Destination Wedding Videographer

Wow! What an amazing wedding that Sophie + James had planned! They celebrated on the stunning Greek island of Mykonos in May 2017 and I filmed their events over 3 days. I asked them a few questions about how they planned their special day….

How did James propose and when?

James took me on a surprise trip to Italy the day of my birthday last year with a suspect present that I wasn’t allowed to open.  The next evening whilst we were relaxing in the hotel he handed me the gift to me, I opened it to find a digital slideshow photo frame.  He was super keen for me to test it out so he set it up and laid next to me whilst we watched the photos of our time together pass by, 10 or so photos in was a photo of him holding up a sign saying that he loves me, with the next slide came the same photo but with a different sign saying “Will you marry me?”…  I could feel his heart beating like crazy, out came a tiny box from his pocket with the most beautiful ring I could imagine.  Obviously I said yes and to celebrate we went out for dinner and popped a bottle of bubbles.

How did it come about that you decided to get married in Mykonos?

When booking a trip for my mums birthday in Santorini last year we thought that it would double up as an amazing destination wedding location.  We actually came  across Mykonos by accident when we were looking at venues and villas.

How did you choose the venue?

Having originally decided to get married in Santorini we soon realised that the island didn’t really offer what we wanted in terms of a wedding venue.  We really wanted a large villa that the majority or our guests could stay in but that doesn’t really exist in Santorini.  Having found Rocky Retreat on Airbnb we decided to fly out to Mykonos to go and view it.  We totally fell in love with the island, the villa and the people.  We booked our villa (which doubled up as the venue) as soon as we got home.

What was your visions for the wedding/ theme etc?

We really wanted everything to be held in the same venue with our nearest and dearest around us.  Our aim was to have an amazing holiday with our family and friends, have as many pre wedding events as we could, relax and most of all spend time with our guests and have fun.  Our theme was a blend of gold geometric and boho inspired.

Who was your photographer? Why did you choose him?

I am very lucky in that my brother Alex is a fabulous alternative wedding photographer.  (He likes the quirky/a little outside the norm type of weddings)… he kindly offered to shoot all three events for us as a wedding gift. www.alexgrantphoto.com

Who made your wedding dress and where did you find it?

Myself, my maids and my mum went to a wedding show soon after getting engaged.  There was no plan to try any dresses on until I found Leonie Claire‘s set up.  Leonie Claire is a fab high end boutique in Brighton and Hove, after a couple of trips down to the coast and a few more in and around Kent I could not resist the Mackenzie Gown by Rue De Seine, they’re a bohemian style designer based in New Zealand so my dress did some miles. Leonie and her team were incredible to deal with.

Tell me about your jewellery and wedding shoes….

My auntie wanted to get me a ring for my 30th birthday, in doing so she discovered a designer called Monica Vinader.  I totally fell in love with their ‘Siren’ collection so quite a few more items went into my birthday list.  My beautiful gold cuff was a gift from one of my maids from a boutique in Santorini when we visited last year.  My chocker was from Accessorize, my long feather necklace was from a market stall on Brick Lane and my little studs were borrowed from my Auntie.  James gave me a geometric gold bracelet as a gift on the day which went perfectly with everything else.  I had a bit of trouble finding the perfect shoes and in the end I went for some gold high heels from Carvela by Kurt Geiger and my evening sandals were handmade in Greece.

Who provided the food and how did you choose the menu?

I got chatting to a bride who got married in Mykonos a year before me on Instagram and she was a HUGE help in giving me some advice.  We went for her recommendation when it came to the caterers and decided on a traditional Greek menu.  We wanted our guests to try foods they might not have had before so the menu consisted of a few more unusual dishes like octopus, Mykonian meatballs and grilled squid.  As our aim was to have a super relaxed wedding we went for a ‘family style’ set up with most of the dishes cooked on the BBQ.

I know you love desserts, how did you decide what to have?

YES, who doesn’t love a dessert?! Our dessert was a twist on the classic profiteroles, some were flavoured with salted caramel and the others were dark chocolate and orange.  We kept with the traditional theme with some baklava (which is now another favourite of ours). We also had a doughnut bar for later on in the evening as James and I are doughnutholics!

Were there any highlights in particular to the day? Or surprises?

We wanted to keep a couple of surprises for our guests on the day, the main one being traditional Greek dancers interrupting our first dance.  It was amazing seeing everyone’s shocked faces and so much fun having everyone try their hand at the ‘Greek Zorba’.. not so easy when you’re on the tipsy side and very close to the edge of the swimming pool!

What were the main reasons for choosing to have a wedding film?

I had read over and over again that a brides biggest regret is not having a wedding videographer.  As we were also having a destination wedding we wanted to share our day in the best way we could to our friends and family who couldn’t make it to Mykonos.  I’m particularly excited to show our wedding video to my 86 year old Grandma next week.

How did it make you feel watching it?

James and I sat down and watched the wedding film together, it really did bring back all the memories of the day.  So many brides had told us that the day would fly by and they couldn’t have been more right, by having the film it makes the whole thing not so much of a distant memory.

Tell me about your honeymoon that you’re planning….

We had a few days mini-moon post wedding in a gorgeous hotel called Mykonos Princess, it was a chance to unwind and relax together after our friends and family had gone home.  We are also off to Japan at the end of August, our plan is to travel around the country and squeeze in as much as we can, we’re even planning on climbing Mount Fuji.  We’re both huge foodies so we can’t wait to try all of the different types of dishes Japan has to offer… apparently you could eat a different style of dish every day for a month without repeating one. Bonus!

Here are James + Sophie’s Wedding Film Highlights: