Wedding Experts’ Luxury Turkey Fam Trip by KM Events

As the president of KM Events, during my 26 years in the wedding and event industry, I have always worked on promoting Turkey as one of the top wedding destinations in the world, and I have continuously developed and created different projects with my team to present our beautiful country, Turkey to the global wedding industry. Wedding Experts’ Luxury Turkey Fam Trip was one of the highlight projects that we have created with the support of Turkey’s Minister of Culture & Tourism.

The story behind our Luxury Turkey Fam Trip project was different than the other projects that we have created as KM Events. The pandemic that we have been dealing with since the beginning of 2020 hit the  global wedding and event industry hard as we were unable to travel and plan any wedding or any event. Most of the events & weddings either got cancelled or has been postponed to next year. When the cases around the world started to drop by summer, Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) which is connected to the  Turkish Minister of Culture & Tourism, gave me a new and challenging project idea. Our plan was to bring the worldwide famous wedding planners and designers to Turkey, present the beauties of our country and give them a very unique Turkey experience. The main idea of the project was to show these worldwide weddings planners and designers that Turkey is one of the best destinations to create any kind of celebration.

After months of hard work with our team, we have welcomed 8 different wedding planners & designers from 8 different countries. In such a tough period of time, everyone was excited and looking forward to this trip. I would like to kindly note that, both our guests and the team have done the covid tests before the fam trip. Each detail of Luxury Turkey trip has been worked and planned on very carefully with our team and sponsors, offering our guests safety, comfort as well as unforgettable Turkish experiences.

Our excitement started much earlier than the start date of our project. We were feeling very happy to be able to welcome the biggest names of our industry and finally reunite with them after a while. Our guests were; Bob Conti from USA, Ghada Blanco from Lebanon, Gideon Hermosa from Philippines, Sarah Young from Malta, Simone Tostes from Brazil, Arturo de Noriega from Peru, Frieha Altaf from Pakistan and Monsieur Froonck from France. It was feeling magical to reunite with a group of international wedding planners after many months of quarantine and lockdowns.

As our guests were coming from different parts of the world, each of them have arrived to Istanbul through Turkish Airlines in different timings. Shangri La Bosphorus was one of our main sponsors as they have opened their beautiful rooms to accommodate our guests during their stay in Istanbul.

Finally, our first day of our Fam Trip started on the 2^nd of November Monday and we have all reunited in one of the new trendy meeting point in Istanbul; The Steeve by İsmet Saz. İsmet Saz is one of the most popular and successful Turkish chefs, offering a gastronomic experience with a mix of South American-Turkish food. 

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After a 2hours of reunion lunch, the guests went back to the hotel; Shangri La Bosphorus, to take some rest, and then the night has started with our Bosphorus boat tour, with some music, champaign, breathtaking Bosphorus sunset view and continued with a special dinner, decorated and organized by KM Events, at the Marmara Esma Sultan.

Along with our wedding planners and designers, some special Turkish guests have accompanied us in dinner at Esma Sultan. All of our guests have enjoyed the first night with some music, sufi shows and with the amazing food from Esma Sultan. Our first day was completed with lots of dance, gatherings, laughs and finally after a long time we were able to enjoy such a beautiful night.

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We have started our second day of our Luxury Turkey fam trip complete! Finally our dear Simone from Brazil and Gideon from Philippines were here! After a small presentation at Shangri La, a Turkish Brunch at Six Senses Mansion was waiting for us. We have all enjoyed a very rich Turkish breakfast and then had an inspection at the historical Six Senses Kocatas Mansion

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Then we have continued our trip by discovering some famous Turkish jewellery designers, Sevan Bıçakçı and Tina jewellery at the heart of Istanbul, Sultanahmet. Our final stop for the day was the Theodosius Cistern and then we have enjoyed our tea time at the Hagia Sofia Mansions, feeling the historical ambiance of Istanbul.

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After a long day filled with history, we have ended our second night at the historical Ciragan Palace Kempinski with a theme of Ottoman Night. Our intimate and warm dinner was accompanied with ottoman food prepared by the Chef of Kempinski and surprise Turkish entertainment, making our guests dance the whole night.

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The remaining 2 days of our Luxury Turkey Fam trip was all about exploring the very unique Cappadocia! With an early flight, we reached our hotel, Argos In, where we have stayed for 2 nights. Our days were spent with exploring the landscapes of Cappadocia, visiting historical churches, doing some local activities, getting mesmerized by the fairy chimneys and having inspections at the unique designed boutique hotels. Meanwhile, at nights we were having wine tasting at Chapels, fine dining at Elai and Lil’a Restaurants and enjoying the delicious local food of Cappadocia. Of course, our trip was filled with lots of poses and capturing moments ! It was especially an unforgettable experience for our guests, even though some of them have seen Cappadocia before, it’s a place that offers you something new each time you visit and continues to take your breath away with its magic.

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After spending two full days at Cappadocia, it was time to go back to Istanbul, however, our 4 nights planned Fam Trip has been extended as all of our guests have enjoyed Turkey and wanted to stay longer. Thanks to Four Seasons Bosphorus for providing their rooms for the guests who confirmed to extended their stay. All of us had a final lunch together and enjoyed the Bosphorus before saying a good bye to the ones who were leaving. For the ones who stayed longer, we have continued to explore our city, Istanbul with historical hammams, some shoppings, and dinners with delicious food.

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At the end of the trip, the few days we have spent was first of all felt very good for all of us. It was an escape from all of the challenges that we have faced this year and seeing each other for the first time since many months, was a big motivation for all of us as well as for our industry. As KM Events team, we cannot wait to make such special projects next year,  develop new ideas to promote our country and work hard to bring the biggest events to Turkey by making our country number one wedding destination. It was a pleasure to see all of my friends in my country, and I am looking forward to seeing them all again next year, the soonest!