Boat wedding on the Bosphorus

Gözde and Barış was a couple who love to have fun, and to entertain. In fact, Gözde is a stand-up comedian taking the stage at BKM Mutfak. This lovely couple got married with a boat wedding on the Bosphorus, and I think their experience will be valuable to anyone wishing to do the same.

So, I had a little post-wedding interview with Gözde to answer some common questions about a boat wedding. She also shared the story of their wedding, and her experience of the after party later in the night.

So, here is wht she told me, along with the photographs from that day.

First thing’s first; how was the boat wedding?

I wanted to have my wedding in a venue with a sea view, preferrably the Bosphorus. Because even though I was 31, I was still the princess of the day:) But it was almost impossible. We have seen almost all the venues around the Bosphorus. I had a guess about the prices of venues, but when we started getting offers, we decided that selling a kidney to afford those venues would not be worth it 🙂 Then we came across the idea of having the wedding on a boat. But now I regret not selling a kidney 🙂

The boat set to sea from Istinye. In the beginning, it was all we dreamed of. Violin tunes accompanied the coctail party on the upper deck. Then it was time for the dinner. At the boat wedding, the dinner is served on the lower salon. On our boat we had the dance floor on the upper deck, and 6 lounge-style seatings, each with a capacity of 6 people. Although the upper deck was completely open, the salon downstairs is surrounded by large windows and needs air circulation. Normally there were 2 air-conditioners, but one of them was out of order. Our guests had to have their dinner in sweat. I had to walk around the tables to apologize from everyone. It was very stressful.

When the dinner was over, the music started getting lively. We were planning that not all the people would want to come to the upper deck after the dinner, and many would prefer to stay in the dinner salon. So we thought the seating on the deck would be sufficient. But because it was too hot downstairs, almost everyone came to the deck, and we had trouble fitting in the area. Now when I think about it, our plan was overly optimistic. Because it was a mistake to assume people to stay downstairs while there is too much fun on the deck, even when it was not too hot.

A boat wedding sounds like a great idea, and it costs much less. But it has some caveats. The dinner tables don’t have a view of the dance floor. You need to assume that all the guests will come to the deck, and so have no more than 50 guests if possible. With what I know now, I would still do a boat wedding, but with much fewer guests.

Tell me about how you two met, and how he proposed

I have met Barış through our friends, who were also a couple. Although the electricity between that other couple did not last long, the electricity between Barış and me made Edison and Tesla jealous 🙂

The proposal was less than I dreamed of 🙂 Since he was an engineer, he delayed the proposal until he was sure I would say yes. He knew after that time I would say yes even if he would say “Let’s go get married” 🙂

So on our 5th anniversary, when he told me he was taking me to a restaurant which I had been talking about, I knew he was going to propose. I practiced in front of the mirror to play “the woman who didn’t know”. Still, it was romantic.

What was your pain points during wedding planning in Turkey?

Because we had to deal with everything by ourselves, we were torn to pieces. Sure, we enjoyed running after everything, but it was exhausting.

What are things that you are glad you did for the wedding?

We are glad we were picky selecting the menu. We are glad we did an after party with close friends. We are glad we picked Erkin Ağsaran as our photographer 🙂

What are things that you regret about the wedding?

We regret trusting the planner so much, because she was the one who did hide the fact that the air-con was broken. We regret not taking the time to search for a better DJ.

Anything you would want to mention about the wedding day?

The after party was too much fun. I highly recommend having one on the wedding day. I think everyone needs a some real fun at the end of the wedding, with small number of close friends who would not judge you for your planning skills. I think if I didn’t have so much fun at the after party, it would be harder for me to get over the stress I had at the wedding. We were the hosts at the wedding, and we felt responsible for all the small issues. But at the after party we were also guests, and we were free to have fun, and truly appreciate the day there.

How did you find and pick me as your wedding photographer?

I was picky about the photography. Usually the wedding planners and the wedding venues in Turkey insist their couples work with a photographer that they recommend (mostly beacuse of the contract they signed with that photographer). They might say highly positive things about their photographer, or they might say you must work with that photographer because you chose to hire that venue or that planner.

So we had a few meetings with their recommended photographer. But when that photographer showed up late to almost all meetings, he shattered our trust from the beginning. I was also meeting with other photographers as well. Some of them were very high-end photographers. But all the photos looked the same to me. They had very similar styles, and similar poses. Yes, they were high in quality, but there was something that looked off to me in those photographs.

I realized what it was when I saw Erkin’s website. Suddenly the work of all the other photographers seemed too fake. True, they were posed, photograhed and edited with great care. But none of them seemed real, because they were all posed. But Erkin’s photographs were genuine, authentic and real. So I called Erkin. That is how I found out what documentary wedding photography really was. I remember the relief I felt when I first saw Erkin’s wedding photographs. I am still greatful to have picked the right wedding photographer when I look at the photographs.

If you want to truly remember your wedding day, you need a photographer who can capture your true emotions. You can have your perfectly posed photos with almost any photographer, but only a few can capture the true essence of your wedding. At first we wanted to have both, but we did not want to spend our precious time on the wedding day for pictures. So we scheduled another session for posed photos with Erkin at first, but then we decided to only go with the unposed pictures of the wedding day.

How would you describe your wedding photographs?

Natural.

Real.

As if they are going to come to life.

So, just like I wanted them to be 🙂

Wedding dress : Aysira

Hair : Ahmet Gümüşsoy

Make up : Topuz Modelleri

Shoes : Hotiç

Groom’2 outfit : Beymen

Bouquet : Sera Serap

Photography : Erkin Ağsaran