Abi and Chris had a very special wedding in Corfu in the summer of 2009. The ceremony took place at the heart of the historic town and it was followed by waterfront reception inside the Venetian Old Fortress. They both regularly go abroad as Chris is a pilot and Abi cabin crew, so a dream wedding in the Greek islands was not a difficult decision. In the interview below, they describe their experience, how they met and why they chose Corfu over so many other exotic destinations.
We flew together to Catania, Sicily so we met somewhere above the French Alps. I had always said I would never date a pilot so, never say never!!! We have quite a few friends now who have met onboard as crew and are now married or getting married.
As we met above the Alps, Chris took me to Morzine skiing and arranged for a horse drawn sleigh to take us on a ride and stop at a viewpoint so that Chris could propose to me. It was how I had always envisaged my wedding to be, on a snowy mountain, but to be proposed to that way was perfect.
Corfu has always had a special place in my heart. This year was my 25th year of visiting Corfu as I have family that live there. Chris had been with me once on the QE2 which was amazing and then again on a 2 week holiday and he too fell in love with the Island. It’s so relaxing; the scenery is stunning and the locals so welcoming. Yes we do fly to many exotic destinations but whenever friends or indeed passengers ask me my favourite destination, Corfu always wins.
I have operated into Corfu many times with a previous airline and have landed in all kinds of weather which can make it interesting, but this time when we landed it was a very exciting time as I knew it was the last time I would be landing anywhere in the world as Miss Abi Ballam.
I had a professional cake topper made of the pair of us. Chris in his pilot's uniform and myself in my wedding dress. I just had to send her some pictures of Chris in his uniform. It turned out brilliantly.
No not really, we entrusted Ionian Weddings to take care of everything and you did a brilliant job. With regular flights throughout the summer popping over before the wedding is something I would recommend if you have the time and money. It helped ease the pre-wedding nerves.
We thought that a lot more guests would be unable to come to Corfu due to the credit crunch but we were pleasantly surprised out of 75 invites we had 69 guests. I think making it a short haul destination definitely helped our guests manage to afford to come.
Put your trust into the hands of Ionian Weddings. They arrange weddings everyday and are available by email or at the end of the phone if you need reassurance. I must admit I was a little stressed due to the language barrier dealing with locals over the phone but face to face and email was much easier. This needn't happen if you leave everything to the professional care of the Ionian Weddings team, that's what they are there for!