When Amaryllis and Marc began planning their wedding celebration, they envisioned an event that would honor both their cultural roots and their shared sense of adventure. The result was a stunning, multi-layered destination wedding that bridged the timeless history of the Peloponnese with the vibrant, celebratory spirit of New Orleans. Set against the magnificent backdrop of the historic Kinsterna estate and a 16th-century church in Monemvasia, Greece, the weekend unfolded as a masterclass in personalized design, culinary storytelling, and cross-cultural celebration.
Food & Drink
The culinary experience for the wedding was designed by Executive Chef George Hapsas, who crafted a farm-to-table menu deeply rooted in local Peloponnesian flavors. Chef Hapsas utilized ingredients harvested directly from Kinsterna’s organic orchards, ensuring that the cuisine reflected the abundant landscape surrounding the historic property.
Dinner featured elevated interpretations of classic Greek dishes. Guests enjoyed summer vegetable orzo served with a rich lobster sauce and aged graviera espuma. Every course was presented on elegant Bordallo Pinheiro plates, while hand-painted menu cards created by the bride’s mother added a deeply personal detail to each place setting. Continuing the thoughtful table design, fresh whole plums—hand-calligraphed with each individual guest’s name—doubled as playful place-card holders. These personal touches anchored the tablescape while echoing the natural bounty of the surrounding Peloponnesian estate.
Florals & Decor
From the very beginning of the planning process, Amaryllis wanted the floral design to feel rich, sculptural, and slightly moody. The couple selected a palette of deeper, darker tones that would sit naturally within Kinsterna’s historic architecture and surrounding landscape. Rather than competing with the estate’s 13th- and 17th-century stone walls, earthy textures, and manicured gardens, the flowers were chosen to complement the environment while introducing a darker, more unexpected sensibility to the setting.
Floral arrangements were kept low and organic, housed in terracotta vessels and custom-made stone pots designed to feel entirely at home within the estate grounds. The floral narrative was anchored by two of the bride’s absolute favorites: caramel-toned “Brownie” tulips and dramatic Black Calla lilies. These standout blooms were layered with deep burgundy alliums, chartreuse hydrangeas, crisp white anthuriums, and trailing greenery.
To transform the historic grounds into a curated journey for attendees, the wedding design incorporated a series of thoughtful, interactive stations across the estate, each built around guest comfort and cultural storytelling.
The Parade and Sun Protection Station was fully stocked with flip-flops and lace umbrellas. These items served a dual purpose, offering immediate relief from the bright Greek sun during the ceremony before becoming essential props for the high-energy Second Line procession later in the day.
For the international attendees, the Cultural Storytelling Corner featured custom-printed napkins detailing the history and spirit of the New Orleans Second Line tradition, ensuring all guests felt deeply connected to the moment.
As guests arrived at the venue, they were welcomed at the Refreshment Bar, an inviting station framed by hand-painted watercolor signage that served chilled lemonade and fresh herbal infusions.
The Ceremony Essentials Display was styled on tiered rattan shelving, featuring hand-painted watercolor fans tied with deep plum tassels alongside matching paper cones prepped for the traditional rice-and-confetti toss.
Set against Kinsterna’s textured stone walls, the Favors Station offered beautifully packaged, locally inspired keepsakes for guests to take home. The welcome bags drew inspiration from familiar farmers’ market bags, utilizing woven, reusable totes filled with nostalgic Greek favorites. These included Epsa soft drinks, Theoni carton water, ION Sokofreta, oregano and Aegean sea salt chips, and pasteli. Each bag also contained recovery kits and handwritten, personalized thank-you notes for every guest.
Perhaps most notably, the couple opted for a unique wishing station in lieu of a traditional guest book. Guests were invited to write their personal wishes on fabric squares. Marc’s mother will eventually sew these squares into a quilt, incorporating samples of the bride’s wedding dress fabric alongside fabric panels digitally printed with their save-the-date, invitations, and photographs from the wedding. The resulting heirloom is designed to bring together the wishes and memories of the weekend into a practical, highly personal keepsake that the couple can keep and use for years to come.
Wedding Cake
In a departure from the traditional, multi-tiered wedding cake, the couple chose pasta flora instead. This beloved Greek dessert is a favorite of Amaryllis, and one that Marc has always enjoyed as well. Filled with homemade fig marmalade and finished with a generous lattice top, the oversized tart was a nostalgic choice for Amaryllis, who fondly remembers her grandmother baking it while she was growing up. The dessert provided a personal, comforting alternative to standard wedding cake options, offering a genuine taste of home to the celebration.
Readings, Ceremony Music, and Reception Songs
The marital rites commenced with a traditional Greek Orthodox service held inside a historic Monemvasia church dating back to 1500 AD. Steeped in centuries of ritual, the ceremony focused on deeply symbolic Orthodox traditions, such as the exchange of the silver stefana (wedding crowns) and the ceremonial walk around the altar. The sacred proceedings unfolded against a backdrop of ancient iconostasis art, soft candlelight, and traditional liturgical chants rather than standard Western readings.
The mood shifted dramatically the second the couple stepped out of the church doors into the brilliant Greek sunlight. Waiting outside was a live brass band that immediately launched into a full New Orleans Second Line parade. With trombones and trumpets blaring, the band led the wedding party and their guests on a high-energy march down Monemvasia’s ancient stone alleyways toward the coast. Amaryllis carried a white parasol while Marc carried a black one, both handmade by an artisan umbrella maker in New Orleans, while attendees waved custom napkins in rhythm with the music. As the procession wound its way through the historic town, local residents stepped out of shops, homes, and restaurants to wave, cheer, and congratulate the newlyweds, turning the musical march into a joyful event shared with the entire town.
Following the procession, the celebration transitioned to cocktail hour and dinner. A smooth blend of New Orleans brass, relaxed jazz, and lounge beats established a cool, effortless backdrop for the meal served in the Kinsterna courtyard.
Later in the evening, the couple made a grand entrance accompanied by live brass fanfare, proceeding directly into their first dance: the main theme from Zorba the Greek, composed by Mikis Theodorakis.
Special Details
The wedding weekend was further defined by a series of meticulously curated special details.
For transportation, the couple utilized a vintage getaway vehicle—an open-top vintage white Mercedes convertible featuring a striking red leather interior, decked out in dark calla lilies. The car navigated Kinsterna’s bougainvillea-lined stone paths and Monemvasia’s scenic coastal roads, providing a cinematic exit for the newlyweds.
Additionally, the paper goods throughout the wedding formed a fine-art graphic suite featuring original paintings created by the mother of the bride. Her artwork beautifully captured Monemvasia’s rugged landscapes, native flora, Kinsterna’s architectural nuances, and scenes from the couple’s most cherished global destinations, weaving a deeply personal and bespoke narrative across the stationery.
