Ellie & Jon’s Non-Traditional Wedding in the Olive Groves of Crete

Jon and Ellie were married on 5th September 2024 at the breathtaking Biolea Astrikas Estate in Chania, Crete, a place that had become a much-loved destination for the couple over years of holidays together. With Ellie’s family travelling from Australia and Jon’s from the UK, Crete felt like the perfect halfway point – rich in beauty, food and meaning.

This was a wedding rooted in soul, simplicity and intention. Ellie wore a layered Cortana ensemble and finished with a silk tulle veil by A.M. Faulkner. She looked utterly radiant amongst the olive groves, where the couple held their ceremony beneath the soft afternoon sun.

Their day was photographed with great care and sensitivity by Marianna and Constantinos of Octograph Photo Stories – a husband and wife team whose gentle, documentary-style approach was the perfect fit for the relaxed, celebratory vibe of the day.

Venue & Location

We picked Crete as it was a point between Cornwall and Australia, and such a special place we wanted our families to meet and share. Our venue, Biolea seemed to encompass all of this- stunning scenery and incredible food from the chef Michalis- somewhere special to bring all our families to share in our love. We loved the idea of having the ceremony surrounded by the olive grove.

We wanted a non-traditional wedding, something that felt like one big party and Biolea provided the perfect setting for that. 

Our wedding planner, Sveta from Crete Within Weddings, alongside Ana from Casctus Care. They really understood our vision from the beginning and bought it all to life. 

We drew inspiration from the breathtaking Cretan scenery surrounding us at Biolea, aiming to honour and complement the stunning Greek landscape rather than overshadow it. Our vision was to embrace the natural beauty, colours, and culture of the region.

With the help of our incredible planner Sveta and stylist Ana, we crafted a celebration that blended seamlessly into the environment while keeping sustainability at the forefront. We opted for a rich color palette of burgundy and yellows, incorporating local elements such as grapes, radicchio, and citrus fruits into the tablescapes to reflect the vibrant Mediterranean setting.

To stay true to the Greek surroundings, we adorned the space with amphoras overflowing with olive branches and used breezy, flowing fabrics to create an effortlessly elegant atmosphere. 

My dad Geoff accompanied me down the aisle I walked down to Malatu Akstake’s “Notsalgia”, one of our all time favourite artists and the song really fitted the dreamy afternoon sun.

Our ceremony was officiated by Katie, The Crete Celebrant. Jon and I had already done the legal bit of marriage in the Marylebone town Hall in London, so we wanted the Cretan wedding to be different. We wanted the ceremony to be a short, fun celebration of our love so we could enjoy everyones company for longer during cocktail hour.

We didn’t have traditional wedding so did not have readings, however we had some amazing speeches over dinner from the wedding party.

We both bought our wedding bands from Hatton Garden in Farringdon which was a really fun experience! Jon wanted something gold and understated, and he was lucky enough to find a second hand wedding band which fit him perfectly.

I wanted something understated, gold and in keeping with my beautiful engagement ring, which I found at Hamilton Jewelers.

Photography

We had the incredible Octograph Photo Stories capture our day, and we truly couldn’t recommend them more! From the very beginning, Marianna and Costa were so kind and reassuring—Jon and I aren’t typically very comfortable in front of the camera, but they instantly put us at ease.

We wanted a natural, documentary-style approach that would capture the essence of the day – everyone enjoying themselves and living in the moment, and Octograph brought this vision to life perfectly.

One of the most unexpected highlights of the day was our couple’s photoshoot. Having never done anything like that before, we were surprised by how much we loved it! Costa made the entire experience feel effortless and natural.

Beyond capturing the people and emotions, they also did an incredible job highlighting the stunning table settings created by Ana at Caactus Care. Looking back at the photos, we can truly feel the atmosphere, vibes, and energy of the day all over again.

Jon and I met in London and he surprised me by proposing at Kew Gardens after 7 years of being together. We were engaged for a year before we decided to get married in Crete

The Reception

I am fortunate enough to have an amazing Graphic designer as a husband, so Jon designed all of the wedding stationary which he said was one of his hardest projects! Jon put a contemporary twist on traditional wedding stationery – a bold typographic approach balancing elegance with minimalism, coloured with a bright, warm palette.

We had the amazing Enkipo for flowers. In keeping with the colour scheme, and paired back nature of the day I opted for a bunch of black calla lilies which were just so stunning and really popped against the ivory colour of my outfit. Jon matched his button hole to this. The bridesmaids all had white calla lilies to complement my bouquet.

Enkipo alongside Ana did a stunning job of the table decorations, bringing the beautiful deep purples and burgundies through with touches of olive and eucalyptus- a nod to Greece as well as Australia. 

Biolea Estates provided all the absolutely incredible food- all of our guests commented that the food was stunning. The chef Michalis was outstanding- the food showcased the local Cretan cuisine and was bursting with freshness and flavour. Michalis went above and beyond providing for so many different dietary requirements. 

As Jon eats a dairy free diet and a lot of our guests had various dietary requirements, we opted for a vegan cake. We wanted something simple and fun, as we also were able to enjoy the phenomenal desserts from Biolea. Double the desert!

Evening & Dancing

The incredible The Freaktones band honestly bought the whole night together. It was amazing to see all our different friends and family dancing together- especially as this was the first time so many of the them met! Huge shout out to the Freaktones for even playing rage against the machine  at the end of their set for us!

Event Lighting Projects did the most beautiful job of lighting the area – I won’t ever forget looking up at the lights overhead as the sun set – it was magical.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

I would say hire an amazing wedding planner you trust! Jon and I are not really the centre of attention kind of people, so the idea of planning and executing a wedding was really daunting to us- especially as our friends and family live all over the world.

However, Sveta, Daria and Ana broke the whole process down and there was no way we could have had the most perfect day without them. Do yourself a favour, and have a professional take care of it for you- they really know their stuff!

As we had everyone travelling far and wide, from New Zealand, Australia, New York and the UK, we wanted to have events each side of the wedding so we could see everyone and keep the party going!

Thank you to Sveta and Daria from Crete Within Weddings, who organised a stunning waterside welcome drinks in Chania- this was such a beautiful night and it was great to introduce everyone. We then had an amazing recovery at Isola beach bar- lots of cocktails and swimming in the Aegean to wipe the hangovers away.

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