Sparkles & Sunshine: A Real Destination Wedding – Jo & Andrzej

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Being a professional wedding blogger really is my dream job – you can learn about how I became the full time editor of Brides Up North here and about the growth of the blog here – but it’s also super hard work.  It’s a 24 hour a day job – the last thing I do at night is check my emails and the first thing I do in the morning is check that the latest blog post is live… then check my emails.  As a result I am tired, grey and shrivelled.  Or at least I feel it.  

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I am a business woman, writer, editor, PR person, stylist, social media expert, events organiser for both brides and the industry, sales person, administrator (and wife, daughter and friend – although it’s sometimes all to easy to prioritise the other roles) all in one, and work far longer hours now than when I was a solicitor.  Really. 

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Running your own business can be fun and flexible but it is also stressful, difficult and all consuming.  So, sometimes its nice when life throws you a bone! And, readers, I am very excited to announce that my professional life has done just that.

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You may know that Thomson Weddings are one of my sponsors here on the wedding blog.  Well guess what, the lovely team working hard to make your destination wedding or honeymoon special have invited me along to cover the behind the scenes action on their latest video shoot. 

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In Cyprus. 

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Yep, you read that right!  Next week I’ll be jetting off to the sunshine island with the Thomson Weddings team for a week of styled video shoots, weddings, weddings and more weddings.  I’ll be assisting the styling team and reporting back on behalf of Brides Up North and also for Wedding Ideas Magazine too. 

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I better start thinking about what to pack, but in the meantime I’ll leave you with a sunny Cyprus Real Wedding from Brides Up North reader – and one of the Thomson Wedding’s team – Jo, who I’ll be joining next week.

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Enjoy.

 

Images by Dimitri Katchis Studios

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Jo says:  Andrzej proposed in June 2010 on our balcony on holiday in Lara, Antalya, Turkey as the sunset. Just me and him, a bottle of champagne and a gorgeous view.

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We got married on 28th May 2012, at Ayia Kyriaki Church also known as St. Paul’s Pillar in Central Paphos, Cyprus. We then had our reception at Vasilias Nikoklis Inn which is a stunningly beautiful private place outside of Paphos on the way to the Trodos Mountains.  Our holiday was all booked through Thomson Weddings.

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We wanted somewhere that felt ‘Cypriot’. We didn’t want our guests to travel all that way for a wedding we could have had at home. It was important for us to have a church wedding, and Ayia Kyriaki is a breathtakingly beautiful and very old church. Our reception venue had to be private, outdoors, rustic and pretty. Vasilias ticked all these boxes.

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Our photographer was Dimitri Katchis Studios, who did an excellent job of capturing our beautiful day. 

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One of my favourite parts of the day, was my hair and make up. I used a company called Renoir based in Paphos. The two English ladies were nothing short of superstars, Rachel Wells and Karen Hall made me look stunning, I have never looked so good. I was comfortable and glamorous and my expectations were completely blown away. They became like friends, and not only did my mother’s hair and bridesmaids as well, but did little things like help me with my dress. They were both rocks on the day!

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I wanted to look modern and hopefully glamorous, but for our venue I wanted to work with the aspects of Vasilias rather than take away from its beauty, so we used subtle butterfly elements, and I also tried to keep a slightly vintage feel to the day.  Our colours were a bright rose pink, ivory and silver. I wanted a pop of colour at the reception venue and we worked with the existing pink flowers already just in bloom. I wanted a lot of crisp white as well, to keep the feel fresh. 

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My dress was Tatiana by Victoria Jane. I am quite petite in my frame, with a very small bust and slim shoulders, so most dresses tended to swamp me. I didn’t want a traditional ‘destination’ dress as these did nothing for my figure. I also wanted it to be completely different to all other wedding dresses I had previously seen on friends. I chose a one shoulder dress for some originality, and I loved the pretty ruffles on the bottom half of the dress.

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My shoes were my big splurge and the thing I loved the most. They were Melissa by Vivienne Westwood, and they smelt of bubble gum.  Everyone wanted photos of my shoes… and to smell them! I always knew I didn’t want traditional wedding shoes, I wanted something funky hidden underneath my dress and something I could wear again!

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My headband was from Rock n Rose and my cuff style pearl and crystal bracelet was from Glitzy Secrets.

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I carried a silk bouquet of real touch orchids in dark pink, light pink and ivory. My bouquet was wrapped with ivory organza and filled with diamantes and pearls. I bought it from Joanne at The Floral Touch UK. She made all my flowers, including the bridesmaids’ ivory orchid bouquets, all the buttonholes, the flower girls’ wands and the flowers in their hair. It was one less thing to worry about once we were over there, and now I get to keep my flowers for ever.

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All our transport was organised by Jack & Sons Transport Company based in Paphos. I had a white Mercedes limo to take me to the church, with my parents and 2twoBridesmaids. My Hubby had a sleek black BMW with cream leather interior. This car also took us to and from our Reception venue. We organised a coach to take our guests from the church to the reception and home again.

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My bridesmaids wore full length rose pink maxi dresses in a lightweight chiffon. I wanted to keep them cool, but have a slight ‘Grecian’ feel to them. My very talented bridesmaid also customised them by adding a pearl trim. My two flower girls wore ivory dresses from very.co.uk.

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The whole day was simply amazing. Our guests were in full on holiday mode, so were all relaxed and happy. They had all got to know each other previously on the holiday so chatted like old friends.  I have to say my favourite part of the day was walking into the church and seeing my hubby to be for the first time. I was so excited to get into the church and see him, and so happy to finally be marrying him.

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We also chose to have a free bar for our guests in the evening. It was like a thank you for coming all that way and celebrating with us. It was fabulous to have 32 of our closest friends and family with us, and they really made our day.

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Our singer and DJ was Danny Mountain. He played music while we ate, then changed into our surprise act – an Elvis tribute! Both sets of parents love Elvis, and it was the one thing we managed to keep a secret until the day. He had everyone up and dancing and everyone was in stitches, he is a very entertaining guy. He then did a singing set, before the party started.

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I handmade our favours and place cards which were rock sweets in a vintage style sweet bag, each had a wooden heart tied round it with our guest’s name on it. I also provided fans for the ladies for inside the church in case they were hot.

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We stayed at the Amathus Beach Hotel whilst we were in Paphos, and had a beautiful private plunge pool suite. It was an amazing room to have for the two week holiday, but also made getting ready on the wedding day a real luxury. As we had 32 guests with us in Paphos it wasn’t a honeymoon as such, but we plan to go to Mexico for two weeks over our first anniversary.

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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to consider marrying abroad if you are on a tight budget.  Our money went much further than it would have done. Everyone loved eating and dancing under the stars, and loved our venues. It was great to be so relaxed on the day and then still have all our friends and family out there with us afterwards.

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Congratulations Jo & Andrzej!

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2012 Dimitri Katchis Studios

Thomson Weddings is a Brides Up North Featured Supplier, but this is not a sponsored post

Contact Brides Up North to submit your business as a Featured Supplier

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