How We Pulled It Off: An East-Meets-West Wedding in Istanbul

A Toronto-based couple with Kazakh and Chinese roots give all their friends and family the gift of an Istanbul destination wedding.La DichosaJasmin Karibzhanova and Sam Sutcliffe are a multicultural pair whose families and upbringings have spanned the globe. Jasmin was born and raised in the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan, and now lives in Toronto with Sam, a Canadian of Chinese-English descent (who grew up partly in Hong Kong). Friends introduced them in 2022 and the couple were engaged in Turks and Caicos in 2024. Quickly, they figured out that anywhere they married would require a long-haul flight for many if not most of their guests, so why not give everyone an excuse to go somewhere thrilling?La DichosaLa DichosaIt was Jasmin’s father who suggested they wed in Istanbul for a few reasons: Turkey doesn’t require visas for Canadian or Kazakh citizens, there are direct flights to Istanbul from both Toronto and Almaty, and the city seemed like a more compelling place than typical European destination wedding locales like the countryside of France or Italy. Plus, given the bride and groom’s cultural backgrounds, an east-meets-west theme fit nicely with Istanbul’s location and history. Ahead, the couple shares how they planned their June 2026 wedding for 160 guests in Istanbul, a celebration that included a boat ride to a secret destination, a ceremony along the strait, and copious amounts of Turkish delight.Hire two plannersLiving far away, the couple knew they’d need a lot of help plotting their destination celebration. After deciding on Istanbul, they first reached out to Turkish planners, but then struggled with the cultural divide. “Western wedding traditions are a bit different than what they were used to, and we had some communication issues with language,” Jasmin says.They expanded their search to planners elsewhere in Europe with whom they could speak more clearly, and who were well-versed in producing larger-scale celebrations. They landed on Matthew Oliver Weddings, a London-based firm that specializes in destination weddings across Europe and the Middle East. Coincidentally, the team there had recently connected with Aylinly Events, a Turkish planner who’d directly expressed an interest in collaborating on Turkish destination celebrations. Given the serendipity, working with both firms seemed like the best way to pull off the kind of highly-produced event Jasmin and Sam wanted.From there, the wedding was plotted via weekly Zoom meetings with the Matthew Oliver team, particularly their lead planners Bertie and Georgia, while the Turkish team tended to be most comfortable over WhatsApp. “If you're sending a WhatsApp, they'll respond in 20 minutes at 4:00 a.m. their time,” Jasmin says. “The Turkish approach to hospitality is next level. They’re never off. They work the hardest of any creative team I’ve ever met.”La DichosaMake two planning tripsThe couple visited Istanbul twice during their engagement, with the first trip to tour venues about one year out from the wedding date they eventually set. They sought a space that could handle their substantial guest list, and quickly fell for the Peninsula Istanbul, which spans four buildings set right on the Bosphorus in the historic neighborhood of Karaköy.“It was integrated into the fabric of the city,” Jasmin says. “You could just walk out into the street and enjoy Istanbul, which we really loved, and it had fantastic views of the Golden Horn.” The brand was a special touchstone for Sam and his family too, as the Peninsula has roots in Hong Kong.Given the hotel’s size, its staff was adept at events and offered plenty of standard packages, though they were happy to work outside of the typical framework. “There was nothing they would say no to,” Jasmin says. “They had a fantastic understanding of vendors in the city and issues to consider, with amazing recommendations. Their whole approach to hospitality and wedding planning was that there is no rejection of any idea. They would just figure it out.”defaultLa Dichosafamily La DichosaMake it easy for people to comeWhen reaching out to friends and family, the couple was pleasantly surprised to find how many wanted to fly to Turkey. “I sort of assumed that because it was so far, especially for the Canadians, that we’d have a smaller guest list than we did,” Jasmin says. “But people really wanted to go because it was a destination that a lot hadn’t been to before. It was a great excuse to make their way over there.”So they felt a duty to properly entertain their loved ones. “My philosophy around the event was that I wanted it to be completely guest-facing. I wanted it to be easy for people to come and enjoy the weekend,” says the bride, who admits she went totally “overboard” in this respect. Aside from creating a wedding website with all the event info, they also offered travel tips and suggestions, fashioned suggested itineraries, and pre-booked a local tour of Istanbul for folks who arrived early.Another reason they opted for the Peninsula was its location near many other hotels with varying price points and appeals. “Our friends stayed closer to bars and nightlife, and older guests stayed near museums and such,” Jasmin says, estimating that about a third of attendees checked into the Peninsula.defaultLa DichosaLa DichosaGo big on the aestheticsBoth Jasmin and Sam have creative backgrounds—they work together on a film production company, Jasmin studied theater and acted, and Sam’s parents are celebrated architects—and approached the aesthetics of their wedding like an artistic pursuit. “We knew that a lot of our guests would be from the creative world, and we were particular about how we wanted things to look,” Jasmin says. They suggested high-level elements like the color scheme (dusty blue and rich mulberry), and then their planning teams, along with the creative studio Event Lab, filled in the gaps with more ideas.One key element in ensuring the wedding’s cohesion was the furniture production, for which they worked with AND Event & Design Studio to create items like modular custom chairs and a platform drenched in a velvety maroon for the ceremony space. Another was the florals, designed and arranged by Fluida Design. For the eye-popping ceremony, the flowers were lush and architectural, almost alien-like, while for dinner the arrangements were tighter, paler, and more romantic.“I wanted it to function like a play: There’s a rising energy, then a reveal, then a resolution,” says Jasmin of the aesthetic journey. In Fluida Design, they found a creative partner that pushed them in all the right directions, outside a typical wedding comfort zone. “The initial proposition was a lot more neutral colors, just whites and greens, and then our floral team was like, ‘Well, why don't we just do color because that's just more interesting?’” Jasmin recalls. And as much as the couple cared about the look, they were happy to let the experts be the experts. “We were like, ‘Well, we would like for you also to just have fun with it,” she says. “Do whatever you want.”La DichosaLa DichosaKick off with a little kitschOn Thursday of their wedding weekend, the couple hosted an intimate but more casual rehearsal dinner for their family and closest friends at the hotel. Friday brought the welcome party for all of their guests, who boarded boats bound for an unknown location at sunset from the Peninsula: it turned out to be the Rahmi M. Koç Museum, a funky transportation museum space along the Bosphorus.When the couple toured venues, they found that many options were great but a little too similar in energy to the Peninsula. “The last place we went was this museum, which is a ridiculous, magical place,” Jasmin says. “It’s a private collection of vintage cars, boats, submarines, and planes, all cramped together in this hangar-like building on the Bosphorus. It was very kitschy but a great contrast to our wedding venue.”La DichosaLa DichosaThe Silk Road-themed party packed in loads of Turkish details from the music to the food: carts offering grilled meatballs (or köfte), ⁠döner, and stuffed bulgur balls (or içli köfte) made for a bazaar energy, while a live dessert station formed traditional lokma, freshly fried dough balls drizzled with syrup. “Floral” arrangements were built around local vegetables, like tall piles of peppers strung on garlands, and evil-eye pendants were handed out as party favors.Don’t back down from the rainSam and Jasmin’s wedding day started out a bit drizzly, a rarity for early summer in Istanbul. One of the reasons they chose the Peninsula in the first place was for its large terrace set against the strait, with the hope of getting married at sunset along the water with boats streaming by in the background. The vision was so beloved that they refused to come up with a rain plan, even for the platform built across the space.La Dichosa“Our team was like, ‘Maybe we look into other things?’ And I can be very impulsive,” Jasmin admits. “‘No, we're just going to commit to this. If it rains, it rains. I don't want to hide the city from our guests, even if it's wet.’” They delayed the ceremony for a few minutes but got their dream of holding it outside without soaking their families and friends.Waiting for that area was worth it. “It was a very special space because normally that space is just a herb garden on top of the Peninsula, but we took it over for the wedding,” Sam says. “You both got spectacular views across the entire city and felt in it, while being slightly removed from the craziness.”The Muslim call to prayer rang out amid a ceremony officiated by family friend and noted Canadian philanthropist Nancy Lockhart, and boats slowed down in interest. “It didn't feel invasive at all,” Jasmin says. “We wanted to be integrated into the city, and that's what we got.”La DichosaLa DichosaCelebrate under the rainbowFollowing the ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktails steps away in a part of the courtyard wrapped in a romantic mauve pink that colored the curtains, custom loungers, and drink tables. In keeping with the ideas of travel and adventure, the cocktail hour had a hotel theme (an idea that came from the Peninsula’s staff), with staff dressed as bellhops and a wall of ornate golden keys with pink tassels serving as the escort cards.The wall of keys also functioned to block off the dinner area as it was set up, “so when they were ushered into the next space,” Sam says, “it was a surprising and beautiful new twist for everyone.” Next to the ceremony and cocktails spaces, the dinner “room” was formed by walls of blue curtains and the soaring, upside-down umbrellas that sit permanently on that courtyard. The tables were arranged in long, wavy lines that provided open views to the water.And while this could never have been planned—even by the considerable talents of the creative couple and their multiple event teams—the risk of rain was rewarded by an incredible sight. “We had a spectacular double rainbow from the Asian side to the European side of the Bosphorus," says Sam. “The rainbow is something I will never forget for the rest of my life.’La DichosaHighlight the most beloved parts of Turkish cultureWhile the couple’s welcome dinner was packed with cultural touchpoints, the wedding day itself was more traditionally Western, albeit with some Turkish details. Sam took his groomsmen to a hamam during the day for spa treatments, and the wedding dinner was based around the best of the local cuisine. Canapes included mussel “dolma’’ with black-ink bread, a lemon commape, a bite of Ezine cheese with quince, and a simit bread crumble, while the main meal began with a mezze platter before a first course of duck or mushroom baklava.La DichosaLa DichosaWork within the noise ordinanceAfter dinner and speeches from loved ones, the party took to the dance floor, where the Uninvited Jazz Band got the party going. The couple served a classic wedding cake in two flavors: one dark chocolate and one raspberry and white chocolate. A series of smaller sweet bites from the Peninsula’s famous high tea were also passed around the tables.A local city ordinance that event noises die down after 10 p.m. inspired a move off the terrace and into the nearby ballroom for more dancing. The after-party space was blanketed in scarlet, with a black and white checkerboard floor. From there, DJ Live from Élan Artists spun into the wee hours, and the newlyweds poured out a Champagne tower. A poem Sam had written was displayed above the bar: “Silk Road’s starting point / union atop ancient roots / celebratory love.”Kaitlin Menza is a writer and former editor at Teen Vogue, Glamour, and Seventeen. She covers food, travel, health, pop culture, and everything else wonderful the world has to offer. She lives in New York City. You can find her work at kaitlinmenza.com. ... Read More