A winter wedding in Kifissia for Despoina and Alex, two people from the same neighbourhood, with the same strong characters and a completely different register from any other wedding we had photographed. Ceremony at Kefalari Naos Sotiros, reception at Penteliko. Photography by arChive Visual Storytellers.
The Wedding
Kifissia sits at the northern edge of Athens, a neighbourhood of wide tree-lined streets, old mansions and a particular quality of light that the northern suburbs hold in winter. It was the birthplace of both Despoina and Alex, and they chose it entirely. The wedding was winter and it was rock and it was glam, not as a styling choice imposed on a standard wedding format, but as an expression of who they actually are. Despoina and Alex are the kind of couple that earns the description. The ceremony was held at Kefalari Naos Sotiros, one of Kifissia's most distinctive churches, in the heart of the neighbourhood. The reception followed at Penteliko. After the reception, when the guests had left and the hall was quiet, we went back with Despoina and Alex and made portraits in the empty room with artificial snow. Just the two of them, the space that had held their wedding, and the snow.
Kifissia is also where arChive is based. We know the neighbourhood the way you know the place you work in every day, which corners are the best backgrounds, which streets are worth walking slowly.
Our approach
This commission started months before the wedding day and never felt like a commission. We followed Despoina and Alex through a gown fitting, a studio session for a song they recorded, a visit to the store where Alex chose his tuxedo, a tattoo session for both of them, and a studio recreation of Alex's marriage proposal, balloons, white background, and the words he had written on the actual proposal: "Would you like to get old with me?"
Each of these sessions was a distinct piece of work. Together they formed a portrait of two people that the wedding day alone could never have produced.
Kifissia in winter rewards staying close to the specific character of the neighbourhood, the old architecture, the streets, the particular atmosphere of the northern suburbs when the trees are bare and the light is low. We knew the location and we knew the couple.
Related work
For our work in Athens visit our dedicated page Wedding photographer Athens.
PHOTOS
In their own words
“On the run… suggestions, counter – suggestions, demands, suspense, strain, objections, fits of rage, explosions, exasperations, weariness… All there for this notorious wedding day. The truth is we cannot recall much. We couldnt even enjoy this day as much as we would like to. What remained in the end, is the wedding gown, the suit and the photographs. The clothes have already been condemned to life sentence in the closet. On the other hand the photos spread and expand as would a virus, leaving everyone with some kind of quirk in the mouth. Whoever saw the photos realized the mistake made in their own wedding, It is not only a matter of quality that intimidates the work of other artists in the field, but also the creativity and imagination that arises from this opportunity called wedding and all that is eventually imprinted in the material delivered.
The ceremony, the party and the styled day after photo shoot, with photos that are immured in frames and decorate furniture and mantlepieces, is something everyone has access to. Our photographers have immortalized the whole timeline of our preparations. That is those candid and very real moments before the official massacre of the freedom of two people. Many more extras as a separate concept were prepared for us by the arChive team highlighting our personalities. that we shall not reveal. And we were surprised. The arChive team did not deliver us with material to be seen in the future with farsighted glasses, but images from our personal short period in time. This special period that everyone will look back on, to revive memories passed. In conclusion they are excellent professionals, and they have excellent personalities…”
