OverseasWeddingInsider

Santorini is one of our most popular destinations for a wedding abroad. This small Greek Island is home to one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world. Santorini is full of charm and character and will make you fall in love from the moment you arrive. Whether you’re looking for a traditional white-washed church or chapel, a luxury hotel or private villa perched on the cliff side offering breath taking views or or a beach side venue surrounded by dark sands and sunset views, your wedding is guaranteed to be luxurious, relaxing and simply beautiful. Here we look at 3 of the most stunning cliff side wedding venues in the gorgeous island; Santorini. Cliff Top Private Villa Just outside of Akrotiri placed on the cliff tops is our Cliff top private villa. This private villa is perfect for a luxurious and elegant wedding, with a stunning backdrop of blue seas and spectacular sunsets and a blank canvas to create your perfect wedding how you’ve always dreamt of it. The private villa offers you a venue for your ceremony, reception and accommodation and with its large grounds can accommodate up to 60 people on your big day. Not only is this villa highly practical but another beauty of this private villa is the complete exclusivity it allows you and your guests to enjoy. This cliff top private villa is simply a dream, with magnificent and modern facilities, spacious living areas and a relaxing private pool, and not forgetting the fully equipped pool bar for you to enjoy a cocktail or two. http://www.thebridalconsultants.com/santorini-weddings/santorini-wedding-venues-cliff-top-private-villa/ Dana Villas Perched on the cliff side in Firostefani in the heart of Santorini, just a few minutes’ walk from the bustling island capital of Fira, is the gorgeous Dana Villas wedding venue. This venue offers stunning panoramic views of the Caldera, volcano, caldera bay, blue seas and the astonishing Santorini Sunset. Perfect for wedding parties of up to 40 people, the ceremony takes place under the traditional Cycladic canopy decorated with ribbons, candles and flowers of your personal choice and then you and your guests can enjoy the available reception dinner whilst taking in the beauty of this idyllic setting. http://www.thebridalconsultants.com/santorini-weddings/santorini-wedding-venues-villa/ St Irene St Irene offers captivating views over the caldera, volcano and sparkling blue seas. This unique location allows you to get married in the courtyard of St Irene, a traditional white-washed Greek chapel in a serene setting on the edge of the Island. You and your guests can completely relax and enjoy a glass of champagne whilst overlooking the incredible sun set, before heading off to one of our beautiful reception venues, to enjoy and celebrate the rest of your day. http://www.thebridalconsultants.com/santorini-weddings/santorini-wedding-venues-st-irene/

I usually find that most couples immediately fall in love with their wedding venue as soon as they lay their eyes on the perfect one! However sometimes it comes down to the choice between two venues, both appear so perfect, so how do you choose? Here are 2 easy steps to help you make that all important choice; Step One Start by listing your top priorities for the day, choose maybe 3 or 4 at the most. Here are a few suggestions I use to help my couples choosing their venue; The view and setting for both your ceremony and reception venue! Transfers – would you prefer to have the venue in one location or would you prefer a different ceremony and reception location? Privacy- would you be prepared to share with other guests or would you prefer complete privacy? Food and drink quality, does the venue offer drinks packages, or can you purchase on consumption, are the menus flexible do they cater for special dietary requirements Timings – How long does the evening last, would you like to party into the early hours or would you be happy ending the music at midnight (what are the venues rules on loud music?) Budget – which venue fits better within your budget? Access – some remote wedding venues have lots of steps or rickety bridges, consider guests comfort and abilities (prams/wheelchairs) Step Two Now use your list and cross reference the details of each venue, your wedding planner can help with this part. Does one venue clearly stand out by meeting all or most of your requirements? If yes you have found your perfect wedding venue! Making a list may not seem very romantic but it takes away the emotion and helps you make a clear informed decision, which is incredibly important when choosing the perfect wedding venue. Once you have chosen your perfect venue you can go back to dreaming about all the fun you’re going to have planning your wedding! Where have you chosen as your wedding destination and venue? Leave us a comment in the box below and let us know! http://www.thebridalconsultants.com/blog/

I find that the most frequent question I’m asked is “Why should I hire a wedding planner, what are the benefits of hiring someone to plan my special day over planning the wedding myself?” There are the regular, simple answers such as “Have you ever planned a wedding before?” “Do you have the time to plan a wedding?” “Do you have any contacts abroad?” “Do you have any experience checking contracts, vetting suppliers, visiting venues, verifying their insurances and credentials and what assurance do you have of their professionalism at your wedding?” However over the past few years we have had several instances that really highlight the importance of hiring a wedding planner, especially if you want your wedding day to be a success. Even when mother nature works against you! The importance of hiring a wedding planner In New York our most popular wedding location is the gorgeous Central Park. If there are 20 people or more at the wedding you need to have a permit. This gives you exclusive use of your venue at the chosen time. The important thing here is not the amount of people in your wedding party, but the fact that it gives you exclusive use of the venue. At such a small cost, just $25 (about £15), it makes complete sense. We include this for all our weddings no matter the size as we believe you should not have to share the limelight on your wedding day whether there is just the 2 of your or if you have 40 guests.However, in two separate instances this year, our wedding planner has arrived to complete her pre-wedding venue inspection before the wedding party arrive and other wedding parties have had to leave the area midway through their service. Luckily for the couples our wedding planner is a star and knows the park so well that she was able to recommend other venues close by which both the couples could use get to married at.This is such an awful situation to be placed in, a circumstance that could have been so easily avoided if a permit had been ordered either by the couple or the wedding planner they had hired. What was even more shocking is that both of these couples had hired wedding planners that should have advised them about this!Such a simple detail could have saved 2 wedding days from unnecessary upset. By hiring a good wedding planner you foresee these potential problems. Thinking ahead is all part of this business, it’s what our clients rely on us to do! The second situation was in New York also, when Hurricane Irene was storming its way up the east coast of America. To everyone’s surprise it was heading to New York, the first in many years. The problem was the storm surge and the possibility of flooding which meant that all public transport including the subway was closed.Our wedding was due to take place on the Tuesday, however 45 of our couples guests were stuck in the UK because the airports in New York were closed due to the storm. Some quick thinking and planning by our New York vendors, who always go the extra mile, meant we managed to rearrange everything (including the park permit) for Wednesday. This gave enough time for the guests to fly out for the wedding and our bride and groom had a fabulous day.Can you imagine planning your wedding alone and having to make the decision to either cancel your wedding or reschedule it? Where would you start? This is the standard service we offer, good wedding planners excel themselves when things go to plan, but the real experts and professionals show their talents when things don’t go to plan even when mother nature works against us. http://www.thebridalconsultants.com/blog/