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Beginner June 2022 Kerkira

Stick with small abroad or go semi big in the Uk?

AmyBee, 26 of July of 2021 at 22:32 Posted on Planning 0 8

Hey everyone. I am getting more and more conflicting thoughts in my head about planning my wedding. My Fiancé is Greek, from the Island of Corfu and I’ve dreamed of having my wedding there for the last year and a half. We almost had the 4th June (this year) booked but COVID happened. Now we are back into planning mode after a year’s pause and I’ve found out today that none of my extended family will travel to Corfu next year because of COVID. So it feels sort of pointless getting married there if they can’t be there with me.

On the flip side, if we were to have a UK wedding, then some of his family will struggle to get here. And it’s not our beautiful island. I’m so torn with what to do. I know I can have a celebration back home at one of the beautiful weddings but seeing the venues pictures with brides and grooms with all their close friends and family around them also looks amazing.

Has anyone else been in these shoes, (COVID or no COVID) and what did you do? Or what would you do if you were in my shoes? Pros and cons lists for what’s most important and work out where the compromises can fit in?

Thanks Smiley smile

8 replies

Latest activity by HappyGoldBridesmaid18836, 31 of July of 2021 at 10:36
  • Emma
    Rockstar August 2021 Wiltshire
    Emma ·
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    I haven’t been personally in this position but my cousin got married this year in July in Santorini. It had been booked way before covid even hit.
    The month before the wedding all the flights were cancelled, they were flying with easy jet.to rebook we had to go through BA and the price was doubled what we had originally paid. Also due to UK restrictions we would have to isolate for 10 days when home.
    Because of This, most of the guests were unable to now attend the wedding. They went ahead with the wedding and there were 13 guests including the bride and groom. They had originally had 50 confirmed. Siblings, cousins, aunts, grandparents were unable to attend. It was so sad not to be able to go but I’ve spoke to her since she came home and she said her day was perfect, it’s what they wanted, they wanted the wedding there and if they had done it in England due to covid, it wouldn’t of been the same. They are going to have a party back in the UK for all the guests who couldn’t come and as an excuse to wear the dress again lol.
    What I’m trying to say is… if your dream is to do it abroad then don’t let the fact that not all your guest list will be there. It’s your day. Also by next summer hopefully the world will be back to some kind of normal so potentially your all be able to fly and return as normal. You say about seeing photos and they all look happy etc. Your photos will look like that too, although you know great aunt Bertha isn’t there, think of all the guests who did come and celebrated with you. Those photos you’ve seen… they could be missing relations but a photo doesn’t show that.
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  • A
    Beginner June 2022 Kerkira
    AmyBee ·
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    Hey, thanks for sharing your cousin's experience - I'm glad to hear that even though all their loved ones couldn't come they still had a beautiful wedding. It must have felt disappointing that you couldn't go as well, but at least there's the UK celebration. Smiley smile

    You're right though... Corfu is what I want and I know I'll have a UK celebration. As you say, another excuse to wear the dress!

    I am starting to understand why some people say that planning a wedding is one of the most stressful things in your life. hahah

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  • Emma
    Rockstar August 2021 Wiltshire
    Emma ·
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    I was so gutted, I have never felt so guilty in my life. We couldn’t justify the extra £1000 it would of cost with priced flights, tests etc.
    She’s filmed the whole day and we were able to FaceTime too. But the UK celebration will be epic.

    Definitely any excuse to wear the dress again. I’m already planing a girls night where we all wear our wedding dresses so I can wear mine again 😂
    I just think if you skip Corfu you may end up regretting it. Covid has messed up so many things for everyone, if you can still do your dreams and plans and say screw you covid then I say do it.
    Oh gosh yes!! Definitely the most stressful thing ever. I’d rather move house whilst pregnant again rather than plan another wedding lol
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  • A
    Beginner June 2022 Kerkira
    AmyBee ·
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    Aw bless you! Facetiming it is a great idea. I know my Aunts and Uncles are already planning on taking a laptop round to my grandads house to watch the ceremony so we'll get some sort of streaming set up. Smiley smile But you're also right the UK reception will be epic. Now that I've booked the date (Went with Corfu!) I feel a lot better and more excited because I know I'll still get to celebrate with my family in the UK after.

    Best of luck with your wedding too! Smiley heart

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  • Karolina
    Curious July 2021 North West London
    Karolina ·
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    Hi Amy,

    Congratulations on booking your date !
    I got married in Santorini on the 5th July 2021, we booked our date in May 2019 for July 2020... and we all now what happened! Anyway, beginning of 2021 we have decided that we will go ahead with our wedding this year regardless of size, restrictions in place etc as we didn't want to postpone till 2022. We had beautiful day and I don't regret going ahead with it, despite the fact that we only had about half of guests that we have originally planned for (invited 98 guests in 2019 we had 44 in 2021). Those who managed to travel were absolutely delighted to be able to join us in beautiful Santorini and this was first time most of them were able to travel and dance since March 2020! We had guests from US, UK, Poland and Spain. My now husband is from the US and I'm from Poland but we meet and lived in the UK for many years. Therefore destination wedding was always the only option for us, as we wanted to make it equally challenging for everyone Smiley smile
    We streamed the ceremony live for those who were not able to join us. We did not do any big celebration party back in the UK, just meeting some friends here and there for dinner and drinks.

    At the end of the day we are married now and this is the most important thing. In general when planning destination wedding (Covid or not) you can expect to have less guests as not everyone is willing to travel for a wedding, can't afford it or have small children etc. At the same time for some this is great opportunity to turn it into family holiday, as most of our guests did. Everyone came for a week and explored other islands and mainland Greece. We turned our wedding into weekend of activities - we booked private wine tour, we took catamaran trip with our guests and had countless mini parties in private villas visiting everyone after 1,5 years of not seeing each other!

    I'm sure you will have a beautiful wedding and fingers crossed things will be back to normal for all the brides getting married next year.

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  • Mrsdtobe2506
    Beginner July 2022 Monmouthshire
    Mrsdtobe2506 ·
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    I kinda of had the same dilemma, but without the issue of family being unable to travel. I was really torn on a home wedding or abroad wedding - almost locked in a venue in the UK - this was whilst covid was going on.
    It was only through picking my parents up drunk one night and them saying “the day is about you, spend the money on you and what you want” - we have now booked to get married/ceremony abroad next year with a wedding reception at home at a later date when all friends and family could attend.

    When we were looking at prices for UK wedding you weren’t getting a lot for you money and it was mostly for other people to have a good time on our day. So we’ve decide to go abroad with a handful of close friends and family.
    Ultimately do what you and your partner want to do, the day is about you two ❤️ Xx
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  • Rahma
    Beginner July 2022 North London
    Rahma ·
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    Hey, so I had a similar issue. My family are Muslim and want a Muslim ceremony. My fiancé and his family aren’t Muslim though. So to compromise we are going to do a small Muslim ceremony here in London for my family and then another bigger one abroad which is more for his family and all of our friends. Of course with this we have to be even more careful with the budget but we’ve at least come up with a compromise.
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  • H
    Dedicated May 2022
    HappyGoldBridesmaid18836 ·
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    I’m not in this position myself but if getting married in Corfu is something you’ve been picturing for a while then I think you may regret it if you didn’t do it there. I know not having all your friends and family there is not ideal but if you are planning on a UK celebration too then hopefully that’ll be a good compromise. Hopefully be next year things will start to look a little more normal again. X
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