Croatia has long been a dream destination of mine – I’ve heard it’s really beautiful, very friendly and super affordable. So imagine my delight when this gem of a wedding popped up in my inbox.
It’s a Croatian Island wedding with a rustic, nautical influence and some atmospheric and scenic photography.
Want to get married in Croatia? You just might do after reading all about Nina & Matej’s intimate seaside wedding.
Words by Nina. Images by Katja & Simon Photography
I always wanted a simple wedding on the beach, where I could stare at the sunset and dance under the stars. Matej liked the idea of a seaside wedding so we started with the planning. Island Krk and the Pinezići beach is our second home, so what better place to pick than here! We got engaged in March and decided to tie the knot in September. So we were left with only 6 months of planning.
The wedding theme was inspired by the location, our main colour was navy blue and we used some local elements in the wedding as well – olive branches, sea salt, rocks from the beach,…
When I imagined my wedding dress in my mind, it was totally different from the one I ended up buying. I imagined an all white, elegant dress with lots of lace. But when I started looking for the dress, I came across this simple and fun dress from Terrani Couture that I really liked.
When I tried it on, just for fun, I instantly knew this was the dress. I loved everything about it – it was simple and comfortable to wear, the silver detail on the top made it look more glamorous, and the bottom part made it easy to walk, dance and stand in the wind.
Since we organised everything by ourselves, our family and close friends came to the island a day early to help us out. My girlfriends and I did the decoration and the gifts, while the guys helped Matej install the altar he built from recycled wood. Everyone helped in some way or another and we had so much fun during the preparation. I am truly grateful for all of them being there for me and Matej.
As I mentioned before, this beach is like a second home to me and my husband. It is not a typical wedding venue (I think there were only two weddings here before ours), which made it even more special and intimate.
My father walked me down the aisle, there wasn’t any music but there was the sound of the waves…
It was an emotional ceremony, with the hot sun on one side, and a dark storm coming in from the other side of the sky. After the ceremony and champagne, we took an old fishing boat out and headed towards the storm to create some spectacular shots with our wedding photographers.
Pick a photographer first. The wedding day goes by so fast, but the wedding photos are there to keep the memories alive. So choosing the right photographer is always the first thing on the list.
Then choose the location. Pick a place you really like and choose the theme of the wedding based on that. Do not overthink things – it might be too far for some of your family or friends, but this is your day and you should decide how and where you want to spend it.
Be involved in the planning – the more time we spent planning our wedding day, the more it meant to us in the end. We wouldn’t change a thing.
Matej and I knew about each other way back when we were kids, but we met at a Halloween party a couple years back. Ironically, our first date was a couple of months later on Carnival night, where we wore costumes again. Matej was a good friend of my brother, who was not very happy about our relationship at the beginning, but he later changed his mind when he saw how serious we became.
photographer: katja & simon / wedding dress: terrani couture / shoes: guess / flowers: the bride / groom(smen)’s suits: zara / cake: cassa del padrone / wedding favours: vw eos / stationery: the bride / make up: mia matrljan / hair: frizerski salon / wedding bands: zlatarstvo prosenc / groom’s shoes: deichmann / decoration of the venue: the bride / catering: catering sorriso rijeka and beach bar
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Love this wedding, great photographs :)
Brilliant story telling and couple portraits.
Where is this venue?
Where did you have the reception?