Real Wedding Story
Laura and Jon
A romantic, classic island wedding shaped by twenty years of family memories, and a quiet promise to a place that meant everything.
Some couples spend months deciding where in Greece to marry. For Laura and Jon, the choice was made long before they were ever engaged.
Jon’s mum and dad had been coming to Tsilivi, on the island of Zante, for more than twenty years. It was their favourite place in the world, the one they returned to again and again. When Jon’s mum passed away three years ago, the village quietly became something more than a holiday spot. It became the place their day was always meant to happen.
“My mother and father-in-law have been visiting Tsilivi for 20+ years and it’s their favourite holiday destination. Heartbreakingly, my mother-in-law passed away three years ago, marrying here is very sentimental for both of us.”
Why Greece, and why now
They married in late spring, when Zante is warm but not yet at the peak of the summer heat. The timing was deliberate. “Absolutely,” Laura said when we asked whether the season shaped the decision. “Beautiful weather, but not too hot.” The brief they set themselves for the whole day was just two words, romantic and classic, and it ran through everything that followed.
Planning from afar
Laura and Jon gave themselves twelve months, which Laura describes as perfect timing. Coordinating a wedding from another country could have been daunting, but she credits good organisation and a brilliant local team for keeping it calm.
“Being organised, our communication was fantastic with Tsilivi Weddings. They work relentlessly.”
Remarkably, when we asked about the single biggest planning challenge, there simply wasn’t one. “We didn’t face one. Everything went very smoothly. We were incredibly lucky,” Laura said. Her one piece of advice for couples at the very start of the same journey is the simplest of all: start your planning early.
A favourite moment
The wedding unfolded at The Balcony in Tsilivi, a venue Laura calls absolutely breathtaking, with amazing views, a classy, stunning setting, and fantastic staff. And then came the moment that could only have happened on Zante.
“It was magical from start to finish. We spotted turtles over the balcony just after we married “
Zante is one of the last places in the Mediterranean where loggerhead turtles still nest, and for Laura and Jon the island offered up its most famous residents at exactly the right moment, newly married, looking out over the water together. There’s a quiet poetry to it, too: turtles are creatures of long life and faithful return, finding their way back to the same shores year after year to begin something new. Not so different from the family who kept coming back to Tsilivi for twenty years, and the couple now starting their own long journey from the very same place.
If the turtles were the wonder of the day, the speeches were its heart. They were the moment that brought Laura to tears, and the single hour she says she would relive if she could. Her only regret, she admits, is that in the emotion of it all they forgot to press record.
The food (and the cake she worried about)
Laura had quietly fretted about one thing in the lead-up: the cake. She needn’t have.
“All absolutely stunning. I was worried about the cake, but I can honestly say they beat the UK bakers.”
On budget
A Greek wedding turned out to be slightly less expensive than the couple had anticipated. The real value, for Laura, wasn’t a line on a spreadsheet, it was how hard the team worked to make the day special.
Laura’s advice for couples dreaming of Greece
Three words for the whole day? Magical. Fairytale. Perfect. And if she could pass on what she’s learned:
- Mind the time of year — it was 26 degrees at the end of May, so plan and prepare for the heat.
- Don’t stress about the day itself. With good planners, it takes care of itself and runs smoothly.
- Prioritise yourselves above everything else.
- Would she do it all again in Greece? “100% yes, without question.”
And Laura’s thank-you to the team that made it happen:
Venue & Catering
The Balcony, Tsilivi
Hair & Make Up
Mirror Mirror, Tsilivi
Photography
Konstantinos Kazoukas
Planner
Tsilivi Weddings
(Zante Weddings by Tsilivi Travel)
Music & Entertainment
Sax Bentouras (saxophone) and Greek dancers
“A huge thank you to all of our incredible vendors. You didn’t just provide a service, you helped create one of the most important and memorable days of our lives. Your professionalism, kindness, and attention to detail made everything feel effortless, allowing us to enjoy every moment. We are so grateful to each and every one of you for helping make our dream wedding a reality.”
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Dreaming of your own wedding in Greece?
This is exactly why I built I Do In Greece, to make it easier to find the people who’ll look after your day the way Laura and Jon’s team looked after theirs.