Sea View by En Kipo Was Rooted in Flowers Before It Became a Venue

"Sea View by En Kipo began with a single seed" - that's how the team behind it describes its own origin, and it isn't a figure of speech. 

The venue on Psathi Hill in Chania, Crete, was founded by the same family behind an established floriculture business, whose passion for gardens eventually led them to shape a hillside plot overlooking the Cretan coastline into the space where couples now exchange their vows. More than 300 weddings later, the land is still tended with the same personal care that shaped it from the beginning, by the family behind Sea View by En Kipo. 

A Venue Rooted in a Family of Florists

"Sea View by En Kipo began with a single seed, planted in 1995 when Thrasyvoulos Bolakis devoted himself to the art of floriculture. Years spent shaping gardens led him, in 2003, to found En Kipo nursery in Chania. As the nursery grew, his wife Eleni carried it into new territory, transforming it into a flourishing floral business. Together, their love for flowers and storytelling led them to a quiet hillside in the seaside area of Stalos in Chania, where Sea View by En Kipo was born."

That origin still shows up in how the property is maintained today. "The garden itself" is what the team points to when asked what makes the venue distinctive.

Sea View by En Kipo offers a genuine connection to Crete's natural charm. Our venue is filled with real, seasonal blooms and Mediterranean greenery, shaped, curated and cared for by the owner's own hands - not a landscaping team, not a rotating staff, but one person's ongoing devotion to a special piece of land overlooking the sea. That kind of care cannot be manufactured, and couples feel its presence the moment they arrive.

Since its establishment in 2019, more than 300 weddings have taken place here, and the property has kept growing alongside them. "Sea View by En Kipo has grown through constant refinement, lusher natural decor, a recent 1,500 sqm expansion, and ongoing improvements to the space, the facilities, and the experience offered to every couple who walks through it," the team notes.

The Sea Never Leaves the Celebration

Sea View doesn't divide its grounds into separate rooms or zones the way most venues do. 

"Sea View is not a collection of separate spaces. It is one continuous 4,200 sqm land, designed so every space flows naturally into the next, and the sea stays in view from every part of it," the team explains. 

The layout moves in a specific sequence without ever breaking that sightline. "The journey begins at the welcome area, lined with palm trees, where guests first arrive and the aisle to the ceremony begins," they describe. 

From there, the ceremony area opens onto the sea. The reception area unfolds beneath the open sky, with a shaded lounge offering a quieter pause between moments. At no point does the view disappear. It simply changes angle.

Nothing on the property is locked into a single use. "Every space is multi-functional, so nothing here is fixed to a single purpose. Couples can let the celebration move as one uninterrupted story, or design a reveal, guiding guests from one setting to the next as the evening deepens." 

That flexibility is deliberate. "At its heart, Sea View by En Kipo is a blank canvas," they add. "Nothing is prescribed. Every space is completely customisable, so that what unfolds here feels uniquely, unmistakably a couple's own. The feeling we design for, always, is seamlessness. One wedding. One flowing experience."

The Picturesque Corner Nobody Notices at First

Not every part of Sea View announces itself immediately. 

On the right side of the ceremony area sits a wooden bench, framed in pink bougainvillea, a small tribute to the Mediterranean itself. It is not hidden, but it is often overlooked in first impressions, and then quietly becomes a couple's favorite corner of the entire property. Set against the sea behind it, the color feels almost impossible. Over the years, it has quietly become one of the venue’s most photographed corners. 

Timing has its own quiet reveal, too. The venue runs from April through October, with the sea a constant presence throughout the season - but sunset is what tends to stay with people longest. 

"As the light turns gold and the horizon softens into color, the entire property seems to shift into something else entirely," the team reflects.

It is a moment that stays with couples long after the day itself, one of those rare instances where reality outdoes every expectation.

For One Day, the Entire Place Is Theirs

"The venue holds up to 120 guests, with room to grow further upon request," the team notes. 

"There is no single ideal number. Because Sea View is hired in its entirety for one wedding only, the same sense of serenity and exclusivity belongs equally to an intimate gathering and a grand celebration. The right number is simply the one that feels true to the couple standing in front of the sea."

That single-wedding exclusivity carries through to how bookings work. Every booking reserves Sea View in its entirety, with only one wedding hosted per day. This gives each couple complete privacy and exclusive use of the venue for their celebration. 

"For the 2027 season, all-day rental starts at 4,000€, while couples can also opt in for a 2-Hour Ceremony-Only Rental starting from 2,500€." The venue rental also includes a range of practical facilities and services designed to support the day. "What often goes unasked, and is included regardless: a venue manager and restroom cleaning services throughout the event, a complete sound system, self-service wardrobe, sanitary facilities, private parking, an air-conditioned dressing room, free WiFi and an emergency power generator," they add. 

"Additional touches, floral decor, extra lighting, furniture, decor rentals, and event security, are available on request."

Suggestion: A Team of the Couple's Choosing

Vendor choice at Sea View by En Kipo is left almost entirely up to the couple.

"Couples are free to build their own team, planners, media teams, entertainers, whoever tells their story best. The one exception is floral design, held exclusively by our sister company, En Kipo Flower Creations, who shape every bloom on the property with an intimate understanding of the space. A wedding planner or on-the-day coordinator is required, ensuring the day moves as one seamless whole rather than a series of separate parts." 

Catering follows the same open approach. "Couples are free to bring in whichever caterer fits their vision, taste and preferences, and a dedicated 100 sqm preparation area on-site supports that team fully, so the experience stays seamless," they note. 

There's no accommodation directly on the property, but that gap is covered elsewhere. "While there is no accommodation on the property itself, couples and their guests are supported by Celmáre by En Kipo, our dedicated concierge team," the team explains. "They can arrange travel and stay according to each couple's preferences, at no extra cost, so that the Sea View by En Kipo experience extends beyond the wedding day itself."

What Happens After the First “Wow”

There's a specific reaction the team says they see almost every time. 

"One word, almost always: WOW. Even couples who have studied every photograph and every video beforehand say it the moment they step onto the venue. That reaction, unplanned and instant, is the moment we work toward every single day."

The property has hosted its share of well-known names, though the team draws no distinction in how those weddings are treated. "Every wedding at Sea View by En Kipo writes its own page, including celebrations for well known names among many quieter, equally unforgettable ones," they reflect. 

"We hold each page of that story with the same care, because to us, no wedding is more significant than another. Each one belongs to the same book." 

Plenty of couples come back long after their own wedding is over. "Couples have come back to renew their vows, or simply to stand on the lawn again and say hello to a team that became part of their story," they add. "It is one of the quiet rewards of this work, watching love return to the place where it was sealed."

Getting there is straightforward on a practical level, too. The property also offers 700 sqm of private parking and wheelchair accessibility, with convenient access to Chania and the national road - and Crete itself tends to turn a single wedding day into something longer. 

Crete island has everything to offer, from beaches to gorges to centuries of history, making it a natural fit for couples who want to turn their wedding into a multi-day experience, for themselves and for the guests who have travelled to celebrate with them.

Looking back across hundreds of weddings, what the team keeps coming back to isn't any single celebration. 

"What stays with us most is watching Sea View by En Kipo grow, season after season, and feeling the demand for this place deepen each year. We strive for every celebration here to be given the space to feel entirely its own, unhurried, uninterrupted, and completely present. And because Sea View by En Kipo is a blank canvas at heart, that celebration never has to look like anyone else's. It becomes, simply, theirs."