Our featured couple today went on the largest search for a destination wedding venue that we have ever featured. Matt and Karen viewed one hundred venues on their search for the perfect wedding destination! They eventually found that venue on Andros Island in Greece. Read more below on why Matt and Karen, from England, chose to marry in Greece, but first these stunning images from the team at Sovisual Photography.

HOW THEY MET

"Matt and I met on an online dating website. We emailed each other at exactly the same time so our messages crossed over. Talk about fate! We went on a few dates and we just knew that we had found our perfect match, we had so much in common. At Glastonbury festival on June 28th 2014 Matt decided it was time to put his plan into action and had ordered a special fortune cookie with the words 'Will you marry me' inside, he got down on one knee in the mud. Of course I said yes!

DECIDING ON THE DESTINATION

Wedding planning went into full swing and I started looking for the perfect place. Since working in Rhodes in 1998 I have always loved the food, people, weather and the scenery of Greece and it was always my dream to get married there. Matt was happy to go along with whatever would make me happy. After looking at approximately 100 venues on the mainland and different islands I just wasn't finding the right place to tick all my boxes, almost harder than finding the perfect man!

My parents arrived back from a trip to Andros and said they had found the perfect venue for us. That was it and the Aneroussa Beach Hotel in Andros was booked for August 29th 2015. They showed us photos from another wedding that had taken place and I was confident that Sandy and Odysseas (Sovisual Photography) were the right people for the job and booked without hesitation. We met up with one of the daughters of the hotel owners who coincidentally had got married on the same day that we had got engaged. We saw her photos and tears of emotion flowed - this was the place I had always dreamed of. An amphitheatre that over looked the sea, to get married at sunset, arrive by boat and have a reception on the beach- all boxes ticked!

BEST DECISION

One of our best decisions was picking our photographers. Sandy and Odysseas are professional, beautiful people, with flawless attention to detail and a real eye for outstanding photos. Sandy suggested we were friends on Facebook so that she could get to know Matt and I before the wedding as we couldn't meet in person due to the distance. This was great as the moment I met Sandy I felt like she was a lifelong friend and meeting Odysseas for the first time I knew that we had chosen the dream team. I couldn't have got through the day without Sandy, she was so calm and obviously speaks Greek and English so was a great help (our hairdresser spoke little English and my Greek is limited to hello, goodbye and thank you). We are so, so happy with our wedding photos- they are the best we've seen of Matt and I!

BEST MOMENTS

The most touching moment was when my dad opened the door and saw me, his little girl in my wedding dress about to marry the man who makes me so happy and looks after me as well as he does. There were tears- and it takes a lot for my dad to cry! We had a hair raising moment when we arrived by boat and there was no jetty as such- it took four attempts to land and the boat almost hit the rocks- but we made it to a roar of cheers from our guests on the beach!

A funny moment that could have been a disaster occurred when Matt did his speech. He thanked a list of people and sat down.. I whispered to him in a sad voice... "You didn't say anything about me" to which he replied "Oh no I missed out a massive part of my speech". The best man then did his speech (which actually revealed a hidden tattoo Matt has that neither his mum or my dad were aware of). Then Matt took the microphone again and proceeded to read 'An Ode to Karen': a poem he had written especially for me!"

Photography: Sovisual Photography | Ceremony & Reception: Aneroussa Beach Hotel Andros | Wedding Dress: Maggie Sottero | Bride's Shoes: Lipsy | Bridesmaid Dresses: Boohoo | Groom's Attire: Next | Groom's Shoes: Jones Bootmaker | Flowergirl Dress: Oliviarose | Groomsmen Attire: River Island | Invitations: Deuce Creative