Fun activities in Santorini: Wine tours!

Venetsanos Winery vineyard

The island of Santorini is famous for various different things, one if which are the wines that are produced there. Half, if not more, of the island is filled with vineyards, that look amazingly beautiful during summer when they have blossomed. In August, when it is time to gather the grapes, the whole place smells like wine. The reason is that part of the grapes are left to ripe in the sun, so that they could be used to produce the sweet, dessert wine Vinsanto.

Because of such a rich wine making history, and the fact that the island still produces one of the best wines globally, it is only natural for Santorini to have a great number of different wineries. There is the Venetsanos Winery, the Boutari Winery, the Sigalas Estate Winery, the Koutsogiannopoulos Wine museum, to name a few. All located in different areas of Santorini, and with each winery offering a different wine tour and wine tasting.

Wine making machinery at Venetsanos Winery

Taking a wine tour and wine tasting is not just an interesting activity to do when visiting Santorini, alone or with your family and friends, but is also a great idea for a "cocktail hour" at your wedding. Agreeable, a wine tour is not your traditional cocktail hour, but from my experience your guests will find such a tour really interesting, amusing, and unique for a wedding.

Don't wish to have your guests spending too much time in a bus on the wedding day? Arrange the wine tour to be part of your pre-wedding gathering on the island. Your guests would love to visit a Santorini winery anyway, since it is a really popular activity on the island, so why not give them a chance to do so all together? A great advantage of such a pre-wedding gathering, is that your guests will have an interesting topic to discuss on the wedding day! You'll give them the best ice-breaker ever!

My two personal favorite wineries of Santorini are the Venetsanos Winery and the Koutsogiannopoulos Wine museum, each for different reasons:

VenetsanosWinery:

Wine stating at Venetsanos Winery

Venetsanos Winery is located on the cliffside of Megalochori, over the Athinios port, making a winery with amazing caldera views. The winery was built in 1947 by the Venetsanos family, and it was carved in the mountain. A tour there is really interesting, as you get to learn the history of the place, go through the different cellars and tunnels in the mountain, and get to know how wine was produced there and distributed. They even a corner, which used to serve as an office, where they kept some of the instruments and notes of the founders of the winery.

Of course, as with every winery, you can choose to finish the tour with a wine tasting of the Santorini wines, enjoying at the same time the magnificent views of Venetsanos Winery. A wine expert will describe you how every different wine is made, sharing interesting information about the wine making culture of Thira.

A useful information is that Venetsanos Winery is also available for wedding ceremonies and receptions. Its location is such, that you will be treated with the famous and wonderful views of the caldera. The black volcanic rock, from which the terrace is made, gives the place a unique character, perfect for the "one-of-a-kind" weddings we are all looking for.

KoutsogiannopoulosWine Museum:

The Koutsogiannopoulos winery was founded in the 19th century, and has been ever since producing delicious Santorini wines. The winery is located in Vothonas, on the road to Kamari. Nowadays, it is an astonishing museum, which is absolutely worth visiting when coming to Santorini.

Koutsogiannopoulos Wine Museum's exhibits

What makes this winery so special? Its museum! It is an underground, 8 meters deep, labyrinth like museum (don't worry, you won't get lost). You will dive into the history of the wine making of Santorini, from the very beginning. The cave museum is filled with small cavern like rooms, where you can see the wine making process for yourself. The figurines, used at the cavern rooms, give you the feeling that you have travelled a hundred or more years back, and you are participating in the ploughing, harvesting and stomping of the grapes.

The exhibits of the underground museum are presented in a chronological order, making it easier for you to understand how the wine making culture began in Santorini. To help you understand even better the wine science, you will have the opportunity to see old machinery, which was used in the wine making process.

At the end of the tour, you will have the chance to taste four different Santorini wines, gaining a new appreciation of the hard work of all those people who are involved in the wine making process.

Koutsogiannopoulos Winery offers its premises for a wedding as well. It is a perfect choice, if you love being close to nature, as the winery has a wonderful garden for magical weddings!

Whether you came to Santorini for your summer vacation, for your own destination wedding, or for your friend's wedding, make sure to include in your program a visit to one of the Santorini's wineries. You will most certainly enjoy it, and will leave the island with new and interesting knowledge.

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

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Country Weddings in Santorini!

Photo taken from www.himisspuff.com

Having your wedding closer to nature, especially when the days are long and warm, is always a great idea. What an easier way to do so, than have a country style wedding? You can host your wedding at the country side, in a barn, at your holiday home. Don't have the opportunity to run away into nature for your wedding? Not to worry. You can still have a wonderful country style set up on your wedding day, even in an indoor venue. All you need, are the correct decorations.

When you think about a country wedding, the first that comes to mind are those wonderful wooden barns, stylish cowboy boots, hey and horses. So, it is only natural for you to wonder, how would a country style wedding fin on an island like Santorini? I say, perfectly!

First off, let's start with the ceremony, as this is the beginning of a wedding. Whether on a caldera venue, or a beach venue, you can still recreate the country style you are looking for. The first detail is the aisle. Something simple like two wine barrels in the beginning on the aisle, with a wonderful flower arrangements on top, will be enough to give your ceremony the barn feeling. Put some simple, white chairs for the guests, and you have completed the image.

Whether you choose to have a gazebo or not, for the bride and groom to stand under during the ceremony, it can be decorated in the same matter that the aisle is. Use two similar wooden, wine barrels on each side of the gazebo, or next to the ceremony table, decorate them with beautiful and rich floral arrangements, and ta da!! Country wedding! To make the gazebo look even more impressive, add an additional layer of white curtains.  

Wish to make it even more fun? Use cowboy hats as flower baskets for the flower girls. Incorporate some horse shoes to the decoration, both for good luck, and the country feeling. And of course, have a country song as your entrance song!

Photo taken from blessings.com

Done with the ceremony, it's time to think about the reception. Here is where most of the work and creativity will be required, to achieve that country feeling you are going for, and make you and your guests feel like they are out in the country side!

Country weddings have the wooden element strongly in them, meaning that a lot of decorations are made from wood. On other words, wooden decorative items are the first thing you should think about. So…Barrels! Again! They are amazing to use for a sweet or welcome table, and using them at the reception will make the transaction from the ceremony area to the reception much smoother.

Another way to use wooden decorations, is to make awesome DIY decorations from pallets. Examples? You can make really cute welcome signs for your guests, at the entrance of the reception venue. Pallets can also be used to make your photo booth look like a real barn! Don't forget about the wooden crates. Use them as flowers pots with beautiful flower compositions. Place the crates around the venue, for a country style decoration.

A country wedding should have mason jars in it, or there will be something missing. You can use them as glasses for the refreshing, non-alcoholic welcome drinks for your guests upon their arrival at the venue. You can also use them for as vases, to put the flowers for the table centerpieces. Mason jars can even be used at the sweet table, as jars for the various candies.

To give your reception even more of that country feeling, don't forget to use tin buckets when decorating the venue. As with the all of the above, tin buckets are quite versatile. They can be used for your floral arrangements at the bar, the sweet or wish table, or even at the dinner tables when having the right size. Another smart and fun way to include tin buckets to the decoration, is using them as coolers for the drinks during the ceremony. Ask the bartender to fill the buckets with ice and bottles of beer, and have them placed near the dance floor, or at the bar, so that anyone could grab a beer easily.

Photo taken from womangettingmarried.com

What am I forgetting… ah! Fairy lights! Fairy lights are the key, into making your guests feel like they're under the night sky full of stars. They are also great decorative items for the head table, the bar, the candy bar. You can use them as curtains, wrap them around the bar, place them over the dance floor. Whatever feels more beautiful for you.

Last, but not least, let's talk about the flowers used for a country wedding in Santorini, as without them the decoration will be incomplete. Since country weddings are close to nature, the flowers you can use for the wedding can be simple wildflowers and herbs, you could easily find in the country side: Sunflowers, daisies, aster, thyme, lavender, to name a few. As for the colors, you are allowed to use any color combination you like, and still have a great country wedding style!

Those are just some ideas for a country style wedding here in Santorini. If you love barn weddings and Santorini, and need help combining those two, feel free to contact Cardoon Events for some help and advice!

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

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