Elissa & Nathan’s Wind Swept Elopement

Let me start out by saying that I was never the type of girl growing up who created a Dream Board of her wedding day. I was always playing sports and trying to keep up with my big brother. After the buzz of Nathan and mine’s engagement wore off, and the wedding planning began, I knew I was in way over my head. 

Not only were Nate and I planning a wedding and a honeymoon, but we were also renovating a historic Charleston cottage to be our first home. After several attempts to plan the perfect wedding for our family and friends, it just didn’t make sense financially for us. It was stressing me out, and I knew it was taking away from our moment.

During the planning, there were several times where we joked about eloping in Greece instead. I started peaking at elopement blogs, and that’s when visions of our special day started to take shape. I knew I wanted it to be unconventional, stress-free, romantic, sexy, and on a budget. That’s not too much to ask, is it? LOL.

We woke up that morning and had a beautiful big breakfast on our private terrace. We ventured around Imerovigli and grabbed a cup of coffee. We ordered wine and cheese to our room while we got ready together. Kimon met us at our villa and then took us to secret spots around the village to take photos. We saw parts of the island we never would have if it weren’t for Kimon. There was rain predicted for the day, but it held off, and created a perfect overcast, moody setting. We did not even know where we would be saying our vows. It was a surprise. We hiked up the side of Skaros Rock, and that’s when Kimon told us there was an isolated lookout where we could exchange them. The weather turned extremely windy. It was so windy, in fact, that our vows could only be heard between the two of us. We declared our love on top of the secluded Skaros Rock overlooking the caldera in Santorini, Greece. A moment we will cherish forever.

We finished the night off drinking champagne and signing our marriage license before stepping out to dinner still dressed as bride and groom! This dinner kicked off our two week Greek honeymoon, an adventure that we still dream about daily.

~Elissa