My Dream Wedding In Mykonos
A DREAM COME TRUE. I got married to my best friend, high school crush, and favorite adventure buddy in Mykonos, Greece. How blessed am I???
A little side story... I go everywhere with my planner. And I plan everything WAY in advance - vacations, what college to go to, how my 4 years at NAU will pan out (studying abroad, being an RA, etc.), what job I want after I graduate, how old I'd like to be when I start having kids, what I'm going to wear tomorrow - you get the picture. Jonah even makes fun of me for writing down and scheduling out my naps. (I don't let myself take a nap unless I have it scheduled.) Needless to say, I'm not a very spontaneous person. Anyone who's friends with me knows that full well.
Which is what made this Greek wedding so out of character for me and at the same time, SO wonderful. Jonah inspires me to be more spontaneous, and I LOVE it! Life is so much more fun and adventurous with him.
Back to the wedding... Jonah and I decided 2 days before the wedding that Mykonos would be the perfect place to start our lives together. I had been to Mykonos before and know how beautiful this island is. We checked that there were no major excursions planned for the day, and we were good to go!
When June 13th rolled around, Jonah and I got off the cruise ship early to find the perfect spot - a cute little white church right by the ocean. Our families met up with us, we found some chairs, changed into our wedding attire (I found a shop nearby and Jonah changed in the street), and we were ready to get married. Everything went so perfectly, I could not have been happier!
Our ceremony was amazing and so unique! Here are some of my favorite and most memorable moments from the wedding:
Jonah's dad officiated the wedding.
We answered some heart-felt questions that were read at the reception. (I shared our answers to the questions below.)
Both Jonah and I teared up a little (even though Jonah "said" he wouldn't).
We took our first communion together as a couple, and we had to get a little creative having only brought a few wedding essentials with us to Greece. We used a cruise-ship bread roll that we smuggled off the boat and a flask of wine. Jonah and I actually drank our wine out of Santorini shot glasses - how funny is that???
Our impromptu wedding quickly became a tourist attraction for island visitors! People from all over the world stopped to enjoy the moment with us. They cried, they laughed, and they even captured our little ceremony on their phones to share what they stumbled upon on their stroll through Mykonos. (You can see some of our spectators in the picture of my dad walking me down the "aisle" below. More gathered around throughout the ceremony.)
Everything about this day was so beautiful and special to me. Take a look at some more of our favorite moments!
I really and SO happy!!!
I LOVE wedding details, which is why I showed up early to my own wedding to capture a few before the ceremony started!
My dad giving me away! I think he was a little too excited to give me away to Jonah - one daughter down, one to go.
Here are our favorite ceremony snapshots from praying together for the first time as a married couple to the first kiss!
I love the way Jonah looks at me!
Both mine and Jonah's favorite thing about the other person is their sense of humor! We love laughing together.
Jonah and I answered the same 6 questions separately without telling the other our answers before the wedding. Jonah's dad (and now my dad too!) read our silly and sweet answers during the ceremony. Here are those Q&As:
1. How did you first meet?
Jessie: I don't remember the exact moment, but it was at his house when I was hanging out with Kerena (Jonah's little sister). I was probably only 12 or 13 years old!
Jonah: Sometime when Kerena brought her over to the house for a sleepover. I always remembered that she was my favorite girl to annoy out of all of Kerena's friends.
2. What was your first date?
Jonah: Top of the Hyatt with the revolving restaurant. After knowing she liked me and was already my girlfriend, I was still so nervous on our way there.
Jessie: Our first "official" date was to the fanciest restaurant I'd ever been to - the revolving restaurant at the Hyatt. But we'd been on many friend dates before we made it official or confessed our feelings for each other.
3. When did you know you were in love?
Jessie: I knew one of the first couple of days we were dating. We were sitting outside by the beach with friends, Jonah had his arm around me, and - without sounding cliché - everything felt so right and perfect. I knew I was finally dating the man I was going to marry.
Jonah: I knew after our first kiss in Mexico.
4. How did you get engaged?
Jessie: Jonah proposed to me at Texas Roadhouse in front of our family and all of Jonah's coworkers! I was so surprised!
Jonah: Roadhouse! You were there!
5. What is your favorite thing about your soon-to-be spouse?
Jonah: There's so many to pick from. But it's definitely her sense of humor. She makes me laugh more than anyone else.
Jessie: How funny he is! I LOVE his sense of humor. It's what made me first like him and want to be his friend. I have so much fun with him.
6. What are you most looking forward to in marriage?
Jonah: I'm most looking forward to having the best marriage out of everyone we know, no fights, no problems, only nonstop love and friendship! And yes, we will give you all relationship advice upon request. ;) (Jonah is such a goofball!) Jessie: Not having to part at the end of each day anymore. I'm excited to live life with my best friend like I've dreamed about for years and years.
I have prayed for you, my [future] husband, even before I knew your name, and then when we became friends, you quickly became exactly what I was looking for in the man I wanted to marry. You were my best friend long before you were my boyfriend, and although being "just" friends required a lot of patience, day dreaming, and praying, part of me always felt like I belonged with you. I wouldn't trade the years of friendship for anything else because it has allowed me to understand a little better how beautiful and perfect this is for us. God, in His perfect timing, showed you that I was the girl He had in store as your best friend, girlfriend, and wife, and I'm SO grateful He did. I love you, Jonah John Corder, and I love that we now get to share your name and our lives together. Nothing makes me happier.
Right after the ceremony and a few pictures, we stopped for our favorite food ever - gyros! Boy, do we love gyros. Not only did we get our dream wedding in the best location ever, but we also got our dream meal! I miss those gyros already...
Mr. & Mrs. Corder
Jonah and I are truly blessed to say that we both have amazing parents to model what real love looks like. They are living testaments to God's love and how it unites and brings people together "through better and through worse."
We love our family!!!
Just call me Mrs. Jessie Lee Corder! (Still getting used to that!)
"Love is patient, love is kind... It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
And finally, a huge shoutout to the best maid of honor a girl could have - her sister! Brie went above and beyond to help make my destination wedding as perfect as possible.
From being mine and Jonah's photographer to touching up my hair and makeup when I desperately needed it, she put her love into action as she stood by me on my special day.
She even voluntarily shared a cramped 2-person cruise cabin with both of our parents and our little brother for 4 nights to let Jonah and I share a room after we got married! If that's not love, I don't know what is! (A big thank you to my parents & Chas for that sacrifice too!)
Thank you, everyone, for making mine and Jonah's wedding possible! We love you all very, very much!
Photos taken by: Brie Marie Photography and me (Jessie Lee Photography)
All photos edited by: me (Jessie Lee Photography)
If you haven't checked out mine and Jonah's engagement story yet, you need to! I also included some background info about our friendship and dating relationship in this post, so if you want to get to know us a little better and read about our life together, that's the perfect place to start!
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