May 28th was a fantastic day – we had our wonderful wedding in Milos’ hometown of Crikvenica, Croatia. (At the Hotel Marina in Selce, to be exact.)
The planning started even before we got engaged (back on Feb. 13, 2015), as some of you might remember from previous blog posts. I chose a color palette of lavender and mint green, and I got some wonderful decorative items while back in the U.S. during winter and spring. I was so pleased with how the hotel made our modest decorations come together in such a beautiful and elegant way.
Our wedding day weather was warm and sunny with happiness all around. Of course we had lots to do – the week leading up to the wedding was crazy stressful. I had just gotten into town after my two week tour on Monday evening (5 days before the wedding), but Milos had been there a few days already and had started getting things in order. But no matter how well prepared you are, there are always last minute things to keep you busy leading right up through the wedding day.
The ceremony was on the “beach” of the Hotel Marina: a flat concrete area on the water’s edge. We bought an archway that was decorated with flowers to serve as the “altar” at the end of the aisle between the beach umbrellas made of palm fronds. Our reception was just above on the lower terrace of the hotel itself.
Despite the stress and busy-ness, everything came together spectacularly. The florist created some gorgeous bouquets – mine looked exactly like the photo I had shown her from Pinterest. The photographer was professional, easy-going, and exceptionally talented. We were able to choose the photos for our album AND get a full USB stick of ALL 800-something of our photos just days after the wedding. The hotel served delicious food and also organized a gorgeous yet simple wedding cake – again, exactly to my specifications. (And it tasted great!)
My friend and bridesmaid Rebecca was a super woman – not only doing my hair, but my sister’s and her own all within our limited given time frame. We also sang a super duet during the ceremony to “Panis Angelicus.” My sister ran around and was a great wedding day assistant. All three of my dresses made me feel beautifully bridal, each in their own special way. (I’ll categorize the three as feminine boho (#1), elegantly classic (#2), and comfortably sexy (#3).
Milos looked so amazingly handsome in his light grey suit and lavender tie. We took some awesome pics together: some near Kastel in the middle of town, some near the seaside park by his childhood house, and some at Lanterna – an old fisherman’s house on the sea. And of course, we got great photos of people having fun at the reception on the terrace.
I didn’t have a lot of folks on my side make the trip to Croatia, but I was so grateful and appreciative for those that could. We had a FANTASTIC time reliving our younger days out on the dance floor. (I had put lots of good dance songs on the list from the 80’s and early 90’s.) The party went until 5:30am, when the few of us remaining decided to take a quick swim in the sea as the sun came up.
The most important parts: everyone had a great time and we are now so excited to start our lives together as husband and wife. After all, a wedding is only a day, but a marriage is a lifetime. And we are so excited to have that lifetime together. <3
Here are some photos from our happy day!