Country chic wedding in Kefalonia | Evgenia & Argeris

From the bride: “My father was born and raised in Kefalonia (Cephalonia), a majestic island situated on the Ionian waters of Greece. Its turquoise beaches and unsullied, mountainous landscape have always been my refuge – I spent nearly every summer of my childhood there with my grandparents and extended family. My husband, Argeri, is also of Greek decent and had traveled to Kefalonia with me right after our engagement. When we began our initial wedding planning, we kept going back to the idea of what an idyllic experience it would be to have our wedding there, in our ancestral homeland…”

“…We knew that getting the majority of our friends and family to travel from the U.S. out to a remote island in Greece would be no small feat. As such, one of our main goals for the wedding weekend was to show our guests our gratitude through filoxenia, a characteristically Greek kind of hospitality, and to create immense kefi, or the perfect environment for a rocking good party on the dance floor!”

“My wedding dress looked as if it could have been something my grandmother embroidered. And indeed, we used hand-embroidered tablecloths throughout the reception from Argeri’s grandmother.”

“In a phrase, we were going for what my sister and I like to call, ‘village chic.’ We wanted the style to reflect the rich history of Greece and to maintain the traditions unique to Kefalonia.”

“Our refreshment stand at the church ceremony included mandolata, a traditional Kefalonian pastry. Old brass canisters, antique wooden tables, wine barrels, olive trees, basil plants, and bougainvilleas dotted the rest of the wedding landscape.”

“My ultimate magic moment from the wedding day was on our the walk up to the church. In keeping with Greek tradition, the bride and groom actually meet for the first time outside the church, then walk in together. My father, my mother, my sister, and my nephews walked me as we started our ascent up the path to the church. Argeri and his family were waiting for me at the church steps. Flanked behind my family were Kantades musicians, the Karaviotis brothers, who sang traditional Greek and operatic Kefalonian songs.”

“I’m quite possibly the luckiest bride ever in that my sister, Julie Karatzis, is the talented graphic designer and letterpress printer behind Cartoules Press. She created our bilingual letterpress save the dates and wedding invitations. She also designed our ceremony programs, table numbers, weekend itinerary, and the guest gift bags that went in each hotel room. In keeping with the theme of honoring our ancestors, we printed and framed the wedding photos of all of our grandparents and parents and set them out on our sign-in table. We now have all those very same photos framed in the entryway of our home.”

“Finally, our photobooth was specifically created for the venue. Euroflowers and our wedding coordinator, Cleopatra’s Weddings, teamed up to create a stunning floral backdrop for our guests to take photos, using the natural beauty of the sea behind it.”

“My advice to brides-to-be is to figure out how to fit a wedding coordinator into your budget and hire one! I’m someone who loves to do everything by herself and thinks she can DIY everything. But weddings, especially large destination ones, get unwieldy and you can’t possibly do it all. Find yourself a well-rated wedding coordinator, ask lots and lots of questions, and go from there!”