Destination Wedding: Croatia!

More people are doing destination weddings these days for their big day. We got married here in Zagreb, Croatia and I wouldn't want it any other way! I don't think we could have EVER had such an amazing wedding anywhere else in the entire world. It was absolute perfection and it was definitely thanks to so many incredible vendors here in Zagreb.

When we first got engaged, we thought Tomislav would be moving to the States soon enough so we assumed we'd be getting married in the States. But because of the sacrifice Tomislav was making for moving to the States, we decided it would only be fair if we got married in Croatia, especially since if the wedding was in America, most of his family and friends wouldn't be able to come. So, we put wedding planning off for a while and lo and behold, I ended up moving to Croatia and we ended up getting married in Zagreb! And you know what, I wouldn't change a single thing about it!

We looked at venues in Zagreb for a while and were really debating about things. We wanted the place to be presentable since guests would be arriving from all over the world and show Zagreb off like the capital city that she is (is Zagreb a she? I'm not sure about the gender of proper nouns in Croatian, oh well!). When we first visited Gradska Kavana, I fell in love. Again. The space was so amazing, absolutely breathtaking and I could already picture myself on those stairs!

 

Yes, these stairs!



The perfect stairs for my girls to stand on while I tossed the bouquet!

And for the boys when Tomislav threw the garter (and Ana captured this fabulous action shot!)

 But at that time, we were still considering other places, especially because we would only be able to have 80 guests at Gradska Kavana so we were really debating about it. It was difficult for me to go on meetings with all of the owners and managers of these wedding venues because my Croatian was lacking. That was making it really hard for me to even get in the wedding planning spirit. That was all for a reason though. Gradska Kavana was still holding on to my heart and we were totally willing to cut down the guest list to have the wedding there. Besides, we really didn't expect anyone to come from as far as the States!


Dancing "Kolo" (circle dancing)

 

The perfect wedding venue - great atmosphere, delicious food, just perfection!

 So, we made our way back to Gradska Kavana to take another tour and as luck should to have it, there was a brand new General Manager there who would later become known to us as Super Man. Not only did this guy speak perfect, fluent English (German too!), he listened to us and all of our concerns and special requests and what not and he absolutely loved our ideas and his answer was always, "No problem, we can make it happen!" Without him, we couldn't have had our wedding. Zdenko is the greatest wedding coordinator in the universe. He was always there to calm me down during the planning and preparations and he literally made it the greatest day of our lives and I'm so thankful to him. I'm forever greatful to him, honestly, because he was such a ray of sunshine in our lives and it's so cheesy but it's so true. I just love him. He is the best! I just don't know if the guy ever sleeps because he's literlaly out being Superman all day and night long!

Zdenko bringing our cake out and making a funny face - he is the best!

I was absolutely obsessed with our flowers. They were EXACTLY what I wanted, and literally the most gorgeous flowers I'd ever seen in my life. No one could do a more amazing job than Ida from Cvjetni Atelier Kontesa. Martha Stewart doesn't even have flowers as beautiful as these! She listened to everything I had to say and made adjustments as necessary and literally helped make me the happiest bride in the universe! It's so important to trust your vendors to make your day flow perfectly!

All of our vendors were the best we could possibly ask for and I'll definitely tell you more about them in the future, especially about our amazing photographer, Ana Mihalic. In fact, I'm hoping I'll tell you more about her later this week in a special feature. I mean obviously she's amazing, just look at her photos! Makes you want to get married in Croatia now, doesn't it? ;)



One Month

I got made up

 

 We had our reveal

We danced spontaenously in the park for a crowd of people watching an orchestra!

We played with confetti in the park

 

We rode the tram

We kissed

We cried (the choir was so, so, so beautiful)

We were so happy! 

We 'American Danced' (think bump 'n' grind) until the break of dawn

We got wild!

It's been exactly one month since our wonderful wedding day and we were bombarded by emotions this weekend because we got the videos and photos from our unbelievably talented videographer, Damir Paić, and photographer, Ana Mihalić. Damir had been through so much with me and my crazy Polish-American customs and my hestitation towards Croatian traditions but his creativity and movie-making talent are really incomparable. His ideas look incredible put together in his videos and I invite you to check out this "trailer" of our wedding video that he put together. It's so fun!

You've seen her pictures before on my blog, but not like this! Ah-maz-ing!!! I am so excited about our photographer. Since I first met Ana and saw her photos, I was just in awe of how she and her camera and make such beautiful images. She is a true talent and you should remember her name because I have all the confidence in the world that she is gonna be huge. She's amazing and a great friend and I just couldn't be any happier, she did the most incredible job and we love her. Check out this video she made with some of our wedding photos. It's so cool to see Ana and Damir's different styles capturing the same wedding. We really couldn't be any happier, all of our vendors were just so great.

It's an incredible thing to be married, to have my partner for life. We've been through so much, so much distance, so much time spent apart, so much uncertainty about when we'd be together, and so much stress through the wedding planning process. But, we know each other so well, we love each other so much, and he really is my better half and that is absolutely everything to me. He is really the best (seriously, he is amazing) and I think that's why I knew we had to hold onto each other from the very beginning because there would never be anyone else like him!

When T-Slav and I first started dating, I fell for him fast. I knew straight away that I loved him but since he was only in the States for 5 months, I felt like our relationship had an expiration date. I still can't believe that today, 4 years later, we're together, and we're now married and I'm with him in Croatia. I've learned that if someone is worth it, you make it work. No matter how hard it can be sometimes, always wishing the other person was there when they're not and who knows the next time you'll see each other, no matter what. If you love someone, real love, you can make anything happen.

It's no secret that it was really hard for me to wedding plan without my family and friends. Wedding planning is so stressful, it really is. As much as you don't want it to be, it just is because there is just so much to consider and remember. My sister (and the absolute greatest maid of honor in the universe) kept trying to remind me to enjoy wedding planning because you only get to do it once) but it was just so stressful. Well, none of that mattered in the end. It all worked out! It did! (Dominika - you are the greatest, thank you for everything, especially for keeping me together all throughout wedding week, for all of your patience and love with me always, and for carrying my dress all over Zagreb, you did so much to help make our wedding day perfect, and there could be no better maid of honor than you! Having a great MOH and Best Man really helps you stay sane wedding week. Let's hear it for Lovro!)

Wedding weekend was absolute perfection. Everyone's flights and drives made it safely (albeit with a few delays) and we had the most fun and Euro-cuc time ever! I just wish everyone was still here or could come back so we could do it all over again because it was just that much fun! I think European anniversary parties might just have to become the norm because being able to see my nearest and dearest loved ones, having them all their, my family, my wonderful friends who really surprised me on making the long trip out here and making our day so much more special. All of Tomislav's family and so many Croatian people who met all of my friends and fam were absolutely shocked and amazed at how awesome everyone was, just because their only idea of American people is what they see and hear on TV. But I'm like, come on, what do you expect?! They're the people that I love the most, how did they think it would be? Our wedding weekend was just so fantastic because everyone was together, and you really couldn't tell who was from which country or speaking what language because everyone was talking, laughing, dancing, and partying together and I'm eternally thankful for everyone who came here, helped us with putting everything together, who celebrated our day with us, even from afar. I just love everyone so much and I'm so grateful we all got to be together. 

Photo Post - Upper Town

T and I are really into exploring the city these days, especially since we are planning our wedding, we're constantly looking for inspiration, discovering new spots, and maybe even wedding photo opportunities. We love getting lost in the upper town.

Adorable cobblestone streets

Love the clock

 

Pretty arch :)

We found a new little park that's very close to the church we'll be married in :)

 

Playing in the park

This house/building right next to the park is very narrow, it looks neat!

 This is the Gazebo in my favorite park in Zagreb, Zrinjevac. Very romantic to walk around this park, especially in the evening.

 

 Tomi and I enjoying the beautiful daytime in Zrinjevac