Stephanie and John got married on a private island in the middle of the Aegean Sea, a tiny whitewashed church only reachable by boat, on Paros, Greece. Their guests arrived by traditional Greek kaiki boats, greeted at the dock by live musicians. They broke over 400 plates on the dance floor, danced the zeibekiko until midnight, and served bougatsa instead of a wedding cake — it was a real Greek wedding! The whole thing was photographed by Ratta Studio, founded by Anna Roussos and Thanos Asfis.
Location: Paros, Greece
Style: Dreamy, Seaside, Authentic
Time of planning: 1.5 years
Number of guests: 135
Setting: Church and Restaurant
Season: Fall
Stephanie and John met in Chicago in 2021. Stephanie anchors the news at ABC 7 Chicago; John works in finance. They hit it off from the start, and three years later, he proposed on the beaches of Delray Beach, Florida, surrounded by an all-floral setup with both of their families hiding in the brush watching the whole thing unfold.
Choosing Greece for the wedding was personal for Stephanie. Her family is originally from Thessaloniki, and any time spent there carries a specific weight and meaning. For John, it was an easy yes. The couple spent 1.5 years planning a three-day wedding experience on the island of Paros. They wanted guests to feel like they were on a real vacation, not just attending a wedding. By all accounts, that’s exactly what happened. The moments were captured by videographer Iraklis Rigas.
Bride's Morning & Fashion
The morning started with a Voir robe, layers of tulle and whimsical ruffles that billowed as Stephanie descended the staircase of their Paros hotel. It was a deliberate choice and the right one. The getting-ready photos earned every bit of drama she gave them!
For the ceremony, Stephanie wore a KYHA draped, scooped-neck corset fit-and-flare gown, purchased through Alice in Ivory bridal boutique, with one key customization: a chiffon watteau cape added at the suggestion of her bridal stylist Something White Styling. The cape was built for exactly this setting, it caught the Aegean wind with every step. For jewelry, Stephanie wore her great-grandmother’s pearl and diamond earrings. Hair by Olga Sarm at Roots Hair Salon, makeup by Angelina Miha.
Groom’s Fashion
John wore an ivory tuxedo jacket with black trousers, a classic black bow tie, Gucci loafers, and David Yurman cufflinks. The morning he had getting ready matched the look perfectly. He invited 13 of his closest friends to the hotel, where they smoked cigars, drank Mythos beer in the sun, and played chess on a vintage Greek chess board the couple had purchased in Athens specifically for the occasion.
First Look
Before guests arrived at Agia Kali, Stephanie and John had their first look in Naousa. Then they boarded their own boat and crossed to the ceremony island alone, on quiet water, before the day fully began.
Ceremony
Agia Kali is not a church you stumble upon, you have to sail to it. It sits on a tiny private island in the middle of the Aegean Sea, reachable only by boat, and Stephanie and John discovered it just four months before the wedding after changing course from their original church plan entirely. Their guests were greeted at the dock by Greek musicians playing traditional music. The long walking path from the dock to the church, open on all sides, turned the arrival itself into something worth remembering.
The church was decorated by Red Box Days with tall, standing white floral arrangements flanking the entrance: vertical, architectural, and deliberately restrained against the whitewashed walls. Inside, the Orthodox ceremony was conducted entirely in Greek by their priest, meaningful for Stephanie, and something genuinely new and moving for the guests who were not Greek.
Their families walked them up to the church together, as is tradition. The priest kept the room smiling throughout. The ceremony was planned by White Stories Events‘ Dimitris Vassilakakis, who also navigated the last-minute venue change with four months to go, no small feat for a church on a private island in the middle of the sea.
Moments Together
Photographer Anna Roussos of Ratta Studio worked with the landscape: the rocky Cycladic terrain, the whitewashed walls, the Aegean light, and let all of it shape the images. The black and white edits in particular land with real weight: sharp contrast, no softening, the couple exactly as they are.
Reception
The reception was held at Monastiri Beach Bar & Restaurant on a secluded inlet of Monastiri Beach. Guests moved from the cocktail hour lounge on the lower floor up to the restaurant for dinner and dancing. Bright pink floral arrangements ran down the center of long banquet tables. White candles throughout. Instead of table numbers, each table was assigned the name of a Greek island, displayed on a tall gold vintage mirror at the entrance.
The wedding cake was not a cake. It was a giant bougatsa, the traditional Greek phyllo pastry filled with custard, with Stephanie and John topping it themselves with cinnamon and powdered sugar at the table. The first dance was to One and Only by Adele, complete with the dip they had rehearsed in dance lessons. The father-daughter dance was performed live by Stephanie’s sister Abigail, who sang Your Song by Elton John. John danced with his mother to Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion.
Then came the plates. Over 400 of them, broken on the dance floor in the Greek tradition. Dollar bills flew during the money dance. Stephanie’s godfather sang while her family took turns dancing the zeibekiko.
Espresso martinis were served directly on the dance floor. The food, served family-style, was traditional Greek cooking: fresh-caught seabass, grilled pork tenderloin, beef fillet, and salads made from local Paros produce. A saxophonist who had already played through the cocktail hour kept the energy going alongside the DJ.
Advice from the couple:
• Stay true to yourselves. You don’t have to have a highly decorated, flashy, extravagant wedding to give your guests a top notch destination wedding experience. Think of special moments and experiences they will remember instead. Incorporate your culture, your own personalities as a couple into the event planning, and your guests will feel the love between you two and leave grateful they made the trip 🙂
PHOTOGRAPHER Anna Roussos, Ratta Studio | VIDEOGRAPHER Iraklis Rigas | VENUE Monastiri Beach Bar & Restaurant | PLANNING & DESIGN White Stories Events | FLORALS Red Box Days | HAIR Olga Sarm, Roots Hair Salon | MAKEUP Angelina Miha | DRESS KYHA via Alice in Ivory | SECOND DRESS Albina Dyla | BRIDAL STYLIST Something White Styling
