Everything about the wedding of Mara Dionyssiou and Randy Lizcano was big. With 600 guests and 6,000 rose petals, the celebration united Mara's Greek heritage with her love of Old Hollywood glamour.
The Bride Mara Dionyssiou, 26, restaurant manager
The Groom Randy Lizcano, 22, student
The Date October 23rd
The Scene Ceremony at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church; reception at The Wyndham Hotel in Toledo
How They Met "Randy came into my father's restaurant for a job, and as soon as I saw him, I knew I had to have him," says Mara. By the time she found out he was four years younger, Mara was too smitten to let the age difference be a dealbreaker. "He totally swept me off my feet," Mara says.
The Proposal Over a casual lunch at their favorite restaurant, the conversation turned serious when Randy began talking about the future. It slowly dawned on Mara that her younger beau was proposing. "I was completely dumbfounded -- he was asking me to marry him," she says. "I said, 'Are you serious?!' and then he presented me with a ring he designed himself." Luckily, Mara was able to sputter one more word: "Yes!"
The Planning With a little over a year to plan a wedding for 600 guests, Mara credits the talented women in her family with pulling it off. One aunt is a professional singer, the other is a hairdresser, her grandmother is a florist, and her mom has the eye of an interior designer. "We created a vision in our minds, planned it all ourselves, then told the vendors exactly what to do," she says.
The Ceremony The marriage was officiated in the same Greek Orthodox Church where Mara was baptized. It's an elaborate space with gold arches and hand painted ceilings, but it still wasn't big enough for 600, so some people had to sit outside on the steps. "We used 6,000 rose petals to decorate the aisle and it was absolutely breathtaking," says Mara. The bridesmaids appeared as her singer aunt and a fellow performer sang "Come What May" from Mara's favorite movie, Moulin Rouge. The bride made her entrance to a traditional Greek song.
Significant Backgrounds During the Greek Orthodox ceremony the couple chooses a Koumbaros who becomes their orthodox wedding sponsor (kind of like a best man). Mara's Uncle Mike received this honor. A ceremony ensues in which the bride and groom wear special crowns and the Koumbaros exchanges them. Although it was not required, Randy converted to the Greek Orthodox church a few month before the wedding.
The Bride Wore Fashion maven Mara had a ball dressing herself and the bridal party. For her: an ivory silk razmire strapless gown with a side-gathered asymmetrical bodice from Lazaro. The gown was wrapped with a side tie sash and had a trumpet skirt with a full pleated back. Hand-beaded and embroidered applique accents along the hemline plus a chapel train completed the look.
The Bridesmaids Wore Mara glammed up her gals in Lazaro. Each of the twelve bridesmaids wore one of three different gowns in ivory or maize.
The Theme Old Hollywood glamour was the look for the big, fun Greek wedding. With a palette of white, ivory and maize with gold accents, Mara and Randy also used props to add to the ambience. "When I think of glamour, I envision huge white ostrich plumes, so I incorporated white ostrich feathers along with strands of pearls everywhere, even in the centerpieces and bouquets," says Mara.
The Flowers In keeping with the vintage look, all of the flowers were in shades of white: mini calla lillies, Virginia roses, hydrangeas, dendrobium orchids, cattaleya orchids, and ranunculus. And, of course, the white ostrich plumes. "My grandmother had an entourage of about 12 people helping her out with the flowers -- I felt like royalty," says Mara.
The Music A lounge singer and pianist performed torch songs during cocktail hour. A DJ and a Greek band took over the dinner portion of the evening, and Greek dancing lasted all night long. Opa!
The Favors A local bakery provided 340 handmade truffles that the couple placed in small gold boxes. Though they "took forever to put together," Mara says, they also doubled as place cards.
The Photography "Of course, it had to rain on my wedding day right after the ceremony when my new husband and I were to take pictures together," sighs Mara. But the husband and wife team of shutterbugs arranged for Mara and Randy to have portraits taken when they got back from the honeymoon.
The Honeymoon Nine days relaxing on the beautiful beaches of Maui, Hawaii.
--Alonna Friedman
photography © Kanney Contemporary Photography
For the ingredients that make up this wedding, see the right-hand column of this page.
See More: Real Weddings: Cultural Celebrations , Real Weddings: Formal Affairs