VERONIKA & CRAIG

Ecesaray Hotel, Fethiye

This month we are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary. Time flies and I can hardly believe how many exciting and interesting years we have spent together already and I am looking forward to so many more to come :)

When I look back on our wedding day I can only say that was the best day in my life. It couldn't have been better. I remember this day as the day that not only myself and my husband enjoyed so much. Looking at all our guests that day, their smiles, listening to their laughs I can definitely say they did remember our wedding probably among lots of others they have been to already.

My husband and I met at work in Moscow, Russia. He is English and that time he was working in our head office in Geneva, Switzerland. I am Russian and I used to live in Moscow when we met. After he proposed we started thinking about different options to have our special day, about locations and scenarios. Turkey was a very good option for us as both English and Russian guests didn't need a visa to come and the only things that we had to worry were the flights and accommodation.

We found information about Hayal's agency on the internet and decided to contact them. Hayal seemed to be a very nice person, very friendly and reasonable. From the very beginning I felt I could trust her. Pat, another organiser who greatly helped us, was amazing as well. They both were very attentive to all details and very caring. I wanted to have everything ideal, the flower arrangements, the decorations were supposed to be perfect, like I saw it in my mind. I kept sending emails to both Hayal and Pat with more and more changes with the flower arrangements. Their patience is limitless J On the wedding day I was absolutely delighted when I saw how beautiful and elegant the marina where we were getting married looked. It looked even better than in my dreams.

Our ceremony at the marina of EceSaray Hotel&Marina lead by David made us cry and all our guests as well. Despite the additional complexity of having the ceremony in both English and Russian translation it never lost its romance. EceSaray Hotel&Marina is a very beautiful venue and you will never regret having your wedding celebration there. After the ceremony we went for a small photo session in Blue Lagoon. Later we had a very nice wedding dinner at the top of the hotel and at night we moved to the swimming pool for the disco party.

Hayal and Pat helped us with absolutely everything we asked them for. We are so grateful for all their work, their time, effort and attention they have put towards our wedding.

Thank you so much!

We hope we will see you again some time for the renewal of our vows :)

With best regards,
Veronika and Craig

My Wedding in Turkey by EGG Ltd.

BONITA & BACHIR

Puding Suites Hotel, Antalya

31 years later…..

We were penpals at the age of 14. We wrote to each other for 13 years, sharing our teenage years together on two different continents by mail. Then, we lost touch….our lives took different paths, we were studying, working etc. but….we did not forget about each other. I kept saying : « I have to write, I have to find out how he is doing, what he has become etc. » but with my busy life, I did not have time to do so. On the other side of the ocean, he was often wondering what I was doing, if I was married, if I had kids, etc. The years went by…..and 14 years later, I received a message on FB which was saying : « It’s me, your penpal….how have you been doing, what have you become ? « I did not reply immediately, I replied after a few days, just a few lines. A few weeks went by, we were both very busy at work but one day, he called me and when I hung up the phone….I was not the same person. I knew something was going on, I did not want to believe it but I was in love with my penpal !! Then, we called each other on Skype and when we saw each other, it was so obvious that we both wanted to be together. Six months later, we were meeting in person, a day we will never forget !! After that first meeting, we knew we would be together for the rest of our lives, there was no question about it ! It was just meant to be that way !

We wanted to have a nice wedding with both families but it was impossible…..being on two different continents, our parents being a certain age, the costs, etc. so we decided to get married in Turkey since my husband’s ancestors came from Turkey….and it’s a country that represents very well the East and the West…..couldn’t have been a better choice for an Eastern boy and a Western girl ! We got in touch with Hayal at EGG Organization and we have been extremely happy !!! Thanks to her and her team, we were able to get married in beautiful Turkey. Hayal and her team, made it easy for us. We’d been communicating almost on a daily basis for a while, getting all the details, she was always prompt to respond and gave us all the details she could about what was needed from us, where to go, what to do, etc. She helped a lot facilitating the whole process. We finally had a very small wedding but with very special people. We want to thank Hayal, Pat, Baris and Ruhiye from the bottom of our hearts for making our dream come true after 31 years…….they’ve contributed immensely to make that day a very special one for both of us and without any hesitation, we would recommend EGG as wedding organizers, they are simply the BEST !!

Adem and I met in secondary school, we have been together ever since (8 years now). Our wedding story began when we went on holiday to Barbados. While in Barbados we went swimming with giant turtles, and when the boat came back to shore we got off, Adem sat me down, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was a total surprise but, of course, I said yes. It was all very romantic. When we returned to England we had a look at a few wedding venues but found nothing that we liked, nothing suited our personalities. Adem‘s family is from Turkey and that is where most of them live. One evening we were on the internet and thought we would just look into how much it would cost to get married in Turkey. That is when we discovered you could get married in Bodrum Castle, which we visit every year when we go to Bodrum, where Adem' s family have a holiday home. We fell in love with this idea straightaway. However, we then realised that we would need to find a way to make sure everything was legal, so we started googling again. That is when we came across Hayal and EGG Ltd. We emailed her immediately for a quote and were surprised at how cheap it was. In England it would cost you thousands to get married in a historic castle with a wedding planner. Hayal will tell you that we were a bit of a pain in the bottom as we couldn’t decide when to set the date, and then we had a family member ill so had to change it again. However, throughout all our dithering, Hayal was so understanding and very patient with us. We decided to get married in the Castle, but we didn’t want to have the reception there, so we got on the internet again and came across the Kempinski Hotel just outside Bodrum. It is a 5* hotel in an isolated bay about a 30 minutes drive from the Castle. We decided to have Hayal organise the ceremony and champagne in the Castle, while Adem and his father would deal direct with the hotel. Everything was organised mainly by emails. This was easier than people think. We communicated with Hayal at least once a week, which gave us reassurance as we have heard so much about weddings abroad going wrong. I, Adem and our daughter Ayla flew out to Turkey a week before our wedding, that week Pat from the company picked us up from our villa and drove us to get all our paperwork done so it was all legalised and on time. She was so friendly and could speak fluent Turkish so it was an easy transition as she was so helpful.

Our wedding was honestly a dream! If we were going to advise anyone to get married in Turkey we would definitely tell them to use Hayal and Pat. We honestly couldn’t thank them enough for being so patient and helpful throughout our wedding.

LINSDAY & DAVID

Spice Hotel, Belek

Lindsay and I first met when Lindsay was 17 and I was 18. There was a local cafe that was used by many teenagers as a place to hang out. When we first met I was very attracted to Lindsay especially her big blue eyes. Lindsay’s first impression of me was not very good at all. But over the coming months I worked my charm and soon we were more than just friends. Four years of enjoying clubbing and parties later and our first child Ellie was on her way. I decided that now was a good time to ask Lindsay to marry me so I took her to the best hotel in Wales The Celtic Manor and she said Yes.

Although we had plans to get married after Ellie was born Lindsay became pregnant again with our son Efan. A couple of years after Efan our third and final child our youngest daughter Bella. Once Bella was born we set our mind to arranging our wedding. After many discussions and even coming third in a Runaway Bride competition we set our mind to a wedding abroad. Turkey was always top of my list but Lindsay having never been was very sceptical. Once this was agreed I searched online and found EGG. Originally we planned on getting married in Turkey but once we realised all the hassle that this created we decided to get married in a registry office in the UK but conduct a wedding ceremony in Turkey. Once we agreed on the plan with EGG we sat back and they put everything in motion. When we arrived at the Spice Hotel we were greeted by Figen who was guest relations manager at the time. We also met with David Groom who would conduct the ceremony and Pat Temiz our wedding organiser for the day. After a brief final meeting all the finishing touches were applied to our day so we could sit back and enjoy. All that we had wanted and more was provided by all concerned with our wedding and the day turned out to be perfect in every way. Both Lindsay and I could not thank everyone concerned enough for a day that we will never forget.

ELAINE & PAUL

Concorde Hotel, Lara Beach

I met Paul back in 2009 on the beach near to where we both live. We started chatting and getting to know each other, became good friends really quickly and were spending a lot of time together. Over time we became very close and about a year later, around May 2010, we decided to move in together.

In May 2011 we went on holiday to Antalya in Turkey, and Paul just could not hold back any longer. We went for a walk down to the pier and he said “Let's move on” and I turned around to find him down on one knee. He asked me if I would marry him and my reply was “Are you joking?” After realising that he wasn't I, of course, said “Yes”. It was the happiest day of my life so far and I couldn't wait to get home and tell everyone – but they already all knew! Later on that year we managed to buy our first house together. We moved in on 28th October. Soon after I had a strange urge to do a pregnancy test and to our amazement we found out we were having our first child. Our daughter, Casey, was born on 15th July 2012 and that became the happiest day of our lives (so far). After she arrived I was keen to get married, but knowing how much weddings cost, I put it out of my mind, as you can imagine a house and a baby can cost a lot anyway.

I love my holidays in a hot country, and thought we deserved a week or so away and because we love Turkey (and it was where we had got engaged) we thought why not go back to the same place. With that I said to Paul “Why not try and see how much it would cost to get married there?” So we did. We had a very small wedding and this became the next best day of our lives. We found a wonderful website for EGG Ltd. They helped us with everything. From start to finish. The paperwork, translator, flowers, where and when the actual ceremony would take place. They were brilliant and I would recommend them to everyone, we even sent them photos to put on their website. Believe it or not, once you find someone you can trust abroad, it is really worth getting married in another country, much less stress. We wish EGG all the best for the future and, if you are thinking of getting married in Turkey, these are the people you must get in touch with.

REAL WEDDING STORIES

Read our clients' stories of how they met, where and when he proposed, and finally their accounts of weddings in Turkey arranged by us. We'd like to thank all the couples who contributed to this section of the website. We'll add more stories over time.