The beautiful couple that is Caroline and Kris had the coolest of first meets, meeting the first time at a Kings of Leon concert, although rumour has it, Kris only bought his ticket to meet Caroline. Smart move Kris! Their beautiful wedding was in stunning Santorini, Greece and every single image captures their love and friendship. Enjoy the read x
What was the most fun part of your wedding day?
I would say for Kris and I; the most fun part would definitely be dancing the night away as the sun set with all our family and friends. The atmosphere was just out of this world with that amazing view. Every single person was happy and dancing – it was the best feeling. Other than the obvious party part of the wedding, I personally loved the feeling of stepping into my dress once hair and makeup was done and seeing it all come together with the completed look. I loved walking down the aisle and everyone seeing the dress for the first time.
What kind of ceremony did you guys have?
We always wanted to go away to be married, somewhere warm with close friends and family and just have one big party with no fuss. We chose beautiful Santorini, Greece and a simple civil ceremony with a Greek celebrant that lasted only 10-15 mins. Which was enough for everyone to be sitting in the direct sunlight mid-day. Our marriage certificate is in both Greek and English which is a lovely keepsake.
What was your overall wedding style?
Because of the location, we wanted a relaxed theme. I went for an ivory, light and airy Grecian style dress and hair do and our wedding décor was very simple/rustic with ivory flowers and lots of greenery. My bridesmaid also wore a Grecian style dress and the men wore crisp white shirts, stone-coloured trousers with brown boat shoes – no formal ties/waistcoats etc. To tie the Santorini blue into the theme, the bridesmaid dress was blue, along with Kris’s jacket and our son’s boat shoes.
What was your experience like searching for your dress?
My search for a dress did not start well, the Pronovias ‘Murdo’ dress was the first dress I spotted online which ticked all the boxes. I instantly fell in love with it but the problem was that the dress was new season at the time and no Pronovias stockists in the whole of Ireland had it in stock – going by online info. So, I decided to go to local stores and try on other styles and designers but absolutely nothing felt right.
I decided I was going to find a way to get my hands on the Pronovias Murdo dress no matter what it took. So, I phoned around all stockists of Pronovias in the whole of Ireland hoping that one of them would have the dress in stock and that it just wasn’t on their website yet... but no joy until I called and chatted to the lovely Ellen at Love Ellie Bridal in Cavan. She told me she could have it flown over on hire for me to try on if I didn’t mind travelling 2hrs to Cavan and as you can imagine I agreed immediately. I think I literally cried when I got off the phone with happiness! Love Ellie Bridal was prepared to go above and beyond to help me get my hands on that dress and I am forever grateful for the wonderful experiences I had during my trips back and forth to Cavan.
How did you know it was THE Dress?
When the dress arrived in Cavan and I drove down with my mother-in-law to try it on, I was full of nerves. The dress on hire at the time was 2 sizes too small for me so for the entire 2hour journey down from Antrim I was stressing at the thought of how this could look so awful and that I was wasting my time. I made sure to have picked alternative dresses from the Love Ellie website to try on as a backup so that the journey would not be wasted.
Ellen had assured me before I made the journey that the dress being too small did not matter and that because of the style of it they would make it work to show me how it would look when in the true size and she was absolutely right! The minute I put the dress on, even though it would not zip up at all, I was tearful. No other dress made me feel like that, especially one that didn’t fit at all.
The lovely girls in Love Ellie Bridal pinned ivory material to the back of the dress to cover my modesty and help me stand comfortable in the dress and envision how it would look in the right size. The girls were so genuinely complementary about how it looked and that was it, I knew it was the one and I thought to myself “if I can feel this good in a dress that is way too small for me, then I can only imagine how I’ll feel trying this on when it fits” ... I purposely tried on all the other dresses I had picked from the website just to be really sure it was the one but I just kept going back to the Murdo and so did the lovely girls at Love Ellie, they knew what suited me and what didn’t. It’s funny, you hear people say “you will know the one when you see it” and it’s very true. It was the first dress that I fell for online and I was prepared to go to great lengths before ruling it out. It was everything I wanted, light, fitted skirt at the hips that you could see through the floaty top skirt when I walked and a beautiful lace Grecian shape to the bodice.
What other accessories did you wear?
Because I went for simple type of dress, I opted for a soft tulle cathedral length veil with lace and dotted with pearls and Swarovski crystals to give a little sparkle in the sun. This gorgeous veil was handmade by the lovely Lisa Carrington Couture. It was a beautiful statement piece which complimented my dress perfectly. I also wore a little floral and pearl hair piece purchased quite cheaply actually from amazon and was able to buy a smaller version of it for my daughter and bridesmaid.
If you could give brides-to-be one piece of advice, what would it be?
You will know when it’s the one, don’t let anyone try to persuade you to go for something that doesn’t feel right. Stay true to your vision and what feels comfortable on you, don’t feel pressured to just say ‘yes’. Take your time and if it means having to travel that little bit further to find the one, do it. Having experienced visiting many stores to try on dresses, I can hands down say that the people working in the store make or break the experience for you. It is so important to find a store that makes you feel special and genuinely cares. This was something I found with Love Ellie Bridal that I didn’t in various other stores. It made the whole “finding the one” an absolute dream. Thank you, Ellen, Emma, Rosa and Laura. xx
Groom’s attire: Suit Jacket: Gothenburg Cornflower Blue, Shirt & Trousers: Charles Tyrwhitt
Ceremony Location: Santorini Gem, Santorini, Greece: https://www.instagram.com/santorini_gem
Photographer: Phosart: https://www.instagram.com/phosart.photography
Florist: Flowers by Lil: https://www.instagram.com/flowers_by_lil
Hair-Stylist: Julia Popova: https://www.instagram.com/juliapopovamuah
Make-up Artist: Julia Popova: https://www.instagram.com/juliapopovamuah
