When a place becomes part of your love story, it’s only fitting that it becomes part of your wedding story too! For Sophia and Yanni, there was never really another option besides Crete for their special day. Backdropped by the stunning Roxani Estate (who also planned, styled and flowered the day for Sophia and Yanni), their celebration was equal parts elegant and joyful, full of meaningful family heirlooms, handmade touches and intentional planning from start to finish. Thankfully, Melbourne-based photographer Weddings By Hayden was there to capture every unforgettable moment on film!

In the summer of 2020, Chicago-based Sophia had just quit her job and wanted to do something a bit more chill. Her neighbour pointed her to Six06 Cafe Bar, where Sophia immediately felt at home behind the bar. One night while bartending a customer caught her eye… “That’s Yanni, he’s a musician & plays here sometimes”, to which Sophia replied, “I’m gonna marry that man.” Sophia shared this story several times, but Yanni never believed her until the coworker told him herself one day! Five years later, here we are!”

Something Yanni and Sophia love to do together is sip wine in the sunshine, so when he suggested a winery tour she was instantly sold. “He was recommended Dourakis Winery, about an hour outside of Chania, Crete, by our friends from the area and booked it. He said there may be other people on the tour, but he wasn’t sure how busy it’d be. I was a bit suspicious, mostly because Yanni had steamed our outfits about 3-4 times before we left the house. Upon arrival, he said, “Oh, by the way, we have a private tour.” We toured the winery and had a private tasting in the wine cellar. The entire time I kept thinking “hm, maybe he’s gonna do it now”, but then the tasting ended, and we went upstairs. I then turned around for a photo in the beautiful, dimly lit barrel room and saw Yanni on his knee. We celebrated with several more bottles of wine throughout the evening, sent by our loving friends and family!” Sophia shared.

While on the hunt for his wedding suit, Yanni wasn’t loving any of the options. His grandfather was a tailor, and Yanni just wanted something with that same old-school feel, where he could walk into a tailor shop and walk out with his vision realised. “When we stumbled into Richard’s Fabulous Finds, a vintage menswear shop in Chicago, Richard looked at him and said, ‘Hm, let me guess… ‘and guessed his measurements on the spot. Richard found him a beautiful vintage European-cut tuxedo, and we knew it was the perfect one. We found a vintage Dior tuxedo shirt from the same era, along with a bow tie. His buttons and cufflinks were a gift from our best friend and his best man.”

Across their wedding party, Yanni and Sophia had 11 people supporting them. The groomsmen wore classic black tuxedos while the bridesmaids wore a variety of black evening gowns. “I encouraged all of my bridesmaids to pick something that felt unique to them and made them feel beautiful & sexy!” Sophia explained.

For her own look, Sophia knew she wanted something chic and timeless – think Sophia Loren old-Hollywood vibe! On her Pinterest board, Sophia realised she had essentially saved the same dress over 40 times, so with the dream dress sorted, she had to track down the original designer. “I tried on one of everything just to be sure, but tracked down a bridal shop in Chicago: Alice in Ivory, that carried the exact dress I saved over and over. My gown was designed by Jane Hill! My jewellery was all passed down to me by my grandmother, which made each piece feel so intentional. Wearing her charm bracelet made me feel like my entire family was with me that day,” she shared.

Roxani Estate, just outside of Chania, Crete, in Greece, was the island paradise for this destination wedding. “We found the venue on Instagram and instantly scheduled a call with their owner, Roxani herself. She personally FaceTimed us to walk us around on a virtual tour of the venue and we fell in love. It felt like a Tuscan Villa meets Greece, which felt perfect for our story!”

Kicking off the ceremony, Yanni and Sophia went old school Greek and picked Sophia up from her house with his wedding party while a live band performed. “The Cretan band walked before us and played us down the aisle. The band members were our personal friends, which made it so much more special. We entered our marriage together, surrounded by our parents, closest friends and family.”

Their Greek Orthodox ceremony took place outside the church at Roxani Estate. “Our guests watched from the raised lawn behind us with parasols and refreshments. We entered the church with our koumbaroi and once we exited as husband & wife, “Everlasting Love” was playing while we dipped and had our first kiss!”

Each and every detail found throughout their destination wedding was intentional and held personal weight. “I wore my late grandfather’s wedding ring pinned inside my gown. I carried my late aunt’s handkerchief for my something blue. Yanni wore my late grandfather’s ring, which my grandmother had gifted him. I also wore my grandmother’s charm bracelet, which was also my great-grandmother’s.”

While the typical advice is to soak in everything as it happens, Sophia advises couples to be intentional in their planning. “My advice would be to be intentional and choose things that speak to you! We look back and love every detail of our wedding day, because it was just so “us”.”

Melbourne photographer Weddings By Hayden flew all the way to Greece to capture Sophia and Yanni’s special day. “I found him on Instagram through our venue’s tagged photos. I’m a lover of film photography and knew that I wanted my wedding captured mostly on film. I knew it wouldn’t be an easy thing to find on a Greek island, but then I found Hayden’s page! I didn’t even realize at the time that he was actually located in Australia. We scheduled a call to meet and just fell in love,” Sophia explained.

“Hayden was equally as excited about a wedding shot mostly on film. I seriously cannot imagine my wedding day without him. We captured every moment so perfectly. He could tell when I just needed a minute away from everyone, which I also really appreciated. Out of over 2,000 photos, there’s not a single bad one. Every shot could be on the cover of Vogue!”

Sophia has spent some time as an event designer and florist, so she knew from the get-go what she did and didn’t want in their setup. Fruits = were definitely in. Roses = definitely not. “I actually hate roses, which Yanni always makes fun of me for. Hydrangeas are a personal favorite flower for me and always have been. I remember growing them in my grandmother’s yard and trimming them together to make arrangements, so I knew I had to have them at my wedding. I wanted lots of movement, something memorable and unique. I’ve been to so many weddings and seen so many of the same things, so I knew I wanted something kind of weird. I ended up going with hydrangeas, anthuriums, bells of Ireland, amaranth, and green fruits: figs, grapes, pears, and apples. I actually made my own bridal bouquet! Yes, I am a little crazy,” Sophia explained.

There were lots of DIY’d elements found throughout Yanni and Sophia’s destination wedding – like all of the beautiful stationery! “Our youngest brother, Dino, is a talented fine artist and drew our venue for us. I used his drawing on our save-the-dates and then turned it into a toile pattern for our invitations. I also made our menus, place cards, bar signage and favors, which were traditional Jordan almonds, with a poem explaining the Italian and Greek tradition. I also included an Italian horn and an evil eye charm for our guests to wear. I made my own bridal bouquet, and we actually ended up bringing our own napkins, solely because I wanted a certain shade of green,” she explained.

They decided to do a private cake cutting, bringing their entire wedding party to the celebration! “We then all fed each other bites of our wedding cake, which was an Italian millefoglie. Bringing our friends was totally unplanned, but those are some of my favorite photos from the night. I also had a last-minute idea to be secretly at the bar rather than running out when they announced us into the reception – so we stood there just the two of us and did a shot, and then came to the dance floor, which was so fun!”

Their first dance was to “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green, a personal favourite of Yanni and Sophia’s. “Anytime the song would come on, my grandfather would say,’ It’s our song, ‘and grab my grandmother and dance, no matter where they were. Yanni and I have always found ourselves doing the same. It felt sentimental and a little more funky than something classical and over-choreographed.”

After being in her corseted gown for most of the day, Sophia changed into her custom reception dress! “I asked my ever-talented designer cousin, Gianna Walker, to make me a custom reception dress. I told her I wanted a high neck and something sparkly, and let her dream up the rest! It was so special to collaborate with her on such an important outfit.”

A huge congratulations to Yanni and Sophia on this beautiful celebration! And thanks to Weddings by Hayden for capturing and sharing these wonderful moments with us.