photography by Ben Yew Photography

Looking out on the picturesque caldera and deep blue Aegean Sea, Jason and Leah married surrounded by 70 of their closest family and friends.

A FRIENDLY GAME Leah and Jason had met 6 years earlier at a 'friendly' game of baseball. "He first noticed me. I, on the other hand, was too focused on winning the game to notice Jason. Luckily, he got second chance to make an impression when both of our teams went out to post-game drinks at a bar nearby."

After five happy years full of laughter, adventure, and even a puppy, on a warm summer’s day, on a hill overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge in the city they fell in love in, Jason got down on one knee and asked Leah to marry him. As fate would have it, two hikers nearby captured the entire proposal and shared with them.

DESTINATION OF LOVE Leah being half-Greek had always dreamt to marry in Greece. "Thankfully, Jason had already bought in on the idea of a destination wedding after we had vacationed in the Cyclades two summers prior."

WEATHER GODS All week long Leah and Jason had been tracking the weather because a freak storm was rolling in. Winds were high and the ferries between islands were canceled in the days leading up to the wedding. Several friends rerouted their trip while other arranged taking helicopters to get to Santorini on time.

"On the morning of the wedding, we woke up to a downpour, which threatened to cancel all of our wedding day plans. It sounded dramatic, but we actually had no back-up plan if it rained. It rarely ever rains in September in Santorini. Having friends stranded on different islands and waking up to a deluge was more than nerve-wracking, it was extremely stressful." Thankfully, their good luck hadn’t run out and by midday the skies opened up to reveal perfectly blue skies and sun. "Our day ended up being perfect as the photos show, complete with personal vows, Greek dancing, and fireworks."

THE BRIDE "I picked my wedding dress almost by accident." After visiting a dozen wedding dress boutiques from San Francisco to New York and trying on over 100 dresses, Leah ended at a trunk show at Nordstrom. "I was walking back to my dressing room with every dress my stylist and I could hold, I asked her to grab a dress that looked nothing like the style I envisioned. When we got back to the dressing room, my stylist asked which dress I wanted to try on, and I said the Monique Lhuillier dress because it would be a definite ‘no.’ Clearly, I was wrong because the second I put it on, I knew it was special." Buttons were added down the back, and a detachable train complimented with a veil hot off the runway by Tony Federici.

THE GROOM Jason invested a lot of time and energy in picking the perfect tux. Being 6’8” Jason knew he would require a tailored tuxedo. They flew to Los Angeles to meet with men’s stylist, Lauren Kirk. "Everything from the shade of blue to the lapels to the lining of the tux was handpicked by Jason. And it was worth the effort because it fit him perfectly and he looked unbelievably handsome."

SOMETHING BLUE Leah wore her mum’s beautiful, delicate evil eye bracelet. "As a child I was painfully shy, so my mom would send me to school and sports practices with an evil eye charm to protect me and to give me strength. So wearing her bracelet was the perfect piece of jewellery to honour my Greek heritage and my mom and my childhood. Plus, it checked both boxes - the old and blue!"

YOU’RE INVITED Invitations were beautiful custom creations by Studio Luzance which featured Santorini’s famous caldera-edge clifftops and blue domed churches. Guests took home traditional evil eye charms and delicious smelling Santorini-made soaps that were made for the wedding.

PUPPY LOVE "One of the favourite things I did for our wedding was gift Jason embroidered handkerchiefs which had our puppy, Jerry, on it dressed in a tux. After only one year of dating, Jason got me Jerry for Christmas. Needless to say, Jerry has been a huge part of our lives ever since and we deeply adore him. Since Jerry could not fly with us to Santorini, having a part of him with us on our wedding day was very special."

FLORAL WONDER "While I’d like to take credit for our stunning flowers, all I did was share two to three examples of white bouquets, a floral wedding arch, and centrepieces, and give our wedding planner a budget." Julia partnered with Betty Flowers Santorini designed floral masterpieces. Flowers from the ceremony arch were placed the centrepieces for the head table.

PLANNING FROM AFAR Eleven short months were spent planning the wedding of their dreams from their home in San Francisco. "Knowing we would not visit Santorini before our wedding made vendor and venue selections all the more challenging and important." They secured their top choice, Santorini Glam Weddings, ensuring that everything magically fell into place. They chose Aenaon Villas as their venue with crisp lines and white-washed buildings, and a stunning backdrop completed their wedding vision.

"We knew who we wanted for our photographer and videographer and they happened to both be travelling to Santorini in the same timeframe, which was pure luck since Ben Yew is based
in Australia and Moon & Back is based in London!"

“Before our wedding, we were given the advice to try and be in the moment during our wedding, which is harder said than done. But thankfully that advice came with the helpful tip to build in two separate moments, one during our ceremony and one afterward, where we take a step back and turn to look out at all of our guests and truly take in the moment.”

— Leah

FIRST DANCE "Our first dance was to our song from the first year of our relationship, 'Into the Mystic' by Van Morrison, and it was sung to us live by our exceptionally talented friend Brett Hunter. For our first dance, we had a choreographed routine by Fredrika Keefer, which was timed perfectly so that our final dip would coincide with fireworks, which was an exciting surprise for our guests."

TRADITIONAL FAVOURITES Given they were in Greece, their favourite dessert, baklava was served as the cake. However, both Jason’s dad and Leah's mother were huge cake and dessert fans, so a cake was especially arranged for them.