We all dream about the perfect wedding, admit it. Everybody wants it to be perfect and everybody has a personal vision of that perfection. Yours is a destination wedding. Otherwise, you wouldn’t open this article. Or maybe you were intrigued by Croatia destination wedding and you wanted to know more.
Doesn’t matter, from this article you’ll learn all you need to know about a destination wedding in Croatia, destination weddings overall, and how come a wedding organized abroad could be cheaper than one organized in your country.
Croatia wedding photographer and videographer
Love and Ventures are Andrea and Mario, a wedding and elopement photographer and videographer, based in Croatia. With years of experience shooting elopements and intimate weddings in all kinds of landscapes, we decided to create this guide to serve you as a good starting point for planning your elopement or wedding in Croatia.
Let the adventure begin!
‘Andrea and Mario were nothing short of amazing. They responded quickly and helped my husband and I have a small intimate wedding and they helped arrange everything. Not to mention the amazing pictures that came after. I couldn’t recommend them more. From the venue, to restaurant suggestions, to wedding dress shops…they are full of ideas and really are the sweetest people. Thank you guys!’
Chelsea and Ryan
What is a destination wedding?
In case, you don’t know what the destination wedding is and you were attracted to this post only to find it out, let us answer. We already gave part of the answer in the introduction part, but here’s the full definition: A destination wedding is a wedding far from your home country, in the best case organized in the place you always dreamed of, or any other, usually exotic or popular country.
It’s pretty simple, you go somewhere, you get married, and have the honeymoon at the same time. Of course, things are never as simple as this, there is a lot of planning included, a lot of phone calls, and exchanged emails with the wedding vendors in another country. But if you do all these steps correctly, your destination wedding can be unforgettable and one of the best days of your life. And if you consider a Croatia destination wedding, read further.
Why should you choose a destination wedding?
Because you’re destined to. You see, destiny and destination are almost the same words. That has to mean something. And in this case, it means something good. There are many pros of the destination wedding – you get married abroad in an exotic country and it can easily become the kind of wedding you always wanted to have.
But there are many more advantages to the destination wedding. This might sound illogical, but a destination wedding might be cheaper than one organized in your country. That’s the reason why so many couples decide to have their wedding abroad. Plus your guests will love it. Everybody is probably tired of all the weddings they are invited to in their own country, but inviting somebody to an abroad wedding, now that’s something different. We assure you that everybody’s heart will pound like crazy when they get the invitation to your wedding. And guess whose wedding will they remember the most?
Another great thing about these kinds of weddings is the combination of wedding and holiday. Usually, weddings are held for one day and everybody feels tired after the feast. Now imagine that you and your guests have 7 more days of enjoying the sun and drinking cocktails on the beaches of some postcards destination.
Finally, organizing a destination wedding might seem like a complicated task but, in fact, it doesn’t have to be like that at all. Yes, there are some special things to take care of and we suggest you hire a wedding planner for the destination you want your wedding to be organized at. A good wedding planner knows all the details and he/she will relieve all the usual stress that’s present when you plan and organize a wedding.
About Croatia
We started to write this Croatia destination wedding article to present you with all the good sides of our country and to show you why Croatia is one of the most popular destination wedding countries in Europe.
The best description of Croatia we can give you concerning destination weddings is the following one – Croatia is a small country with beautiful natural wonders, crystal clear sea, stunning coastline, warm climate and some of the most romantic old cities in Europe. That’s why so many tourists visit Croatia each year. And that’s why you should choose to have your destination wedding in Croatia. Just imagine your wedding ceremony taking place on a beach in Croatia, around sunset time with the calming sound of waves.
There are so many options to choose from, ranging from outdoor weddings on a secluded beach or a wedding in luxurious venues like some old palaces of Dubrovnik city. Just Google Croatia and go to the Images section and you’ll be overwhelmed by all these fantastic places that will pop out. Sure, every country has beautiful places, but Croatia is simply full of them, and we are being objective here, although it’s our country we’re talking about.
Weather in Croatia
Weather is important for any wedding, especially the ones being organized outdoors. A lot of it depends on good weather, and one great piece of news at the beginning – the weather in Croatia is nice most of the year. With it being in the Mediterranean circle, Croatia has more sunny days than most European countries. The weather is nice from April all the way to the end of October.
The hottest and driest months are July and August and Croatia is the most visited in these months. When it comes to Croatia destination weddings, they are usually organized in May, June, and September periods. These are known as the preseason and postseason periods and they are characterized by nice and warm weather (although not hot), and there are a lot fewer tourists in Croatia in these months as opposed to July and August.
So if you are dreaming of a wedding on a warm and sunny day, on a beach by the clear sea, then Croatia is one of the first choices for you. At least when it comes to a Europe destination wedding.
Is destination wedding cheaper?
Now, this is an important question and we are about to answer it. We already mentioned that destination weddings could be cheaper than organizing a wedding in your own country. Even with all the expenses included. We have read on the internet about that and many of the couples whose weddings we were shooting said the same thing. So let’s see what it’s all about.
First of all, the choice of the destination country for your wedding will affect your wedding costs immensely. Many exotic countries in the world are pretty cheap and so are all the wedding services too. If you manage to find a country like that, you can reduce the costs of your destination wedding by a lot.
Second, it depends on how cheap or expensive organizing a wedding in your country is. Many people from Western Europe or North American countries choose a destination wedding in Croatia because organizing a wedding in their own country is too expensive. So by choosing to have a destination wedding they get a cheaper one and it’s being held in an exotic location at the same time. So if organizing a wedding in your country is expensive, a destination wedding is a way to go for you.
Finally, the final price of organizing your wedding abroad depends on how many guests you plan to have at your wedding and do you plan to cover their expenses of traveling to and staying in the destination country. Usually, guests pay these expenses by themselves and blend your wedding with a vacation at the same time. But if you want to pay for this trip for all of the attendants, you can expect to have a higher cost for your destination wedding.
Destination wedding in Croatia
What advantages does Croatia destination wedding have compared to other destinations? We already mentioned a few of them such as nature, warm weather, and popular historic places. But there’s more to it that could attract you to have your destination wedding in Croatia.
Croatia is one of the cheapest countries in Europe when you look at the expenses of organizing this kind of wedding and hiring all the necessary staff. If you compare Croatia with some other popular wedding places in Europe, Switzerland, or Iceland for example, you get a tremendously lower cost of wedding services in Croatia. And that’s one of the main reasons why so many couples choose to get married in Croatia.
Another great advantage of Croatia as a country is its diversity which many other European countries lack. In Croatia, you can choose among many different places, whether you want to have your wedding somewhere by the sea, in a historic city or somewhere in the mountains. Croatia has a lot of interesting places you can have your wedding and that’s a great thing.
We have already written a few articles about Croatia weddings and they are great guides to prepare you for everything you can expect through all of the stages of planning your Croatia destination wedding. Need some tips for the best experience of your Croatia destination wedding? We’ve got you covered!
Destination within destination
This is what we have mentioned in the previous section, the diversity of Croatia and the many locations you can choose to have your wedding. Consider it a destination within a destination. A micro destination of a particular country. Will your wedding be on a beach in the sunset or maybe on the mountain peak? It depends on you.
Check out our elopement info and packages
A good thing to know is that Croatia has both beautiful beaches and high peaks. You can get married in a lively Dubrovnik city or on a remote island. If you are a wine lover, then a vineyard Croatia destination wedding is for you. Oh, you might just want to escape and get married in front of the beautiful old lighthouse on the rocks. You don’t believe Croatia has that many varieties? Contact us and we will show you some proof. We have written an article about the most popular wedding venues in Croatia too, read it and find out some of the best wedding places in Croatia.
Croatia destination wedding packages
Hey, we forgot to tell you that we (Mario & Andrea) are a photographer and videographer for Croatia destination weddings. We witnessed so many beautiful love stories all across Croatia in the past years. Since we know every wedding timeline is different, we have created a set of packages with different coverage hours. But the best thing is that you can write us your wishes for your Croatia destination wedding and we can create a personalized package just for you.
We offer photography / videography-only coverage or a combination of the two. Most packages include one day (half-day or full-day wedding), but we also offer a multi-day Croatia destination wedding package so you rest assured we covered all the best moments with your friends and family.
As we are Croatians, we know the best vendors in every region so if you are undecided about something, we can help with recommendations for vendors, and locations and advise you on the best time in the day for your wedding ceremony to take place.
And with the pandemic going on recently, our cancellation policies are flexible and we will do our best to adapt in case of any rescheduling of your Croatia destination wedding.
Dubrovnik destination wedding
Dubrovnik is so popular that it deserves a separate section when it comes to Croatia destination wedding themes. We live near this historic city and we were part of numerous weddings in it. Dubrovnik destination wedding is the most often chosen option for a wedding in Croatia. Dubrovnik is famous for many reasons. It’s one of the most romantic cities in Croatia. It has a long history and many parts of that history are well-preserved even to this day. This city was featured in the Game of Thrones TV series and this fact attracts so much attention to Dubrovnik that it’s almost hard to believe it.
Another good thing about Dubrovnik destination weddings is all the wedding venues that you have at your disposal. Want to get married on a Karaka old sailing boat characteristic of the sailing era of humankind, no problem. Want to get married in a centuries-old palace, easily done. Dreaming about an amazing wedding ceremony on Lokrum island? You won’t be disappointed. Not many other cities in Croatia have as many wedding venues as Dubrovnik has. Along with all other reasons, it’s not so hard to conclude why Croatia destination wedding in Dubrovnik is among the most popular wedding options among couples around the world.
Destination elopement as an alternative to Croatia destination wedding
Since we are elopement enthusiasts we would like to present this option to you as well. An elopement wedding is the easiest wedding abroad to organize in such insecure times like current ones. In short, an elopement wedding is a kind of wedding where only you and your partner are present and you get married somewhere far away, usually in the middle of nature, but it could be basically anywhere. Croatia is perfect for elopements just like it is for regular Croatia destination wedding.
We have written many articles about elopements and you can find out a lot about them if you are going to read these. We have even created a comprehensive guide on how to elope in Croatia. It might even get you interested in elopements so much that you’ll leave the idea of organizing a classic Croatia destination wedding and turn toward the elopement experience.
Whatever you choose, don’t forget to relax and enjoy your Croatia destination wedding or elopement day.