John and Elaine
From the UK
A small intimate wedding of 9
Location: Lokrum Island, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Date: June 2010
Why Dubrovnik?
We decided that we wanted to get married abroad but didn't know where
for sure. What we did know was that a) we didn't want it to be a long
haul flight and b) it couldn't be too expensive for the guests. After
a useless call with First Choice Weddings where they wanted me to
book a package before even being able to speak to a wedding planner
I turned to Google. . . after a couple of hours of going through lots
of different sites I came across a forum where somebody was recommending
Dubrovnik Weddings so we took the plunge and sent them an email. When
Nina responded and sent us a brochure that was it for us. . . we knew
straightaway that we had found our location.
What were your feelings the morning of the wedding?
A mixture of nerves and excitement but surprisingly very relaxed.
. . Nina just gave us the confidence that everything would be fine
and that there was nothing to worry about.
Did you have a wedding theme / colour theme?
We had chosen white to go with Elaine's dress but when we met with
Nina a few days before the wedding we changed our mind to go with
a red carpet. . . which wasn't a problem at all.
Was planning a wedding abroad more complicated than planning
a wedding at home?
Going by all the pain, headaches and anguish that friends have talked
about in planning their weddings in the UK our was a complete breeze.
A part from a couple of phone calls we effectively did everything
via email which was all very simple.
What was the feedback you received on your wedding?
Those who were there loved it and those who saw the pictures wished
they were.
Did you go over your planned budget?
We actually came in under our original planned budget and it was significantly
lower than it would have been if we had stayed in the UK. We did have
a couple of unforeseen costs with the paperwork (getting stamps in
the UK).
Do you think you would have spent more or less if you were
to organise a wedding at home?
A lot more for something far less spectacular
Ceremony: LOKRUM ISLAND
Dinner: ORHAN OLD TOWN
Wedding Planner: DUBROVNIK RIVIERA WEDDINGS
If you where to plan a wedding here in the UK involving a ceremony
on an island, a champagne cruise and a reception in a stunning location
it would probably take 2 years and a lot of your sanity to do it. Doing
it with Nina took me less than 3 months and the only stress I had was
caused by the Royal Mail who managed to deliver my own parcel back to
me instead of delivering it to Nina but that's another story.
But let's go back to the start of the year. . .when I initially made
contact with Dubrovnik Weddings we didn't really know what we wanted,
how many people would be coming (it ranged from 5 - 50) or when we wanted
to tie the knot - all we really knew was that we didn't want anything
too formal and we wanted to make sure that our little girl (who was
only 6 at the time) was a big part of the day. In the first emails they
outlined the different types of weddings that we could have, an idea
of the various locations that we could use and a ballpark of the typical
costs involved. They also let us know about the paperwork and what would
be needed. Over the next couple of weeks they handled all our questions
without any trouble at all even though we had yet to confirm any booking.
We were helped by both the office in Dubrovnik and a very nice lady,
Claire, who is based here in the UK.
Once we confirmed that we wanted to go ahead and book our wedding with
them it couldn't have been easier. . . and this is how it went:
1) confirmed location and date - Lokrum Island 2/6/2010
2) confirmed we wanted to do a champagne cruise along the Old City Walls
3) confirmed that we wanted the photographer for the ceremony and the
cruise (turned out to be Nina and she was absolutely fantastic)
4) selected the Orhan restaurant for the reception
5) started getting the paperwork together
6) sent out invites
. . .and as a comparison this is how things went for a friend of mine
who started planning their wedding here in the UK at the same time but
aren't getting married until 2011
1) spend 6 months trying to find and co-ordinate ceremony, reception
and register for any date within the next 2 years
2) negotiations now begin - how much on this, that and the other, who
has what say in what
3) start talking to photographers trying to find somebody who is available
on the selected date (all of who also insist on meeting you before commiting
to a date or a price) 4) flowers - why do you have to visit 6 different
florists before you even start thinking about the displays???
5) decisions, decisions, decisions
6) headaches, headaches, headaches
Back to Dubrovnik Weddings - they even have a spreadsheet checklist
that includes the costs so that you can easily keep track of what you're
planning and what the costs are. The only time I was nervous (and I
expect that a lot of people do feel the sameway) was when I had to make
the first deposit, afterall sending a significant some of money to another
country to somebody that you have never met is a little bit daunting.
. . but then again with their whole professional approach and testamonials
plus the fact that they came up in a lot of forums I felt that they
had to be genuine and they are.
From there on it was simply a matter of selecting what we wanted at
the ceremony, what flowers we wanted and making sure that we had all
the correct paperwork stamped and sent across at the right time. Confirming
the details was all so simple e.g. flowers - here's a brochure of 50
styles, pick a style and let us know what colour you'd like. . . if
we don't have anything you like then simply send us a picture and we'll
copy it / music - let us know if you'd like a guitarist, string quartet,
soloist etc and what you'd like them to play, we'll book it all for
you - oh and by the way here's some ideas for you if you're looking
for inspiration. They even helped us by recommending great accomodation
for us and our friends. So by April everything was effectivley done,
all we needed to do now was turn up in June.
A few days before the wedding we met up with Nina to go through the
details for the day before heading to the equivalent of the Registar
to do the official paperwork. And Nina was amazing. . . she gave us
such complete confidence we could just relax and enjoy our time. She
went through everything that we had requested but even with just 2 days
to go we could still change it - her attitude was great she simply said
"it was our day so we should have it our way".
We had such an amazing day and the girls all did a fantastic job. .
. Lokrum Island was a stunning location and we were even greeted by
peacocks. Nina did a splendid job of making sure that everyone was relaxed
and enjoying themselves whilst she took the photo's - she really did
manage to capture the mood of the day and the romance of it all. The
champagne cruise was wonderful, we had a great giggle doing a "Titanic"
moment and if that wasn't enough the Orhan restaurant was perfect (again
recommended by Nina). Set in a quiet bay with a back drop of the Old
City we simply whiled away the evening chatting and enjoying everyones
company.
Dubrovnik was an amazing place (our wee girl loved the massive ice creams
you get in the Old City) and Nina gave us exactly what we wanted - a
relaxed, informal wedding that everyone loved.
GOOD TO KNOW
Quick Contact