Tag Archives: Meganisi Vow Renewal

Emotional Grey & Olive Vow Renewal – Emma & Matt

Couple kissing on beach, bride is holding a bouquet of olive leaves

A Greek island escape was the perfect setting for Emma & Matt’s emotional vow renewal with grey and olive details on a secluded Meganisi beach.

We felt incredibly blessed, happy and loved every minute of it; it really was an unforgettable evening!

Table on pebble beach draped with fabric and decorated with baskets of olive
Couple walking down steps to the beach

Emma and Matt have been married for 17 years and have a daughter together. Following Matt’s diganosis earlier in the year they planned a family holiday in Lefkas, and looked forward to the summer.

Matt’s illness taught us as a family a number of valuable life lessons to truly realise what is important and precious to us; to make every day count and to live our best life.  From this day on we chose to live by this to get us through what had become our new life in fighting this terrible disease.

Having had the most perfect wedding day we didn’t want to recreate another similar day and hadn’t planned on a vow renewal until we stumbled across Claire’s website.  The elegance and simplicity of each event she has created, the very personal touches and of course the stunningly beautiful choice of locations made us think we could have a different type of ceremony.  We instantly knew this was a perfect opportunity to celebrate our lives together, something really special and unique with the wow factor. 

olive stefana wedding crowns and baskets of olive on the beach
olive buttonhole close up

Inspired by a beach elopement, we chose to take a boat from Lefkas to the neighbouring island of Meganisi. A hidden and secluded bay, surrounded by pine and olive trees, was the backdrop for our special moment to renew our vows at the waters’ edge.

couple holding hands on beach with olive bouquet
couple and daughter reading vows at vow renewal ceremony
bride reading vow and reaction of groom smiling

Writing a vow renewal ceremony is an enjoyable task as it is heart warming to hear why couples love each other and how their relationships have grown. I ask them to write a few personal words about what they mean to each other and encourage the whole family to be part of the ceremony.

Emma told me; It really made us think about our life together, reflect on each other’s qualities, what we truly value in each other, our relationship and remind ourselves why we fell in love in the first place.

daughter doing reading to parents at beach vow renewal ceremony
parents and daughter with hands joined at vow renewal ceremony
girl with olive wrist corsage holding olive wedding crowns
daughter placing olive wedding crowns on heads of her parents
family vow renewal reaction laughing and hugging

The details

Inspired by Emma’s Jenny Packham gown with silver beading, the decor mood of their vow renewal was grey with olive details. Soft fabrics and tones of the dresses and decor, brought out the lush green of the olive bouquet and floral details. It was all design to blend wonderfully with the natural enviroment of the beach.

couple kissing on Meganisi beach with olive bouquet
couple sat on rocks on Meganisi beach with champagne glasses
close up of bride with silver dress holding an olive bouquet
close up of beading on bride dress
close up of bride holding olive bouquet with trailing ribbons

A note from Emma & Matt…

Our wedding day back in 2002 was a day to celebrate our marriage with our family and friends.  Our beach vow renewal was an intimate event with our daughter; just the three of us.  Sharing the photos with family and friends afterwards, we were touched by other people’s reactions, views on ‘How amazing it looked’, ‘Wow’,’So so special’, ‘What a beautiful thing to do’, ‘How did I plan all the little details in a matter of weeks?’ Well, this was all down to the talent, creativity of Claire at Lefkas weddings in truly creating a dream come true for us.

My biggest congratulations on this next chapter of your love story, Emma & Matt!

Do you love the idea of planning a vow renewal but not sure where to start? Contact me to discuss how we can plan it together.

The Wedding Team:

Meganisi Vow Renewal with Olive Details – Nikki & Darren

Vow renewal couple on beach kissing

The evening light at Pasoumaki beach was perfect for the intimate and personal Meganisi vow renewal of Nikki and Darren. This little Ionian island paradise holds special meaning as it was also the location chosen by the Bride’s parents to celebrate their own 40th wedding anniversary.

Nikki explained why the vow renewal was especially poignant for them. “We always said we would renew our vows on a beach for our 10th anniversary. After life threw us some curveballs, it seemed even more important to reaffirm our vows as our marriage has helped us grow stronger and closer as a couple.”

Pasoumaki beach Meganisi Greece
Bride and daughter arriving at beach ceremony
Family vow renewal ceremony at the beach

Their family has grown to include two children, and it was important to reflect their journey together ten years on from the wedding day. By chatting to Nikki and Darren when taking all the details of their story so far, I wrote a ceremony which allowed each member of the family (couple, children and parents) to participate, including the reading of a poem and the exchange of traditional olive garlands, known as Stefana.

Their Stefana were made with olive branches, a symbol of peace and friendship. The olive tree is one of the most beloved, sacred trees and its place is firmly rooted in Ancient Greek tradition and mythology.

Close up image of olive and pink rose Greek wedding crowns known as Stefana on the beach
Bride reading vows to Groom standing by the sea at beach ceremony on Meganisi island
Couple wearing Greek stefana during their vow renewal on Meganisi island

It portrays a symbol of oneness between men and women, as a sign of sublime and perfect love: the twisted trunk of the tree representing intertwined bodies of two lovers turned into an olive tree, to be together throughout time.

Olive details filled the intimate ceremony. From the tree lined beach and stairway, to the finishing touches on the bonbonieres I gave them. Nikki and her daughter both held a simple olive bouquet cut from the island olive groves. The dusky, green colour of the leaves was so pretty against the white dresses and outfits they had all chosen to wear for the occasion.

Olive bononieres and olive bouquet
Bride holding olive bouquet
Bride close up wearing olive head garland and gold bracelet

After the ceremony at the beach was complete, the the family ended the special evening by dining at Tilevoes in Vathy and sitting at a table by the waters’ edge.  

Bride and Groom at the beach holding hands facing each other at vow renewal ceremony in Meganisi

If you are considering your own luxury vow renewal in Lefkada or Meganisi and looking for a planner, send me an email here with all the details of your day. I would love to help bring your special day to life.

Thank you to my wonderful team of suppliers who helped me this memorable Meganisi vow renewal happen.