Skip to content
Ece and Daniel walking hand in hand along a grassy ridge at dusk

Urla, during the olive harvest

Together with their families

Ece Arslan&Daniel Whitlock

would love you to join them as they marry, under an old olive tree, in June.

Day
Saturday
Date
12 · 06 · 27
Time
17:00

Bademli Olive EstateBademler, Urla · İzmir

Kindly reply by 1 April

Our story

Seven years, one dictionary

  1. 2019

    One dictionary, two hands

    A second-hand bookshop in Lisbon, the last Turkish–English dictionary on the shelf. Daniel was learning Turkish; Ece was buying a present. She let him have it on the condition that he used it to ask her to dinner.

  2. 2021

    Forty-one flights

    Istanbul to Edinburgh and back, counted on a fridge magnet. Daniel’s Turkish got good enough to argue with taxi drivers.

  3. 2023

    A flat in Kuzguncuk

    Two desks, one balcony, a grey cat called Simit who now runs the household.

  4. 2026

    Olive harvest, Urla

    Halfway up a ladder in Ece’s grandmother’s grove, with a basket in one hand and a ring in the other. She said yes before he finished the sentence — in Turkish.

11–13 June 2027

A long weekend, not a long day

Everything is optional except Saturday at five. Times are local (GMT+3).

Arrive slowly

Friday11 Jun

  • Welcome drinks19:30

The wedding

Saturday12 Jun

  • Shuttles leave16:15
  • Ceremony17:00
  • Drinks and meze17:45
  • Dinner at the long table19:30
  • Speeches, first dance, dancing21:30
  • Last shuttle01:00

Shuttles from Urla at 16:15 — the lanes are narrow, the parking small.

Recover gently

Sunday13 Jun

  • Lazy brunch and a swim12:00
A long dinner table laid with white linen, glassware and small bunches of wild flowers

The estate

Bademli, an olive grove above the gulf

Ece’s grandmother planted the almond trees in 1971; the olives are much older. We’ll marry under the oldest one, eat at a table that runs between the almonds and dance in the barn until the last shuttle.

Map, travel and where to stay

On gifts

Having you there — some of you from four countries away — is the gift. If you would like to mark the day anyway, we are saving for a slow month in Japan next autumn.

How to contribute

Will you be there?

Find your invitation by name, tell us who’s coming and what they’ll eat. It takes two minutes. Please reply by 1 April.

Reply now