The wedding will be held at Feriye restaurant, which is located in Ortakoy (European side). See http://www.istanbulinfolink.com/the_bosphorus/ortakoy.htm for information on Ortakoy. It is easy to get to by taxi, and taxi drivers worth their salt should know where it is. As a guiding landmark, Feriye is located near Istanbul’s most famous hotel, Ciragan Sarayi (pronounced Che-raan) which is also worth a quick look around if you want to see how the Ottoman elite used to live. Check out http://www.ciraganpalace.com/ for more.

Feriye reviews
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/istanbul/D39927.html
http://www.ieee-icc.org/2006/index/general-info-d.html
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-reviews-2793205-prod-travelguide-action-read-ratings_and_reviews-i
http://www.tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i2837-I_love_good_food.html

Travel
Getting to Istanbul is straightforward, both British Airways and Turkish Airlines have flights from Heathrow, Stansted and to a lesser degree, Gatwick. These flights go into Istanbul’s main airport, Ataturk Airport. Prices range from £100-200 – it really depends on which websites/agencies you visit. Flight time is usually about 4 hours and Turkey is two hours ahead.
http://www.ataturkairport.com/eng/index.php

Note: if you want to fly to another part of Turkey from Istanbul, you’re best off travelling with Turkish Airlines, as you could fly back to London from that destination.

There are many taxis outside the airport, and you rarely have to wait for one. They are bright yellow, but make sure that there is a big number and letters on the side, which indicate that it is from an official taxi firm.

Traffic is notorious in Istanbul – think of Athens, Bangkok, Central London! Therefore, time and cost of the journey to your hotel is truly dependent on your flight arrival time. However, as the main airport is on the European side, it is not too far from Central Istanbul. It is likely to cost about £20 and normally takes about 30-45 minutes in good traffic.

Easy Jet also fly into Istanbul’s new airport, which is located on the Asian side, and is a lot further out than Ataturk airport. It would take between 1-1.5 hours to central Istanbul by public transport and up to one hour by taxi. Taxi is likely to be expensive, possibly about £50 (maybe more if you have a evil taxi driver). Use the website to see how to travel into Istanbul by public transport (NOTE! This involves taking a bus, then a ferry and then another bus/taxi to your hotel).
http://www.sgairport.com/havaalani/

Accommodation
There are quite literally hundreds of hotels to suit all tastes and budgets. As a rough guide, Sultanahmet (pron. Sultan-Ahmet) is the area where all the historic sites are and is probably the best and cheapest area to stay in. The Taksim Square (pron. Taksim Mey-dani) area is also lively and has lots of restaurants, bars etc, and it is a transport hub for buses and taxis. As a suggestion, if a group of friends are going it would be nice agreeing to stay in the same area ie Sultanahmet, which makes the logistics of meeting up much easier.

A quick note on hotels with pools:
Despite the wealth of hotels in Istanbul, there aren’t many with pools, and those that do are a) tiny, b) indoors, or c) in one of the 5-star hotels, therefore, pricey. If you really want a pool, then Swiss Hotel has the loveliest outdoor one, the Marmara Hotel has a rooftop one (but windy!) and its sister hotel, the Marmara Pera has a tiny rooftop one. However, you can use the Swiss and Marmara hotels through its day rates.

Getting around
The links below to the various guides have great information on how to get around Istanbul. In a nutshell, taxis are moderately priced and by far the easiest way to get around very quickly (barring the traffic). Dolmus minibuses (Pron. Doll-mush) are great but if this is your first trip, they may be difficult to use (if you’re brave, then I recommend them). Don’t risk the big public buses, I still can’t work them out. The tram system in Eminonu (near Sultanahmet) is quite good, and the Metro system is dead easy because it is really short!

Do remember that the Metro and Tram systems DO NOT travel across Istanbul and are unlikely to take you directly from A to B if you want to explore Istanbul (like London Underground). You could be using a combination of different transport methods in any one journey!

Sightseeing guides
All the guides list the must see sites, most of which are in Sultanahmet. Istanbul nightlife is really varied, and I recommend the Taksim, Ortakoy and Bebek areas for bars and clubs. Restaurants are just as varied, and you usually get a good meal wherever you are.

http://www.letsgoistanbul.com/
http://travel.guardian.co.uk/tag/istanbul
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/

http://www.mymerhaba.com/en/main/index.asp
This site is for expats but it is really informative, so well worth a look.

A guide for travel within the rest of Turkey: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2007/01/27/etturkey27.xml

Further travel
If you are planning to go on holiday after the wedding, then the usual travel agencies would have good deals. I have heard great things about Gulet cruises, which are yachts with your own crew and chef, and you can share them with friends or even people you don’t know. Otherwise, I would recommend the following areas (in no particular order of preference or location): Fethiye, Cesme, Bodrum (for the nightlife) Olu Deniz, Antalya. Please avoid Marmaris, it is Benidorm with kebabs. It’s easiest to fly down to the south coast from Istanbul airport. There is not a proper train system to get around Turkey, but plenty of coaches. However, although the coaches are clean and cheaper than flying, it would take about 12 hours to drive to the coast.

Try my travel agent, Salih Ince (no relation!) of Tulip Holidays, Stoke Newington, on 0208 546 2022 for package deals etc.

http://www.tour-turkey.com/index.htm
http://www.tussockcruising.com/uk/index.php

Articles and books on Istanbul, Turkey and the Turks
There is a wealth of fiction and non-fiction on Istanbul. Below are a few, but by no means exhaustive list – if you know of any good books on Istanbul, do let me know!

Guide books
The Time Out and Lonely Planet guidebooks are very good and serve all purposes, and I also find their websites very informative too. Try:
http://www.timeout.com/travel/istanbul/
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/europe/turkey/istanbul

I would avoid the trendier guides such as Wallpaper as they aren’t as informative as the two travel stalwarts. However, if you want to see what the best bars/ restaurants are, then perhaps worth a look.

Tales from the Expat Harem, Foreign Women in Modern Turkey, edited by Anastasia M. Ashman and Jennifer Eaton Gokmen
Recommended! This is a collection of short stories on various experiences of Turkish life by foreign women who have settled in Turkey. Chapter 4 has different stories on Turkish weddings! The authors also have a website dedicated to this book, http://www.expatharem.com/, and this site has a travel section too.

Portrait of a Turkish Family, by Irfan Orga
An interesting true story of a wealthy Istanbul family who lost everything during World War One.

Istanbul: Memories of a City by Orhan Pamuk
The Pulitzer Prize author grew up in Istanbul and recounts his life in the city.

The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova
More about Count Dracula than Turkish life, but still has some descriptions of Istanbul.

Travel articles
A good selection from the Independent:
http://www.independent.co.uk/search/simple.do?method=navigate&searchKey=210954013&pageNumber=1