Starting to plan the wedding

So like I said, one of the main reasons I started this blog was to write about my wedding planning. Therefore, it’s only fitting that I begin with a little background info. My fiancé, who I shall call Mr. Milk, and I are both from the small island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean. Our relationship up until now consisted mostly of long distance, with him living in Vancouver, Canada and I in San Francisco. The proposal came Christmas morning 2008, after all our other "insignificant" gifts were opened. He knelt down on one knee and popped the question with the ring I had always wanted! To be honest, I don't really know what he said. All I remember is that I thought it was a joke until I saw the ring, and then at some point, after many tears, he said "well?" and all i could do was nod. 

So this past July I made the move from San Fran to Vancouver. Most of our family lives back in Cyprus and so we are in the process of planning our wedding there. We recently got back from a 3-week stay in Cyprus which ALL revolved around wedding plans. Our main goal was to get a date and venue secured. Neither of us knew how difficult this would be! Apparently, in order to have options, you need to book 2 year in advance! Two Years! I didn't even know I was getting married 2 years ago! We went from hotel to hotel (as most wedding receptions take place in hotels in Cyprus) only to hear that they had no available Saturdays in Sept or Oct of 2010. We debated over changing our day to a Friday or Sunday, but neither Mr. Milk nor I liked that idea, feeling it would be less convenient for our guests. Then we thought about pushing it to June or May of 2011 (we wanted a summery wedding), but that seemed too far away, and we didn't have the time to make more hotel rounds to check date availability. There were plenty of times when I thought and said, lets just go to Vegas!

But literally hours before our flight back to Vancouver, we secured a gorgeous venue with a beautiful small church on the grounds, where we are to be married on Sept 25th 2010! Here are some pics of the location.

The Church

The Hotel

Our ceremony and dinner will take place at the InterContinental Hotel at Aphrodite Hills. Technically it's in Paphos, west of Limassol, but really its on the boarder, 20-30 minutes away from Limassol.

Advice for those of you wanting to have your wedding in Cyprus and who might be living abroad (for Cypriot weddings I mean, cause its much easier for those who just want a destination wedding in Cyprus): start early! Very very very early!