An Immersive No-Décor No-Venue Wedding and Stefana Blessing in a Picturesque Greek Village in Naxos

Zoe and Evan got married in the USA but celebrated their holy union, or Stefana Blessing, in June 2024 in Greece! Their vibrant and creative No-Décor No-Venue Wedding was held at the picturesque village of Apeiranthos in Naxos and we are totally obsessed with it!

Drawing on the bride’s background as an artist and designer, their artistic and colorful wedding was designed to reflect the most important aspects. Family, simplistic luxury, and a relaxed, yet, thoughtful environment.

Their reception was held at the local Greek tavern on the provincial streets of Naxos, bringing their guests a truly immersive experience of a Greek islander lifestyle. We love this imaginative celebration because it shows us that with some creativity and staying true to yourself, you don’t need to overspend to have the wedding of your lifetime!

If researching and decorating a venue feels overwhelming, stressful, and costly, and you’re looking for a relaxed, informal, and cute wedding under 10K, keep reading to see how this couple followed their hearts and created a meaningful celebration!

Their Love Story

We met in high school in Saint Petersburg, Florida in 2009 and quickly became best friends. However, we didn’t start dating until 2013! We then went to separate colleges in different states and we were long-distance for 4 long years. Right when we graduated in 2017 we moved straight to New York City to finally live in the same place again. After many (tiny) apartments we eventually settled in Ridgewood, Queens.

Zoe’s family is from Greece. So on one trip while visiting in June 2022, Evan pulled off a secret proposal in front of her Papou’s childhood home in Apeiranthos, Naxos while posing for a picture. Apeiranthos was already so special to us but it became clear after our engagement that we needed to return for a blessing of our marriage.

We decided to have our main wedding in Saint Petersburg, Florida for ease of travel for our American families so we were married on December 2, 2023 in Zoe’s childhood church, Saint Stefanos Greek Orthodox Church.

After that, we went straight into planning the blessing of our Stefana and our no-décor no-venue wedding reception in Naxos, Greece for our June celebration.

The Planning Process

For planning, we definitely leaned on Zoe’s cousin Kathy who just so happens to be a wedding planner in Naxos. Not only is she an amazing cousin, but she’s also an incredibly talented planner and coordinator. She really made the process so easy. We knew we wanted to have our celebration on the island of Naxos because of Zoe’s family roots. So it was only right we had our blessing at the beautiful Panagia Church in Apeiranthos. Built in 1819, it is an amazingly preserved church with some of the most beautiful icons and an incredible interior.

It was important for us to bring our friends and family who had never been to the village. And some had never been to Greece either. We wanted them to experience the Greek dining, winding streets, and neighborhood of Zoe’s grandfather papou Michael.

The Logistics

Islands can sometimes be tricky with transfers. That’s why we opted for a group shuttle to transfer everyone to our locations. All of our guests stayed in Chora, the port town of Naxos. We coordinated a bus to drive the whole party up the mountain and back at the end of the night. This made it easy to travel as a group and gave our guests more variety in Airbnb/hotels so they could stay downtown or by the beaches.

Immersive Wedding Reception: Grecian Island Lifestyle

We didn’t want a typical wedding venue for our reception. So we opted for a traditional Greek taverna in the middle of the picturesque village in Naxos. Stou Koutoupa is a family restaurant with delicious varieties of shareable plates including Rosto, dips, pasta and SO much more. Choosing our al fresco reception was also easy because this is our favorite restaurant in the village. We literally took over the whole street in the village and the main square was our dancefloor!

We had our own private Greek taverna experience with live music and familiar faces! Through Kathy, we also booked a 2 piece band who performed while we danced through the tables of the courtyard. This was a real immersive experience of a Greek village lifestyle and our guests loved it.

The day after the wedding we moved our group to the Georgilas Cave Houses in Galini, Naxos for relaxation and nature and the day-after photo shoot. The pink villa was the perfect location, blending our artistic souls with a slow island living experience.

The Summer Wedding Day:

The night before our celebration on June 14, 2024 we had a large welcome party along the water in Chora, Naxos at Prime Bar. Their service and drinks are some of the best along the port so this was also an easy choice.

The next morning we woke up in our Airbnb and got ready for the celebration with our best friends. Our photographer (who also happens to be Evan’s brother’s wife!) took photos of us getting ready while we shared coffee and pastries on our back patio.

Once we were ready we walked over to Zoe’s great aunt Eirini’s house to see her before we headed up to the village. We shared ice creams with her and Zoe’s cousin Niko and talked about the day we had planned.

After, we headed to the famous Naxonian Portara, or Temple Of Apollo – a monumental ancient marble doorway, for group photos and to meet up with our entire group to catch the bus.

We all loaded up onto the bus for our beautiful mountainous journey. Along the way hundreds of goats stormed the mountainside road and all of the guests were able to see a Naxian shepherd in action. We planned for a stop along the route at one of our favorite lookouts. The Rotonda restaurant and Agia Eirini church. We got off the bus for photos and lit a candle before we headed to the blessing at Panagia church.

Stefana Blessing at the Greek Church

There we had an amazing blessing of our Stefana. After the ceremony, the priest and parish members played the church bells in the courtyard just for us. The whole group then departed for photos in the streets and strolled to Papou’s house for photos and story sharing.

A quick walk up the hill and we were at Stou Koutoupa and all greeted with an ouzo/raki toast! We then had one of the best meals of our lives followed by Greek dancing on the cobblestones. Of course we Facetime all our aunts and uncles who couldn’t travel with us from Athens. It was perfect! We headed back down on the bus and closed out the night back at Prime Bar in Chora.

The Look & Style of this No-Décor No-Venue Wedding in Naxos

Zoe wore a vintage strapless pink and lace dress with removable sleeves, silver chrome heels, and a Guipure Lace veil. Evan wore a breathable linen suit with cream pants and navy blue blazer and GH Bass loafers.

For the day-after shoot, Zoe wore a red dress with red tights and shoes to contrast the Greek blue skies and green lemon groves, perfectly blending with the unique pink villa.

As our wedding in Naxos was No-Décor and No-Venue, We focused more on the little, yet special wedding details! We had the most beautiful bridal bouquet and boutonniere from Anenoma Flowers in Chora. We had very minimal decor at our reception to keep it authentically Greek for our immersive experience. The only addition we made to the tables was a seat card made by Zoe. The “We’re Married” seating cards were inspired by a Greek theme and featured us and our sweet Andreas the donkey from Apeiranthos Village in Naxos.

Favorite Detail from This Greek Island Wedding

Our favorite detail was our Stefana we brought with us to be blessed. Our “Koumbara“, Maria and “Koumbaro” John, Zoe’s brother, were able to watch us be blessed wearing the crowns they placed on our heads at our Florida wedding! Maria bought us the most beautiful pearl-detailed crowns from Etsy.

Final Event Cost: 2-10k

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Get this look:

Coordination: Kathy Hagiepetros, Kallina Naxos Weddings
Photography: Mari Sabra Photography
Hand Illustrated Seat Cards and Invitations: @zofrotisch
Flowers: @anemona_naxos_flowerboutique
Reception Venue: Local Restaurant Stou Koutoupa @stoukoutoupa
Day-After Venue Villa: Georgilas Cave Houses