December 31, 2023 — Chania, Crete
Agios Georgios, Alikianos, Chania, Crete – Winter Wedding
A winter wedding in Chania to close the year.
Katerina and Giorgos were married at Agios Georgios Church in Alikianos on December 31, 2023, surrounded by family and the anticipation of New Year’s Eve.
Their ceremony followed the Byzantine wedding rite, adding another distinctive layer to an already unusual day: a winter church wedding on the final afternoon of the year.
The celebration continued at Kentro Diaskedasis Portokali, before we completed their story the following day with a portrait session at Agioi Epta Paides.
A wedding on December 31 has its own rhythm.
While the year was coming to an end, Katerina and Giorgos were beginning something new.
Inside Agios Georgios Church in Alikianos, the atmosphere was quiet and focused. Their Byzantine wedding ceremony unfolded through the traditions of the church, surrounded by the people closest to them.
The crowns, the prayers and the ceremony itself became the calm centre of a day that would later change completely in pace.
Outside, it was winter in Crete — cooler, quieter and very different from the summer weddings most people associate with the island.
After the ceremony, the celebration continued at Kentro Diaskedasis Portokali.
By then, the mood had shifted from the stillness of the church to the energy of New Year’s Eve. Music, dancing and the wedding celebration gradually merged with the final hours of the year.
When midnight arrived, Katerina and Giorgos were not only welcoming a new year together.
They were entering it as a married couple.
The following day was completely different.
At Agioi Epta Paides, there was no ceremony schedule and no reception timeline. The winter landscape gave us space to create a quieter set of portraits after the intensity of the wedding and New Year’s Eve celebration.
Stone, woodland and the natural surroundings created a visual contrast to the church and reception of the previous day.
That contrast became an important part of their complete story:
ceremony, celebration, then silence.
A wedding that closed one year.
A marriage that opened the next.
Katerina and Giorgos’ wedding combined an Orthodox ceremony in Alikianos, a New Year’s Eve reception and a separate next day portrait session — three very different parts of the same story. If you are planning a similar ceremony, you can also explore my guide to Orthodox Weddings in Crete.
If you are planning your own wedding in Crete, these guides can help with the wider decisions around location, season and overall structure:
Katerina and Giorgos were married at Agios Georgios Church in Alikianos, Chania, on December 31, 2023.
Yes. Their wedding at Agios Georgios followed the Byzantine wedding rite.
Their celebration continued at Kentro Diaskedasis Portokali, where the wedding reception became part of the New Year’s Eve celebration.
Their next day portrait session took place at Agioi Epta Paides in Chania, in the surrounding winter landscape.
Yes. This wedding included the church ceremony and reception on December 31, followed by a separate next day portrait session at Agioi Epta Paides.
Each wedding has its own rhythm, its own light, its own emotional truth.
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Planning a wedding in Chania or elsewhere in Crete?
I’d love to document the day as it actually unfolds — from the preparations and ceremony to the celebration and, when it is part of the plan, a separate next day session.
Prefer WhatsApp? +30 694 880 4256 • panagiotis@patsiotis.photography
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