Attending others’ weddings as a couple can be a great way to figure out what elements you want to emulate and which you’d like to put your own twist to. This is what helped Maggie and Bauer navigate the first big choices in their wedding planning. Ultimately, they decided to have a micro-wedding abroad and a separate, large celebration with family and friends back home. Next decision: where to say, “I do.”

“Bauer and I had always talked about going away and having a very small intimate wedding somewhere overlooking water,” the bride says. “Neither of us had been to Europe and we loved the pictures we had seen of the Greek Islands. We thought Santorini would be the ideal place with all the beautiful white buildings and amazingly blue waters.”

Being entirely new to the area and destination wedding planning, Maggie started searching for real wedding stories out of Santorini. She wanted to know how the couple pulled everything off. That’s when she came across a blog of a couple who were from Charlotte, North Carolina (a city Maggie once called home). Blown away by the gorgeous composition of the photos, she reached out the couple’s photographer, Marylou Dogan of All Bliss Photography.

“I was blown away by how friendly and approachable she was! She recommended that I use a wedding planner- and mentioned Stephanie Cisko of Viva L’Event. I talked to Stephanie and was blown away by her go-getter attitude and creativity,” the bride says.

Naturally, she recruited both women to her destination wedding team. Maggie shared her ideas with Stephanie via a vision board, and the planner got right to work doing all the heavy lifting of destination planning.

Part of the couple’s vision was to host the ceremony on the balcony of their white cave AirBNB. Unfortunately, they hit a snag later on when they realized the AirBNB had a shared patio space.

“We tried to resolve this issue with AirBNB and they gave us back a portion of our down payment,” the couple says. “This turned out to be a blessing because the AirBnB we booked after this was even better. Our host was so accommodating and even sent help to move furniture.”

The rest of the planning process went smoothly, with their planner as the main point of contact. The couple did have to send international wires for payments – which was a little expensive, but well worth it.

So on their special day, Bauer and Maggie’s only task was to enjoy the day with their five guests, overlooking the bluest waters on Earth.

Guests’ travel to and from the Greek Islands went off virtually without a hitch, but the couple couldn’t say the same.

“As always, I overpacked,” Maggie admits. “So, when Bauer’s family left to go back to the United States, we sent back one of our 60 lbs. suitcases. Unfortunately, we had tucked our passports away in this same bag. After a trip to the only police station in Santorini, we were allowed to board our flight to our honeymoon in Italy with the handwritten notes from the Police. Did I mention they were in Greek?! My sister in law was an angel and shipped our passports back to us at our last hotel in Italy and we had no issues getting home.”

Looking back on their Santorini destination wedding experience, Maggie and Bauer smile, knowing their Greek micro-wedding fit their vision perfectly.  

Vendors: Photography: All Bliss Photography; Wedding Planning & Design: Viva L’Event; Floral: Betty Flowers Santorini; Venue: The Cave Houses (Airbnb); Catering/Chair & Table Rental: Spicy Bites; Table/Vintage Chest Rental: Weddings & Whimsy; Stationery: One + Only Paper; Calligraphy: Mason Dixon Designs; Wedding Cake: Alexandra’s Cakes; Hair/Makeup: Renia Bledaki Makeup & Beauty Treatments; Ribbons: Honeysilks & Co and Tono & Co; Table Runners & Napkins: Linen Lark; Bride’s Dress: Pronovias; Bride’s Earrings: Olive and Piper; Bride’s Shoes: YDN; Groom’s Suit: Bonobos; Grooms Tie, Clip & Socks: Tie Bar; Grooms Shoes: Cole Haan; Bridesmaid’s Dress: Jenny Yoo