Sunday, 8 January 2012
We are getting married!
Dear all,
This is the first entry in this blog.
This is the first entry in this blog.
The wedding
Our wedding will take place on the 2nd of June 2012. The venue for the wedding and the following evening celebration is The Dedeman Hotel in Zonguldak Turkey, which is on the Black Sea coast (see map below).The wedding itself will simply involve a registration event in the hotel at 15:30. The evening celebration starts at 19:30 on the roof terrace of the hotel overlooking the Black Sea. The evening event will involve a meal, drinks and live music.
We are aware that it is a long way to travel for a wedding. We understand that it may be too costly for some of you to attend. However, we have forgone the usual Stag/Hen events to keep cost down. Also we suggest that this wedding could be used as the focus of a long weekend (it is a bank holiday in the UK on the 4th) or as a spring board for a holiday in Turkey, which is the crossroads and birthplace of many different cultures. We will be updating this blog regularly with many different holiday suggestions to suit all tastes and budgets.
Things you need to do + anticipated costs travelling from the UK
1) Turkey is not a member of the EU but no visa is required. However, there is a £20 Turkish ‘visa’ tax on arrival to the country. This is paid at the airport upon arrival.
2) There are various flight options available. We suggest flying with low-cost airlines Easy Jet, Pegasus or Jet2.com to Istanbul. The current price from these companies for return flights to Istanbul is around £120. Other options include flying to Ankara. We are also trying to negotiate a group discount arrangement with BA and Turkish Airlines from Manchester Airport and will let you know how this goes.
3) Travelling to Zonguldak from Istanbul is done by bus. The cost for this is £15 each way, we will cover this cost for you to the venue and pre-book your tickets so all you have to do is go to the bus station. However, depending on how many of you can make it we may arrange for a private coach from Taksim Square in Istanbul to Zonguldak.
4) We suggest that you break up the journey to Zonguldak from the UK over two days. Thus, we suggest you stay at least one night in Istanbul – although we recommend more than that! We are trying to arrange a small tour of the Old City with a local. Furthermore, we will give you the names and numbers of friends in Istanbul for you to contact if you were to run into any problems. We will be posting information about different places to stay in Istanbul shortly. For now to give you an idea of prices these will vary between £25 - £80 per room/night + breakfast (i.e. the cost is half of this for two people sharing).
5) You will have to stay at least one night in Zonguldak. For convenience, we suggest you stay at The Dedeman Hotel. This is a 5-star hotel on the coast and is also wedding venue. The price for a double/twin room at the Dedeman + breakfast is about £60/night. We managed to negotiate the price down from £130 and also manage to reserve rooms with a sea view. However, if you are on a budget there should be some limited space at another venue near the Dedeman where the room cost only £10 a night.
6) Extras: Depending on how many of you can make it, we will be arranging a free trip to Safranbolu or Amasra on the 3rd of June. Safranbolu is a UNESCO world heritage town just south of Zonguldak with Ottoman era houses and architecture and traditional market. Safranbolu is where they used to grow Saffron for the Ottoman palace in Istanbul, hence the name! Amasra is an ancient picturesque town on the Black sea coast, mentioned in the Illiad, according to Wikipedia. If you have any particular preferences please let us know and we will arrange the trip accordingly.
Just to wet your appetite, for holidays in Turkey we suggest the following
Just to wet your appetite, for holidays in Turkey we suggest the following
a. For culture vultures and city goers: Istanbul http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/istanbul
b. For outdoor types: Cappadocia in the centre of Turkey. Cappadocia, another Unesco World Heritage site, is famous for its unique landscape characterized by fairy chimneys and ancient underground and cave settlements.
c. For beach holidays: We suggest you avoid the usual English tourist destinations and alternatively choose Dalyan, a nature reserve for giant sea-turtles Caretta Caretta. We suggest this boutique hotel for excellent service on a budget:
d. For those of you who would like to mix a beach holiday with a bit history, we suggest Izmir, which has access to major historical sites such as Ephesus and Pergamon as well as long, sandy beaches.
Any questions please email us.
More info on the blog and proper wedding invitations to follow!
Best wishes,
Toni and Burcu
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