A Columbian-Greek wedding | The Greek Orthodox Cathedral | Atlanta, GA Wedding Florist

Every now and then, the stars align and love comes together in a powerful way.

This was the case with the wedding of Alexia & Santiago in June of this year. This couples’ love story is one of perseverance and dedication. They met in grade school in south Georgia and it was truly love at first sight. They quickly became high school sweethearts and began their journey of growing up and growing old together.

Both Alexia and Santiago attended the same college, Kennesaw State University. This is where I had the privilege of meeting Alexia for the first time.

She came to work in my design studio learning the craft of wedding and event design right here in Kennesaw, GA. I had the joy of getting to know this couple through the years and watch them grow deeper into one another.

Coming from very different cultures, it was important for them both to incorporate elements of their homelands into the big day. Alexia comes from Greek heritage and we worked extra hard to find just the right elements that would showcase this very important piece to her. Traditionally, in ancient Greek culture, the brides would wear olive branches on the wedding day.

This symbol is strongly associated with peace and I could not find a better word to describe the beautiful bride: peaceful. Everything from olive branches in her bouquets to touches of olive in the table garlands, to a floral crown for the reception made from olive branch snippets made this bride shine.

She even had olive oil flown in from her grandfather’s olive fields in Greece to give out to guests as a special wedding favor. And that brings us to the heritage of Santiago. Santiago was born and raised in Columbia. Much of his family still resides there and he has strong ties to his birthplace. The jars that were used to hold the olive oil for the wedding favors were handmade in his country. The beautiful detail of the blues and browns running through each jar were quite amazing. Not two were alike! In a cheesy sort of way, it reminded me that not two couples are alike. We all have different things that bring us together and different backgrounds really define the heart of who we are. Our cultural differences can be the beauty of what makes us each unique and brings us together in a powerful way!

I must say, I was a little smitten with Alexia’s bridal bouquet. This garden-inspired bouquet featured ruffled David Austin roses along with a wide array of soft and romantic greens. She wanted a bouquet that felt soft and romantic and we achieved just that with the perfect dusty blue ribbons from Adorn and Co. This shade looked magnificent against her white dress and was the perfect pop of color to highlight the beautiful bride. In addition, we had flown in velvety satin muted blue ribbons from a small town in Greece that were vintage from the 1930’s. This little touch was so perfect to mix the old in with the new and the colors looked amazing with one another.

Alexia’s tables were filled with tall extending branches that brought the outdoors in and glimmers of soft candlelight filled the room. Lush florals were designed in ceramic blue urns and they filled the guest tables. The estate table was a bed of candlelight and a lush greenery runner featuring that ever-present olive branch.