A Poetic "Deep Blue" Wedding at Ciragan Palace Kempinski: Abbey & Mete

“To love is such a long word, such a deep word, as blue as the sea…”

These words by renowned Turkish poet Cemal Süreya became the starting point for Abbey and Mete’s luxury wedding at Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul. Based in the United States, the couple’s two-day wedding celebration was planned over the course of a full year. For 300 distinguished guests travelling from the United States and Turkey, we designed a welcome celebration on the Bosphorus on the first day, followed by a timeless wedding at Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul on the second.

[Discover the Bosphorus Welcome Party →]

Design Concept: A Wedding Story in “Deep Sea Blue”

Abbey’s vision of a “blue wedding” was interpreted as a complete wedding design inspired by the depth of the Bosphorus, the movement of the waves, and the sense of tranquility created by water. Rather than treating blue simply as a color palette, we made it the defining element of the wedding’s atmosphere and design language. The blue dance floor became the focal point, surrounded by whites, creams, and soft neutral tones to allow the intensity of the color to stand out with balance and elegance.

A large-scale fabric ceiling installation inspired by the movement of waves, together with handmade flowers, created subtle transitions between different shades of blue while giving the design a fluid and sculptural character.

The Ceremony: Serenity & Heritage at Çırağan Palace Kempinski

A custom circular ceremony platform, created specifically for the wedding, completed our organic design language of soft, flowing forms. We deliberately distinguished the ceremony setting from the dinner area, creating a more neutral and serene atmosphere dominated by whites and delicate tones, with no blue incorporated into the décor. Along the aisle beginning at the palace’s grand entrance, only subtle blush accents were introduced. To preserve and highlight the authentic character of Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul, we chose not to add a raised platform or floor covering, leaving the historic stone surface completely exposed.

Knowing how important the florals were to Abbey, we conducted three separate floral trials before finalizing the arrangements. We intentionally avoided green foliage, allowing any greenery to come solely from the flowers’ natural stems and the buds retained as part of the composition. The resulting natural garden-style floral design created the feeling of an elegant, living palace garden within the historic setting of Çırağan Palace Kempinski.

International Team: A Cross-Border Creative Collaboration

Behind the wedding was also an extensive international team. We coordinated artists, creatives, and suppliers from several countries under one operation, including international music group Bodro Artist, acclaimed wedding photographers Anna Roussos and Thanos Asfis, the dedicated filmmaking team KEJ Movies travelling from the United States, and makeup artist Galya Gornishka, who also travelled from the US for the celebration.

High-End Production: An 8-Hour Transformation

Bringing a wedding design of this scale to life in the gardens of Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul required a highly precise production and logistics operation. The palace gardens were completely transformed in just eight hours by an approximately 120-person logistics, production, and installation team. Bespoke décor elements, the custom circular platform, large-scale fabric installations, and truss systems were all installed within this tightly controlled timeframe. The entire build was managed by Ruks Event & Design according to a detailed production and site schedule prepared in advance, with multiple teams working simultaneously in carefully coordinated stages.

While preserving the historic character of Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul as an integral part of the design, we managed the entire celebration end-to-end, including luxury wedding planning, bespoke wedding design, high-end production, guest relations, international team coordination, logistics, and on-site management.

The result was a distinctive and timeless luxury wedding in Istanbul that transformed blue from a simple color into a feeling and a sense of movement, bringing together the grandeur of Çırağan Palace Kempinski with the couple’s understated elegance.