A Dreamy Film Wedding in Greece

Getting Married on Island Time

This destination Greek island wedding in Serifos was suppose to take place in 2020, when my little girl would have been 3 months old, and myself, coming freshly out of maternity leave, would have brought my entire family with me. Alas, this destination wedding happened, but in 2022, with the world in a slightly different place. I had just gotten over Covid myself so empowered with my strengthened immunity, hopped on a plane alone, to meet my bff and photography assistant in Athens.

Souvlakis & Scouting

When it comes to destination wedding photography, or wedding photography at all, I scout. I scout with intent, purpose, and to know the light. We traveled the island in our tiny Fiat and looked at the light in all the places we’d be – the hotel, the beach front, the ceremony space, the welcome party space, and all the spaces that we knew we’d want to shoot in. Of course this type of film photography excursion is a bedrock of pleasure, so we delighted in exploring, eating, and drinking Greek beer. The next day the entire wedding crew would arrive and we would begin the first night of shooting the welcome party.

A Golden Hour Welcome Party in Hora

Distance was a real issue for time – we realized this upon our scouting day. We knew that to get the iconic images of a destination Greek island wedding in Serifos, we had to shoot when we were already going to be there. We packed our bags, determined the best time of light for the space, and grabbed the boys when the light was perfect. We took them to our favorite spots that we had scouted before and honestly, it was so special to see Serifos from above. We returned to the party in Hora and made sure some friends had their photos taken in such a beautiful location as well.

A Wedding, but First a Pool Party

A bit of pool time before the wedding day – little did I know at the time that we’d be partying until 4-5am.

From the hotel, we all went to the beach where the rest of the wedding day (and night and morning!) would continue.

I must admit the timeline was different from what I was used to – set up had begun the night before. Every single thing that was for the wedding (including myself) all came to Serifos via a ferry. Serifos was incredible and relaxed (best beaches ever) but did not have the heavy tourist traffic of Santorini or some of the other islands whose names ring more familiar.

Golden Hour

The grooms kept the style of the wedding clean and classic Cycladic style of natural herbs and plants and colors. The sunset and golden tones reminded me of the desert. I never wanted to leave.

For the party – the MC’s threw the most impressive, hilarious, drag – stand up comedy routine – I’m at a loss of words to describe it as it was unlike any wedding I’ve been to. It set the standard pretty high – I hope any parties I throw are ever this fun, imaginative, and full of good humor.

One More Pool Party Before We Part

There is truly nothing like dancing under the stars on a beach until near dawn. Once we considered a wrap around 2am, we showered, changed, and went back to the beach and danced with everyone. The next day thankfully the last day of partying began later in the afternoon and I was pretty impressed how flawless everyone seemed to be. The rejuvenation effects of being on a Greek island – is truly an experience.

This wonderful wedding was mostly shot in film, but also there is a super 8mm & hi-8 camcorder cinema! I brought a lot gear, but it was all used, and it was all worth it.

I am available for destination weddings shot in film – but I truthfully only take a couple here and there a year as I’m usually booked out 12-18 months ahead of a date. For more information on super 8mm weddings, I recommend checking out this blog I wrote here. If you are thinking about super8mm, there are some good ideas to ask your photographer & videographer about this very special, but finicky medium. Enjoy!