Weddings in Crete: The Blog
November 2011
November has arrived already and I did not manage to write any news this summer ... we did have a fairly busy season, but we also spent quite a lot of time meeting couples from 2012 and also 2013 ... we look forward to seeing you all again soon!!
Last year we ended our year in December with an Irish romantic wedding for just two in Rethymnon. This year we ended in October, again in Rethymnon but this time a Scottish wedding, for a lovely couple Sharon and Michael. With kilts, tears and singing an Adele song by the bride's gorgeous daughter, it was a great way to end our year and we wish all our couples of 2011 all the best and hope to see you again - with children maybe!!
There have been a lot of changes in various parts of Crete this year with the Municipalities and their ways of performing civil weddings and I will be mentioning more details of this over the winter. Unfortunately this usually means extra charges (well I am sure you all know the Greek government are desperate to collect money!!).
As for 2012 Crete is clearly as popular as ever, and we are looking forward to organising weddings all over Crete again next year. For those brides who have not yet made up their minds, April and May are still quiet... but June and July are totally booked... with only a few more places in August and September.
March, April, May 2011
Sorry not to have written anything before; as well as my webmaster being ill, our completely wet spring did not inspire ...
So here are 3 months together, and three topics, all beginning with Other ...
Other Flowers
Many of our brides write and say they would like a 'natural look' with 'local flowers' as decorations
for their wedding. Now, from June onwards the only flowers you see here in Crete are in people's gardens.
Not counting the poisonous oleanders on the main road and the fantastic bougainvillea which while looking
amazing is really hard to use in decorations as the flowers break off very easily and wilt almost immediately.
So 'local flowers' are not really an option..however in March and April Crete is an abundance of wild flowers,
which actually would make great decorations for a wedding (hippy style maybe, but fun!) ... so if there are any
possible brides out there who are not so concerned with the weather (which may be rainy!) but would like a
'natural look' wedding, Crete is the place to come - in March or April!
Other Countries
Every year to our pleasure we add to the different countries which our couples come from - it is always
really interesting to meet people from other countries, even though sometimes it does put a strain on our
organising skills if the language is not understood well! We learn new marriage customs, and hear about life
in another country - this year already we have added to our list (of 15 countries) Australia, with
Lithuania also later in summer. We have had marriage enquiries from all over the world, although some couples
don't seem to understand that Greece does have strict paperwork requirements, and just deciding a month before
you come on holiday to Greece will not give you the time you need to get the right documents. This year a
Chinese couple were unable to book their wedding because they had not left enough time to get the paperwork
organised - so to anyone thinking of getting married in Crete, just remember that for EU citizens it is simple
but still needs about 3 months ... and for non EU citizens it can be a more complicated, and need more time just
to get the groundwork done! But we are always happy to help and look into how to get your documents wherever
you are from, and wherever you happen to live now!!
Other Companies
Not for the first time we have been approached by a company operating from another Greek island (organising
weddings in Santorini or Rhodes for example). These companies want us to be the 'ground agent' for bookings which
they will handle from their office in the UK or say in Rhodes. They are the 'planners' for the wedding while we
book and organise everything the couple actually want but have our first contact with them only when they arrive
in Crete. Essentially then we are doing all the running for the other company, and they are getting all the credit
since Weddings in Crete is never mentioned to the couple. Apparently one of these companies also has great success
by offering meetings with a UK representative in the UK. Well, if there are couples who are happy to have their
wedding in Crete organised by someone they have met in the UK (but who has only been to Crete once for a few days -
and therefore any local knowledge she may have is at best second hand) then I wish them good luck. Meanwhile, if
you would like your wedding organised by a company based in Crete, with twenty five years local knowledge and six
years of planning weddings, then you know where to find us! We are not interested in operating under the name of
any other company - Weddings in Crete specialise in bespoke PERSONAL wedding planning - the continual direct
contact with each couple whether by email or by Skype is a basic for our weddings ... and one of the reasons for
our success!
Happy Summer ... it is just heating up properly now in Crete ...
Send mail concerning this item.
January/February 2011
Well, we do apologise, we have been a little quiet here in Weddings in Crete and this was partly because I was away over Christmas in the UK, arriving in the middle of all that snow, and coming back to the beginning of winter in Crete. We ended our wedding year with Ed and Geraldine from Ireland - relaxed, romantic and fun - the weather was slightly nippy for Crete, and Geraldine had a bit of a walk to get to St Lazarus chapel in Rethymnon, as the old Venetian streets are too narrow for cars, so she wore her boots and changed outside the chapel into her heels! Here is a photo taken after the wedding, making up in colour for the lack of sunshine.
So having welcomed in the New Year in the UK we are back in Crete preparing for our first weddings of 2011 .. and surprised by the number of couples who are only just thinking about making decisions for this summer .. Given the economic recession we have also had enquiries from a number of UK couples who wish to have a very small ceremony with few or maybe no guests, so we have put together an all inclusive offer for these couples, for the first time.
Immediately following Christmas we do receive even more enquiries than usual and January is often spent answering all kinds of strange enquiries ... one email I had at the end of the month told me that while we tell our clients Rethymnon Municipality charges 150 Euros for use of Rethymnon chapel on weekdays, other companies claim differently. One apparently claims there is no charge, and another that the charge is 75 Euros. To put you all right, the charges can be seen on Rethymnon Municipality's own website: Wedding-arrangements. Click here and then translate and you can see the official prices. Which leaves one wondering when the other companies are going to tell their clients what the real prices are - after they have booked with them?
Send mail concerning this item.