Agios Nikolaos Ragavas stands in the heart of Plaka, an 11th-century Byzantine church that was part of the palace of the Ragavas family, among them Michael I, emperor of Byzantium. The church bell was the first installed in Athens after liberation and the first to ring in 1833 to announce the city's freedom. A ceremony there carries that weight without requiring any acknowledgement of it.

Bridal preparations took place at the Hilton Hotel. The ceremony was held at Agios Nikolaos Ragavas. The reception moved to Lykiardopoulou Mansion at Amalias 36, a historical building of grand neoclassical architecture designed by wedding planner Faye Vallidis for the occasion. The palette was dark green and red, the season was Christmas, and the reception halls were lit with hundreds of candles. The party continued through the night.

Plaka in winter has a quality that the tourist season never reveals, quieter streets, colder light, the Byzantine churches in sharper relief against the sky. We know this neighbourhood and the light it holds at different hours. Agios Nikolaos Ragavas gave us a ceremony inside a church with a history that predates almost everything around it.

This was a private commission. We covered it with the same attention as any other and shared a few images with the couple's permission. Some stories belong more to the people in them than to the archive.

For our work in old town center, Plaka and Athens visit our dedicated page Wedding photographer Athens