A WEEK LONG WEDDING CELEBRATION IN DUBROVNIK: STEPHANIE & CRAIG
Ever since I started writing this blog, it has been a dream of mine to feature a real wedding. My dream came true today, thanks to the lovely bride Stephanie who agreed to share her beautiful week long wedding in Dubrovnik exclusively for this blog. Stephanie & Craig celebrated their one-year anniversary recently and I would love to use this opportunity to say „Congratulations!“
Besides the to-die-for wedding decor by the talented wedding planner Kike of Do You Wed Me and the lovely family atmosphere captured on film by Veronica of Svadbas Photography, this wedding gives me the feels like no other, especially because I was actually there. Read on for the full interview with Stephanie – our first ever Real Wedding bride!
How did you two meet?
Stephanie: We both lived locally and had some mutual friends but never met or knew each other until Craig came across me on Facebook and added me as a friend. He then private messaged me, we began chatting and it all started from there! Not very romantic unfortunately!
Tell us about your engagement.
Stephanie: It was my birthday in April and Craig had surprised me by booking us a trip to my favourite city- New York at my favourite time of year which is Christmas. He had also booked his parents to come for their 50th birthdays too. Craig and I have recently bought a house and I just had a feeling he might propose to me in New York even though we had never discussed getting engaged.
In September, prior to our holiday to New York, Craig had asked my parents if he could marry me which I think is very sweet as not many people ask the Bride’s parents these days.
Fast forward to 26th November 2016 in New York City…
That night Craig’s parent’s had arranged to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular Show at Radio City Music Hall and Craig and I decided to go for a walk around Central Park instead as we had seen this show the previous year. I had a feeling he may propose when we were out our walk as that would be so romantic – getting engaged in Central Park at night at Christmas time. However, it was now 9.30pm, my legs were aching from walking all day and I was exhausted! I was thinking maybe he’s not going to propose and I’ve got it all wrong! I told Craig I had to go back to the hotel because I was so tired.
Craig was very quiet and not chatting much but I was thinking maybe it was because he was tired. We walked down to the small river at the bridge that you can see in the photos with the Plaza hotel in the background and when I looked in front of me I could see Craig’s shadow kneeling down behind me… and I knew this was it!
I was so excited and nervous… when I turned around Craig was on one knee with my ring and said something along the lines of “Will you spend the rest of your life with me…” I laughed and replied you need to say the correct words! And then he said “Will you marry me?”. I said “YES” and put the ring on and we both stood in Central Park laughing, crying and cuddling.
How did you choose your wedding date?
Stephanie: We knew we wanted a summer wedding. We officially became “boyfriend” and girlfriend” on 22nd June in 2011 and the 22nd June in 2019 was a Saturday so thought this would be the perfect date as we would be celebrating being together for 8 years.
What made you choose Croatia as your wedding destination?
Stephanie: I knew as soon as we got engaged that I wanted to have a relaxed wedding abroad as I had never been to a wedding abroad before and wanted our wedding to be celebrated for as long as possible and not be over in one day. Going on a holiday for a week with family and friends to celebrate our wedding sounded perfect! But I just didn’t know what country I wanted to get married in…
It was a year after our engagement when Craig suggested Croatia as I had been on holiday to Dubrovnik and loved it. We both agreed immediately! At this time the most popular wedding destinations for Scottish people were Santorini, Cyprus or Italy so Croatia was slightly different which was perfect!
Was Dubrovnik your first choice for the wedding?
Stephanie: Yes – at the time of us planning our wedding Dubrovnik was the only place in Croatia I had visited but it seemed perfect. It had the Old Town for the traditional chapel wedding, which I wanted, but then also modern and relaxed seafront wedding reception where we could enjoy our night with our family and friends. And I just knew the photographs would look amazing with the mix of the Old Town architecture but also the modern sea front terrace at Neptun Terrace.
How did you choose your wedding planner?
Stephanie: I had researched Dubrovnik wedding planners on Instagram and Facebook and came across Kike’s company on Instagram – Do You Wed Me. I was then able to contact a few of her previous clients who gave me great reviews. When I contacted Kike she was very efficient and organized and great at communicating via email. Once I had discussed my ideas for a wedding we flew to Dubrovnik for a holiday and was able to meet up with Kike. She showed us around venues and discussed our ideas and was able to answer any questions we had. When I saw the chapel and the Neptun Terrace I just fell in love and knew this is where I had to get married!
Tell us something about your wedding theme/ How did you choose the flowers, decorations, etc.?
Stephanie: I wanted a soft glamour luxury feel to the wedding and spent many hours creating Pinterest boards and searching Instagram. I adapted this to our wedding budget. I’m glad I spent extra and choose tall vases with larger flower bouquets for the centerpieces with pinks and green foliage, they really made a statement on the tables and I loved the Jo Malone perfume in their nice gift bags for the ladies’ favours.
I wanted to add personal touches to our décor so my mum and I made little hoops to hang on the tree at the terrace entrance and made this the “family tree” where we hung photos of our parents and grandparents’ wedding days. We also had a photograph of our fur baby Gino and he sat facing us at the top table as he couldn’t come to Dubrovnik.
We brought our own flip flops and had these sitting on the ladies’ chairs and made labels saying- “a little treat for your dancing feet”.
We also brought sparklers with tags we made saying “let love sparkle” and waited until night to light these and got the DJ to play “Avicii- levels” which was a great as everyone was dancing with their sparklers.
For the chapel we made up little bags with tissues, a fan, bubbles and confetti for each guest to receive as they entered the chapel. We put petals down the aisle and brought our own wedding candles from Lourdes.
Tell us a fun anecdote from the wedding or favorite part of the wedding day/week.
Stephanie: The whole week was full of lots of fun, alcohol and laughter. On Wednesday we had arranged for the girls to have a “Hen party” and the boys would have the “Stag party”. We had booked the Mamma Mia Italian restaurant for that same evening as welcome dinner and a chance for all the wedding guests to come together before the Big Day. However, as the day went on the boys went to the Coral Beach Club where Craig got very drunk, couldn’t remember getting home and was in bed at 6pm!
He missed the welcome dinner for his own wedding! He was very hungover the next morning when we had to meet the Priest at 9.30am.
TOP TIP: always apply plenty of sun cream before you start drinking alcohol because Craig was so drunk during the day he forgot to put sun cream on so he got sun burns on his back and you can see it in our wedding photos which we still laugh about!
Wedding planner: Do You Wed Me | Photographer: Svadbas photography | Venue: Neptun Terrace, Royal Resort Dubrovnik | Wedding Dress: The White Dress – To be Wed, Airdrie, Scotland | Bridesmaid Dresses: Handmade by Carolyn Baxter Boutique in Edinburgh, Scotland | Suits: Slaters, Glasgow, Scotland | Bride’s Shoes: Next | Groom’s Shoes: Kurt Geiger | Flowers: Cvijet by Kike | Stationery: Ja’ Dillon Bespoke Wedding Stationery | Favors & Gifts: Jo Malone | Wedding Rings: Bride- James Brown jewellers, Glasgow, Scotland, Groom- Costco | Catering: Neptun Terrace, Royal Resort Dubrovnik | Bar: Neptun Terrace, Royal Resort Dubrovnik
Chantal
Ever since Chantal was a little girl, she knew all she wanted to do was to plan weddings. Fast forward to today, she has worked as an event planner & coordinator both in Ireland and Croatia, and is currently busy writing her blog Destination Weddings Croatia aimed to help brides that are looking to get married in her lovely homeland. Brides like you!
