Poppy & Andrew's Elegant Wedding at Anassa, Cyprus

How they got here

Poppy and Andrew met at nineteen, on a first date at a restaurant in London — eight years on, they were engaged in Santorini, Andrew having quietly arranged for their hotel terrace to be strung with flowers, wine, and a banner asking the question, sunset still fading behind him.

Poppy's Stolisma

Poppy's Stolisma — the traditional Cypriot preparations — began with her mum and her bridal party, the room easy and unhurried — hair, veil, the last of the pearl jewellery — before a first look with her father.

Poppy's Zosimo blessing

Andrew's Cypriot heritage set the tone before the ceremony had even started. As part of the day's Greek traditions, Poppy was blessed with a red ribbon crossed around her by family — a Cypriot custom stretching back generations, meant to carry luck and protection into the marriage — with Diastello's musicians playing live as it happened.

Andrew's Stolisma

Down the terrace, Andrew had his own Stolisma under way with his groomsmen, the same relaxed energy running through both rooms as the morning warmed up.

Andrew's Zosimo blessing

Andrew received the same blessing in turn, wrapped in the red ribbon by his own family, before the two rooms came back together for the walk to the ceremony.

Setting the scene

While Poppy and Andrew finished getting ready, Anassa terrace was quietly transformed — rows of white chiavari chairs facing the Akamas coastline, a welcome sign dressed in white roses, and confetti cones lined up ready for the aisle.

Vows on the terrace

At 5pm, Poppy's father walked her down the aisle into a civil ceremony on Anassa's terrace — white chiavari chairs facing the sea, the balustrade dressed in white roses and olive branches, the Akamas coastline stretching out gold in the late-afternoon light. Erika Soteri sang as their guests looked on beneath white parasols, her voice carrying out over the water as Poppy walked in. Andrew's groomsmen and Poppy's bridesmaids stood either side of the aisle, and there was barely a dry eye by the time she reached him. They signed their certificate to applause, framed by roses and the Mediterranean beyond, then walked back down the aisle as a married couple through confetti and cheers.

Golden hour at Anassa

Between the ceremony and the evening's celebrations, Poppy and Andrew slipped away for portraits, the light softening into that particular Cyprus gold that photographers chase all year. They wandered the garden paths above the sea, stole a kiss among the bougainvillea tumbling over the terrace walls, and walked the stone pathway down toward the water hand in hand, her train catching the last of the light behind them. They finished beneath the hotel's extraordinary domed double staircase — one of the most photogenic corners of the whole property, and a fitting, quietly grand backdrop for two people who had just promised each other everything.

Cocktail hour

Back on the terrace, guests settled in for the cocktail hour as the sky began to turn blush and amber over the bay. Waiters worked the crowd with silver trays of hot and cold canapés — Cypriot meze-inspired bites alongside classic cocktail-hour fare — while Diastello kept the mood easy with live guitar and vocals. Poppy and Andrew did their own rounds between portraits, catching up with guests they'd barely had a moment with all day, drinks in hand and the Akamas coastline glowing gold behind them.

The Village Square

As cocktail hour wound down, guests made their way through to Anassa's Village Square — an open-air, cobblestoned space built in the style of a traditional Cypriot village, with the hotel's own Byzantine chapel, Ayia Athanasia, as its backdrop. It's the kind of setting few venues can offer: room enough for a truly grand celebration, yet intimate under string lights and candlelight once the sun goes down. Round tables dressed in warm neutral linen were scattered across the square, each centred with olive branches, eucalyptus and white florals, name places tied with a sprig of olive and a handwritten tag, and a Cypriot meze menu at every seat. Even the cake found its spot with the chapel bell tower rising up behind it — easily one of the prettiest backdrops on the whole property.

A Cypriot celebration into the night

Guests waved napkins in the air as Poppy and Andrew arrived at their reception — a Cypriot tradition that turns a simple entrance into a proper welcome. Diastello had already taken over from the daytime musicians, giving the night a genuinely authentic Greek Cypriot backbone rather than a generic wedding band set, and speeches followed not long after, the whole top table lit against Ayia Athanasia's glowing facade as the sky finally turned dark.

The cake was cut to cheers — topped, fittingly, with figurines of the couple's own cat and dog — before Poppy and Andrew took to the floor for their first dance, guests closing in around them almost immediately. From there the party barely paused: circles of guests dancing under the festoon lights, Diastello's violinist and bouzouki player trading solos, and no shortage of guests happy to make fools of themselves on the dancefloor for a laugh.

The night built to a money dance — Poppy and Andrew crowned, then covered head to toe in notes pinned on by their guests, dancing through the middle of it all until the very end.

If Poppy and Andrew's day has you dreaming of your own wedding at Anassa — or a Cyprus wedding that makes room for tradition alongside five-star polish — we'd love to hear from you.