And so to Wed - Autumn Issue 2016

On the 7th May 2016, Joel and Sotiria tied the knot at Gorse Hill, Woking, Surrey. Here they share their special day with you.

“We wanted to have a small, family wedding so that we would have enough time to connect with all of our guests on the day and of course enjoy some quiet moments with each other. We designed a relaxed, DIY day and tried to include elements from our different cultures and personalities. Sotiria’s family is Greek and Joel’s family has roots in Jamaica and we wanted to bring everyone together to celebrate both our backgrounds.

Our wedding favours were handmade in Greece and flown to the UK for the wedding. Joel’s aunt baked two delicious Jamaican rum cakes for our cake table. For the base of our centrepieces, we used doilies handmade by Sotiria’s grandma, they have been in the family for over 50 years! Sotiria designed all stationery used on the day and spent many evenings decorating mason jars for our centrepieces. Overall, the feel of the day was very intimate and relaxed and we couldn’t be happier for having spent the day with our most beloved family members and friends.

Sotiria stayed at the hotel with her family for a couple of days before the wedding and took care of the last minute details. She got ready at the bridal suite on the day with her sister, mum and grandma and had some very special moments with them while getting ready. Joel travelled from London to get ready at the hotel with the groomsmen - it was a struggle trying not to bump into each other before the ceremony! The weather was beautiful - the first warm weekend of the year - we were very lucky, considering that the weekend before it was snowing in Leeds, where we live! The ceremony was at 3pm at the hotel’s main reception room, the lovely gardens provided a beautiful backdrop. We had written our own vows and reading them out to each other was the most special part of the ceremony.”