Couple: Marc & Julie
Destination country: Greece
Elopement date: May 8, 2023
Local reception date: August 19, 2023
Date significance: Julie’s grandparents’ 66th wedding anniversary
Elopement Basics
Wedding type: Elopement
Wedding group size: 2 (Wedding couple only)
Ceremony writing: Julie wrote the elopement, bonding, and local wedding ceremonies
Wedding Trip
Wedding trip destination: Santorini
Wedding trip base: Oia
Wedding trip duration: 9 Days, 8 nights
Wedding hotel: Sole d’Oro Luxury Suites
Wedding accommodations:
First suite — Deluxe Suite with Sea View & Outdoor Jacuzzi
Second suite — Romantic Suite with Rooftop Jacuzzi
Special wedding trip indulgences:
- Private caldera boat tour with volcano hike
- Sunset horseback ride on the beach
Wedding trip activities:
- Sunset in Oia from a rooftop hot tub
- Walk from Fira through Imerovigli to Oia in search of Santorini’s blue domes
- Visit to the Lost Atlantis Experience Museum in Megalochori
- Visits to the archaeological sites of Akrotiri and Ancient Thera
- Visits to Red, White, and Black Beaches and the Akrotiri lighthouse
- Mythical music presentation in Megalochori
- Wine tastings at four of Santorini’s oldest vineyards
Photography: 1-Hour flying dress photo shoot in Oia
Reserved dining:
- Fino
- Melitini
- Karma
- Elinikon
- Candouni
Wedding Day
Getting ready: Together
Ceremony type: Symbolic
Wedding venue: Santa Irini Chapel Terrace, Messaria
Procession: Wedding couple entered together, each holding an LED candle
Vows: Personal, written together as a couple
Wedding look: All white
Sentimental details:
- Julie — Mother’s ring as her something borrowed and blue; grandmother’s first engagement ring as her something old; great-grandmother’s ring; small photo of her deceased paternal grandmother sewn into her dress
- Marc — Eagle pin representing his First Nations heritage; great-grandfather’s pin passed to him by his father, who had received it at his own wedding; small photo of his deceased mother carried in his pocket
Personalized ceremony décor:
- LOVE letters
- LED ceremony candles
- Wine decanters
- Common-cup goblet
Ceremony rituals:
- Candle-lighting ceremony using the couple’s individual LED candles
- Common cup ceremony with Marc pouring white wine and Julie pouring red wine into a shared cup, followed by three alternating sips each
Wedding bands: None — matching ring-finger tattoos planned instead
First dance: Choreographed to At the Beginning by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis
Photography: 5-Hour photography package, including getting ready photos at the couple’s accommodations, ceremony and first dance photos at Santa Irini Chapel Terrace, and wedding photos in Fira and Imerovigli
Wedding dinner: 11-course set menu and wine pairing at Botrini’s Santorini in Oia, a restaurant by chef Ettore Botrini whose Athens sister location holds a Michelin star
Honeymoon
Honeymoon destination: Crete
Honeymoon bases: Rethymno and Chania
Honeymoon duration: 12 Days, 11 nights
Honeymoon hotels:
Rethymno — Aquila Porto Rethymno City Beach Hotel
Chania — Porto Veneziano Hotel
Honeymoon accommodations:
Rethymno — Mythica Collection Deluxe Sea Front Room
Chania — Double Classic Sea View Room
Special honeymoon indulgence: Olive oil tasting and 3-course lunch hosted by an executive chef at Avli in Rethymno
Honeymoon activities:
- Beach walks in Rethymno
- Snorkelling and stand-up paddle boarding in Souda Bay
- Exploring the Old Towns of Rethymno and Chania
- Sunset drinks by the water at the Old Ports in Rethymno and Chania
- Visit to the Venetian Fortezza in Rethymno
- Visit to Ancient Aptera near Chania
- Day hike at Samaria Gorge
Relaxation:
- Hotel hot tub
- Steam room
- Sauna
Photography: 2-Hour honeymoon photo shoot in Rethymno and at Geropotamos Beach with Photomax Photography (3 outfits)
Reserved dining:
- Nostos
- Prima Plora
- Alana
- Sofra
- Veneto
- Raki ba Raki
- Adespoto Music Taverna
- Well of the Turk
Bonding Ceremony
Location: Home
Ceremony type: Private unity tree-planting ceremony
Unity ceremony: Two trees planted together to symbolize continued growth as individuals and as a couple
Personal significance: Tree imagery had held special meaning for Julie since high school, when she wrote a graduation poem using branches, leaves, and roots as symbols of growth, individuality, and connection
Celebration: Special meal at home with good food and wine
Wedding ring tattoos: Each other’s first names in Morse code
Matching couple tattoos: Eternity symbols with individualized feather designs
Local Celebration
Wedding destination: Sudbury, Ontario
Hotel: Homewood Suites by Hilton Sudbury
Wedding venue: Verdicchio Ristorante | Enoteca
Ceremony location: Luna Room
Reception location: Patio
Wedding colours: White and blue
Dress code: Cocktail attire
Getting ready: Together, with many family members
Photography: 3-Hour wedding day photography package, including a 1-Hour family photo session with a detailed 34-shot plan created by Julie
Photography locations: Luna Room, patio, bar area, and wine cellar
Ceremony
Ceremony type: Legal Humanist ceremony
Entrance: Wedding couple entered together, each carrying a lit LED candle
Vows: Previously exchanged in Greece; poetry readings chosen instead
Poetry readings:
Marc — Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare
Julie — Sonnet 43 from Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Ceremony room setup:
- Standard dining setup removed and furniture brought from home to create separate cozy seating areas for different family groups
- Room designed and decorated to transition into a lounge space after the ceremony
- Quiet children’s corner with cushions, blankets, and colouring materials
- Vases and decorative pieces from home coordinated with the blue and white wedding colours
- Altar décor and ceremony items reused from the Santorini elopement
- Table displaying the card box, elopement trip photo books, and a keepsake box for collecting completed wedding games and activities
Ceremony elements:
- Unity candle ceremony using the couple’s individual candles from Greece
- Wedding ring tattoo reveal
- Marriage licence and registry signing
- Bubble send-off instead of confetti
Reception
Reception décor:
- White chair covers topped with blue chair sashes
- Plate chargers
- Napkins
- Centrepiece arrangements
- Additional flowers and decorative accents
- Illuminated XOXO sign
Cocktail hour:
- Prosecco open bar
- Antipasto buffet bar
- Wedding games
Couple’s toast: Aperol spritz
Dinner menu:
Appetizer — Arancini
First course — Ravioli di burrata, crema di tartuffo e nocciole
Second course — Cavolfiore arrosto, quinoa, fico e pistacchio
Dessert — Cannoli
Wedding cake: Blueberry mini-cakes with lemon buttercream, topped with lemon zest, mint leaves, and fresh blueberries
Wedding favours:
- Blue vanilla macarons with lemon buttercream drizzled in white chocolate
- Kettle corn
- Personalized pens
First dance: Choreographed to At the Beginning by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis
Special family dances:
Have I Told You Lately by Rod Stewart — Julie with her father; Marc with Julie’s mother
You’ll Be in My Heart by Phil Collins — Marc with his stepmother; Julie with Marc’s father
Quand on est en amour by Patrick Normand — Julie with her grandfather; Marc with Julie’s grandmother
After party (18+): The Alibi Room
Mini-Moon
Mini-moon destination: Muskoka, Ontario
Overnight location: Gravenhurst
Mini-moon duration: 2 Days, 1 night
Mini-moon activities:
- Guided wine tasting followed by a cheese plate with additional wine at Muskoka Lakes Farm & Winery
- Walking trails at Johnston’s Cranberry Marsh
- Half-day hike at Hardy Lake Provincial Park
