souvenirs from the places that you have been. This will make the wedding favors feel more personal, more you. You will also give your guests a taste of the places you've been.

Handmade Favors:

Homemade Jam for your guests
picture from unitedlove.com

Handmade gifts are always a great idea, so are handmade wedding favors. Handmade crafts take a lot of your time to make, and by having handmade favors on your wedding, will show your guests how much they mean to you. Your guests will appreciate that you took so much time to prepare their favors, and will cherish them forever.  

I can go on and on about what your wedding favors can be. Whatever your choice of favors will be, don't forget to include a detail, which will remind your guests of your wedding. Don't be afraid to use your imagination and think outside the box. Your wedding favors, should be as unique as you are!

As always, thank you very much for reading! I wish you a lovely day and an amazing life!

<-- Previous || next -->

Random Saturday #9: Say it with a song!!

Hello my dear Readers.

Today and at this very moment, I feel really tired and nothing interesting comes to mind for this Random Saturday. This is why I decided to make a music post, which will include 10 songs that perfectly represent my way of thinking, at least at this period of time.

1. Human - Rag n' bone man

2. The truth about love - Pink

3. Ironic - Alanis Morissette

4. Together - The Raconteurs

5.Can't Sleep Love - Pentatonix

6. Escape (The Pina Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes

7. I'm no superman - Lazlo Bane

8. Mercedes Benz - Janis Joplin

9. Run Boy, Run - Woodkid

10. Always look at the bright side of life - Monty Python

Music has always been, and will always be a good friend of mine.

What is the song, that describes you at this point of your life? 

Thank you very much for listening J

You have my best wishes!

Random Saturday #8 || Random Saturday #9

Sweet Sweet Table for a Sweet Sweet Life!

Sweet tables are a great addition to every wedding. Sweet tables are both beautiful and practical, as they provide a great decoration piece for the reception area, as well as a nice way to keep your guests' sweet tooth satisfied.

What is a sweet table? A sweet table is a table full of sweets… obviously. Sweet tables are usually used in the reception area, and have on them various kinds of candies, for your guests to treat themselves with. They can also have some jars with juices or punch, which can be used for both decorative purposes and for drinking. Besides the candies and the drink, the table can also be decorated with candles and flowers, which will match the wedding's main decoration theme.

Sweet tables can be placed anywhere in the reception room, although it is a good idea to have them in the corner which looked empty. and you didn't know how to fill otherwise. Another nice idea, is to place the sweet table at the dance floor, to "lure" your guests to dance. Just make sure that the table is in a place where it won't get knocked down during the wild dancing!

You can set your sweet table and wish table together. If you wonder why do that, here is a explanation. From my experience, not all guests remember to write in the wish book, which can feel a bit disappointing at the end. Having the wish book next or at the sweet table, is a practical way to remind your guests about the wish book, and in a way reward them for writing in the guest book.

Sweet tables can also be really helpful when you cannot find any good ideas for favors, as you can transform them into a favor station for your guests. Place small bags and spatulas at the sweet table, along with a variety of different candies, and let your guests prepare their own favors!

A sweet table could as well be used to display your wedding cake. Place the cake in middle of the table, on a beautiful cake base, once the cutting of the cake is finished, and let your guests enjoy that piece of art.

picture taken from happywedd.com

When is the right time to have the sweet table out? This really depends on the purpose of the sweet table. If you wish for the table to be used as a guests' favor station, or to remind them of your guest book, then it is a good idea to have it ready for the cocktail hour. If, on the other hand, you wish for it to be a reason for the guests to go to the dance floor, have it ready just as the dinner is over. It is better though, to avoid having the table ready from the very beginning, as you don't want your guests to be staffed with sweets before dinner, or for the sweets to go bad.

A great thing about sweet tables, is that you can use any kind of candies you wish. It can be sugared almonds in beautiful vases, small candy bars such as Twix, Mars, Snickers etc., doughnuts , cupcakes, macaroons, lollipops, anything your heart desires. You can choose sweets, that will have the color theme of your wedding, so that the sweet table will match perfectly with the main decoration theme. You can even prepare homemade sweets, if you love cooking, to make it even more personal. In this case, don't forget to ask your venue if they allow food from outside to be brought to their premises.

picture taken from modeliceblog.com

If you are getting married in Santorini, Kefalonia, or any other part of Greece, it is a nice idea to use tradition Greek candies for the sweet table, to add that Greek flavor everybody loves! Arrange with your wedding planner to have small Kataifia, Mpaklavades, Saragli, Touloumpakia and other Greek sweets for your sweet table. Your guests, and you of course, will love them! Keep in mind though, that a lot of Greek sweets contain nuts, so inform your nut allergic friends about that, to avoid any allergic incidents.

Make your wedding even better, by adding a sweet corner to your wedding reception. After all, it is not just kids who love treats!

As always, thank you very much for reading and I wish you a lovely day! 

<-- Previous || next -->