The following interview and photographs were contributed by Aileen French of Oxford, England. Interviewer: Aileen French Interviewee: Clare Jiggens
When was your first visit to Thassos? Why did you decide to visit it at all in the first instance?
A friend from university was working in Thassos with Thomson. She offered to organise the wedding for us so we went out there in May 2005 to do a reccie (reconnaissance).
How many times have you visited Thassos?
Just the once in 2005 and then for the wedding this year.
Why did you decide to get married abroad?
To keep it small, relaxed, informal and to keep the cost down. And because we were given the opportunity to do so. I wouldn't have done it without having a friend abroad to do the organising. It meant that it was still personalised and I had a lot of input rather than letting a tour operator offer us a standard 15 minute wedding slot in a resort.
Why did you decide to get married on Thassos?
Purely because Katty was living there.
What friends and acquaintances do you have that enabled you to organise it the way you did?
Katty had worked several seasons with Thomsons as a rep, but then set up her restaurant with her partner, Regas, this year. She knew people at the Town Hall, florists, photographers and all the locations suitable for a wedding.
When did you start planning your wedding?
May 2005
Where did you go for preliminary information about getting married in Greece?
The internet which directed us to the Greek Consulate in London, our local registry office and the FCO.
Was the official information, you got correct and/or useful?
Some. The information from the Greek Consultate was vague to say the least and we learnt as we went along.
What papers did they insist upon before you even got to Greece?
2 x certificates of no impediment to marry, issued from our local registry office no more then 3 months prior to the wedding date. Both our FULL birth certificates with parents names. All had to be legalised by the FCO, then translated into Greek by a consulate approved translator, then collated and stamped again by the consulate. This was expensive and very tight on time as we both work full time and had to do all this by post. Cost in the region of £500.
What papers did you need to bring with you? Did you need them translated?
See above. Plus passports at the town hall.
Did you think about purchasing a special holiday deal? Was a suitable deal available to you?
Not much choice. We took a week package with Thomson and got friends and family to book onto it early.
Could you describe, the key elements of your wedding in a few sentences please, for example, the location, where you had your reception, any special facilities your accommodation provided you with, any help that the tour operator gave to you, music, flowers, and anything else.
Married in the Ancient Agora, although this is not standard and was a one off as normally it has to be in the Town Hall. I don't think they would be happy to do make this the norm so best not to promote it!
Reception drinks in Patrikos taverna. We had to supply our own champagne and glasses as they didn't have any, but it's a beautiful taverna with a lovely view of the old harbour.
Meal in Syrtaki. Nikos made the evening really special for us, it was fantastic. He organised a table on the beach for us with fireworks, sang for us and let us smash plates. Brilliant!
Tour operator wasn't really involved although they did decorate our room with rose petals and a bottle of bubbly.
Katty booked 2 musicians, photographer and the flowers for us.
What was best overall?
The setting and informal atmosphere. Having all our closest family and friends with us for a week instead of just one day; we got to spend time with everyone.
All the suppliers involved were so laid back, we paid all of them the following day in cash. Didn't pay for a single thing up front.
The amazing sunset while we had our photos on the beach and enjoyed our meal.
No chucking out time. Nikos let us stay until about 2am. Then we hit the bars!
What was least good?
The ceremony was short and sweet to say the least! We didn't have much influence over the words. We did add some on to the beginning and the end but it was still only about 5 or 6 minutes in total.
Inevitably some friends couldn't make it for the week and we missed them being there. But we had another party when we got home.
What would you change if you were to do it again?
Nothing at all. It was perfect.
What advice would you give to somebody else is considering doing this?
Don't bother unless you can get someone in Thassos to help you with the organisation. Preferably someone who speaks Greek and can talk with the Town Hall for you.
Don't expect to get the Greeks to commit to anything early on; they must be used to organising weddings at two weeks notice!
Organise the paperwork in the UK early. It was the most stressful part of the wedding. Check and double check with as many sources as you can that you have all the correct documents. It takes so much longer than you expect, at each and every step of the way. Get an appointment at your local registry office 3 weeks before the no impediment can be issued. Then you can get straight on with it when it arrives.
Anything else you feel that is important that I haven't asked?
If it's possible to make a special mention to everyone involved, especially Katty and Regas at Thassian Taverna and Nikos at Syrtaki Taverna.
And finally, if you are not completely exhausted answering these questions, if you would be able to send us a couple of photographs, that will be absolutely brilliant, because we would really like other people benefit from your experience. This is exactly the sort of development that we want Thassos to get involved in. (And on a personal level I would love to see what looked like on your special day).
Many thanks, indeed, and there's no doubt, everybody is said to you in Greece over and over again,we wish you many, many years together of long and happy marriage!
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