Sophia + Evan by Jessica Gwyneth

Oniranthi kept the florals predominantly white and green, which worked beautifully against the stone and landscape

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

I was born in the UK, grew up in Bahrain and spent my summers in Greece, where my dad is from. Greece has always been the place I return to and the place that feels most familiar to me. I eventually moved to the US, lived in New York City, then Los Angeles, and now Miami.

Evan grew up on the East Coast, and we both work in fast-paced creative and technology industries. Outside of work, though, our life is fairly simple. We love travelling, good food, being near the sea, long dinners with friends and family, and discovering places that feel a little off the beaten path.

We’re both quite driven, but with each other we can completely switch off. We’re each other’s happy and silly place — where we can relax, laugh at ourselves and be the most unguarded versions of who we are. There’s a real sense of home in that for both of us.

I think what we love most is creating a life that feels expansive without being complicated: meaningful work, people we care about, places we are excited to return to, and enough room to enjoy all of it.

Wedding

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

Sophia: We met on a night out in Los Angeles in spring 2022, through mutual friends. There was something strangely well-timed about it. A few months before we met, and without knowing the other existed, we had each independently written down what we were looking for in a partner. Much later, we realised we had also lived in New York at the same time and moved through some of the same circles without ever crossing paths.

Evan pursued me from the beginning. His first message to me was, “I just described you to a friend as the girl with Greek skin, a British accent and a gypsy soul — close?” It made me laugh, but what stayed with me was how quickly he seemed to “see” me. He was attentive in a way that felt natural rather than performative — he asked thoughtful questions, remembered the answers and made his interest very clear.

Evan: Before I met Sophia, I had told one of my closest friends that I was looking for someone who reminded me of Lucilla in Gladiator — strong, warm, and independent. That same friend happened to be with me the night we met.

Sophia was dancing by herself, completely in her own world, and she just looked so happy. She wasn’t looking around the room or trying to be noticed; she seemed entirely content in herself. I remember pointing at her and saying to my friend, “That’s her.”

What struck me was that she seemed both completely wild and full of warmth. There was an energy about her that felt very singular. From the beginning, I knew I wanted to pursue her.

Sophia: My first impression of Evan was that he was thoughtful and very easy to be around. He asked real questions, listened closely, and followed up afterwards. From the beginning, there was a steadiness and consistency to him that felt completely different from anything I had known before. We dated for a year before moving in together and, around the same time, decided to leave Los Angeles for Miami. A lot changed quite quickly, but the relationship itself always felt steady.

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

The venue did most of the work. Kapsaliana already has so much character that we were very conscious of not over-styling it. It is a restored 18th-century village built around an old olive mill, with stone paths, arched doorways and olive groves stretching out around it. We wanted everything we added to feel quiet enough to belong there.

We married outside on the village chapel grounds, had cocktails by the pool, took portraits in the olive groves at golden hour, and then moved to the restaurant terrace for dinner and dancing. That progression through the property became part of the experience itself.

Oniranthi kept the florals predominantly white and green, which worked beautifully against the stone and landscape, and our stationery followed the same approach: warm ivory paper, soft black text and an organic handwritten style. We also incorporated stefana, the traditional Greek wedding crowns joined by a ribbon, into the ceremony.

Nothing felt added for the sake of decoration; the setting, the light, the landscape and a few carefully chosen details did most of the work.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

What I loved most was creating a weekend that felt completely true to us and to the place we had chosen. We bought out Kapsaliana, so for most of the weekend our guests were all staying together in the hotel, which gave everything a kind of intimacy we could never have created with a single-day event.

The welcome night was one of my favourite parts. We took over a traditional village square and ate home-cooked food at a traditional taverna, with Cretan dancers and live Greek music carrying through the evening. It felt warm, generous and completely unforced. The same was true of the wedding itself: farm-to-table food, the olive groves, the stone buildings, the natural landscape, and everyone moving through it together. The energy was extraordinary because nothing felt staged for the sake of a wedding; it all felt like an extension of how Evan and I actually like to live and spend time with people.

For couples planning a destination wedding, my biggest advice is to choose a place and a team you genuinely trust, then lean into what is already special about it. Having a local planner who understood the language, the people and the rhythm of the island made all the difference. I also found that the more detail we worked through in advance, the more freedom we had to be present once the weekend began. The other thing I would recommend is being very clear about the kind of photography you want. We knew we wanted documentary-style coverage rather than formal line-ups, and communicating that early shaped not only the gallery, but the way the day felt while we were in it.

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

We were incredibly lucky with the people we worked with, and so much of what made the weekend feel effortless came down to the team around us.

STEPSIS, our wedding planner led by Natasa, were central to the entire experience. Planning a wedding abroad could easily have felt overwhelming, but they understood the island, the venues, the suppliers and the rhythm of how everything needed to come together. They took what we had in our heads and translated it into something that felt completely natural and true to us.

Kapsaliana Village Hotel was just as important to the weekend. Brigitte, Alkis and the entire team were extraordinary. Because we had bought out the property, they were not simply hosting a wedding; they were looking after our families and friends across several days, and they did it with such warmth and generosity that the village genuinely began to feel like ours for the weekend. The hospitality, food and attention to detail were incredible, but what stayed with us most was the way everyone made our guests feel cared for. It never felt like a hotel putting on an event. It felt personal.

Oniranthi created the florals, and their work felt perfectly in tune with the setting. We wanted everything to feel restrained and organic rather than overly styled, and the white and green palette worked beautifully against the stone, olive trees and landscape. The flowers felt like they belonged there, rather than something added on top.

Jessica Gwyneth approached the photography in much the same way. We asked for very little that was staged, and she captured the day with such a light touch that people forgot she was there. Jorge, our videographer, was equally unobtrusive and gave us the sound and movement of the weekend without making anything feel produced.

Natasha Kuripko did my hair and makeup and brought such a calm energy to the morning. Sunset Piano Notes played piano and violin during the ceremony, which gave it a softness that felt completely right for the setting. Later, DJ Señorj took over for the reception and understood exactly how we wanted the night to build – relaxed at first, then increasingly lively until everyone was on the dance floor.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?

My wedding dress ended up being KYHA Bride, although that wasn’t the original plan. I had commissioned a custom gown with another designer, but when it arrived, it simply didn’t feel like me.

A few months earlier, I had been in New York and tried on some dresses at KYHA. I loved one of the dresses immediately, but because I already had another dress in the works, I convinced myself to leave it. When the custom gown eventually arrived and I knew it wasn’t right, I reached back out to the KYHA team. They happened to have the gown in my size and somehow made everything happen at the last minute.

In the end, it was exactly what I had been looking for: simple, beautiful and classic, but still modern and very much me. The veil was by Aunyalune, a cathedral-length veil with a blusher and French Leavers lace edging. It added this softer, more romantic layer to the look that I loved. Evan had given me David Yurman pearl and diamond earrings, which I wore on the day, and I finished the look with silk Manolo Blahnik heels.

My after-party dress was from Kettel Atelier. I found it a few months after we got engaged while I was travelling to Mallorca and knew immediately that it was the one. Laura Tønder is so lovely, and when I tried on the dress in her home, she styled it with a vintage lace neck scarf, which made the look feel even more special. Every time I tried it on, I had the same reaction — I was obsessed. I wore it with Magda Butrym shoes and danced in it for the rest of the night.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

When Evan and I first went to try on engagement rings, I knew almost immediately that I wanted an emerald cut. He worked with Adiamor to bring it to life, and I loved that the final ring felt classic but still very clean and modern.

My wedding band is by Dorsey, a brand I have loved for a long time. I chose a round-cut eternity band in yellow gold, and it felt like the perfect complement to the engagement ring — simple, timeless and something I knew I would want to wear every day.

Evan’s ring carries a very different kind of meaning. He wears his grandfather’s gold wedding band, engraved with his grandparents’ initials. They were married for 50 years, so having that ring become part of our own marriage felt incredibly special. I love that mine is something we chose together for this chapter, while his already holds a whole history of its own.

What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

The setting, the food, and the way the weekend felt were probably the things we cared about most. Kapsaliana felt like the Greece I grew up loving, and being able to have so many of our closest people stay together in the village made the whole experience feel much more intimate. We were happy to spend more to create that sense of togetherness and to let the place itself become part of the celebration.

Food was equally important to us. We wanted it to feel generous, local and completely connected to Crete — seasonal ingredients, farm-to-table cooking, long dinners and the kind of food that made people slow down and enjoy where they were. The energy of the weekend came from that combination of place, people and hospitality more than any single decorative element.

Photography and film mattered for the same reason. We wanted the memories to feel as natural as the weekend itself, so we invested in Jessica’s full-day coverage and the welcome party, as well as video with Jorge so we could keep the sound of our vows, speeches and toasts.

We were less interested in spending for the sake of spectacle and more interested in the things that shaped how the weekend actually felt.

Welcome Wedding

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

It’s almost impossible to choose, but the moment I saw Evan at the end of the aisle is the one that comes back to me first. Everything around me seemed to fall away for a second. After all the planning and anticipation, it was suddenly just him standing there, and I remember feeling completely overwhelmed by how real it all was.

We also had a quiet moment together immediately after the ceremony, before everything carried on around us. I’m so grateful we had that little pocket of time, because the day moves incredibly quickly and it gave us a chance to actually look at each other and take in what had just happened.

Soon after that, our closest friends and family gathered with us in the bridal suite. It became one of the best parts of the day — everyone squeezed in, laughing, emotional, a little chaotic, and just so happy. It felt intimate and celebratory in a way that no planned moment could have been

What does being married mean to you, and are there any special rituals you have that you would like to share?

Sophia: To me, marriage is about feeling completely known and still completely free to be yourself. With Evan, I feel very at ease in who I am. He gives me space, encourages me, challenges me when I need it and wants me to be happy in whatever form that takes. There is a real sense of being on the same side.

I think that is what marriage means to us: choosing each other, but without losing ourselves in the process. Building a life together while still making room for each other to keep growing.

Evan: To me, marriage is having a person who feels like home. Sophia and I are both ambitious and independent, but with each other there’s a sense of ease that I value more than anything. She brings so much energy, curiosity and emotion into my life, and I love that we can be serious when we need to be and completely ridiculous the rest of the time.

Our favourite ritual is probably the simplest one: coffee together in the morning, especially on weekends. We both genuinely love it. There’s no agenda to it — we sit, talk, laugh, sometimes plan the day and sometimes do absolutely nothing. It’s such a small thing, but it’s one of the moments when I feel most aware of how lucky I am to share a life with her.