Are you considering organizing your destination wedding in Croatia? Are you having second thoughts before making a first commitment by contacting your wedding planner? We understand that wedding day is one of the most important days of anyone’s life.
It is a day which deserves to be remembered for the rest of our lives. A day worthy of a unique all-out celebration! It is fun and easy to tangle yourselves up in sorting out all the details of your wedding, while picking the perfect wedding dress, flowers and decoration to make your celebration flourish, and lastly – choosing a wedding venue! Choosing a venue can be tiresome. There are a lot of aspects to consider, especially if your wedding venue is abroad.
In this blog we will do our best to present you our beautiful coastal country. We will highlight all the wonders that will make your destination wedding in Croatia amazing! Destination weddings in Croatia are gaining popularity each year.
Local nature will do wonders for any destination wedding in Croatia
The heart of Europe
Croatia is located in the heart of Europe, on the east coast of Adriatic sea. Croatia is at the crossing between Southeast Europe, the Mediterranean, and Central Europe. You can reach Croatia by a short flight from most European and Middle East cities. This greatly simplifies preparations for the destination wedding in Croatia. When your destination wedding venue selection narrows down to a single-digit count, then just hop on a plane and visit those venues. Visiting venues in person will help you make up your mind while enjoying your stay in Croatia.
Unique combination of natural riches and an enticing climate
Croatia doesn’t cover a wide geographic area. Despite that it is blessed with a unique combination of natural riches and an enticing climate. Croatia gained a worldwide fame for its natural wonders. It has over 1200 islands and islets. Along with the mainland coastline they add up to over 5800 kilometers of coastline! We invite you to enjoy the crystal-clear sapphire-blue sea while strolling vast beaches and visiting luxurious hotels, lavish villas, rustic restaurants and authentic agrotourisms.
Beautiful and diverse nature appeals to numerous foreigners, seducing them to set up their destination wedding in Croatia. Istria seems especially appealing to the newlyweds and other nature-lovers. Istria is a heart-shaped peninsula on the western-most part of Croatia. It is home to an extremely appealing mix of coastal towns packed with tourists competing to grab a piece of Roman history, inland villages which house tasteful local-family-owned agrotourisms and luxurious out-of-this-world villas. All of those are more than welcoming to the newlyweds and open to host their destination wedding in Istria. If you are planning your destination wedding a bit further from crowded places, then look no further than Istrian vineyards which stretch as long as the eye can see or small islets along the coastline.
Most popular wedding destinations in Croatia are Istria and Dubrovnik, due to their historical significance and cultural heritage.
Cultural heritage
Istria is one of the most developed tourist regions in Croatia. It is comparable to Tuscany or Provence. Ancient Roman presence had a millennial-lasting influence on the local population, culture, architecture and art. Tourists and evryone interested observe such heritage in Rovinj, Poreč, Novigrad, Pula and other Istrian towns. Most recognizable ancient Roman building in Istria is arena – amphitheater in Pula. Unfortunately, it is not possible to hold a wedding there. Luckily there are countless other churches and chapels, palaces and manors, fortresses and castles, and archeological sites. UNESCO labeled many of those as World Heritage Sites. It is possible to organize a destination wedding in antic churches of Rovinj, Poreč and other towns.
Istria is a lively region, which has a lot to offer on top of historical buildings. Count of music and movie festivals, folklore events and festivals is increasing each season.
Countless destination wedding venues in Croatia
Rovinj and Poreč are the most popular wedding venues in Istria
Among the most popular destination wedding venues in Istria are Rovinj and Poreč. Rovinj is a historical town especially suited for romantic wedding. It is worth mentioning that Rovinj and Dubrovnik are absolutely the most desirable wedding destinations in Croatia! The intertwined narrow cobblestone streets in the old town of Rovinj are a perfect spot to have a wedding photoshoot. Just take a look at this wedding gallery. A magnificent 18th century Chruch of st. Euphemia sits on top of the old town of Rovinj. The church offers a great view of Adriatic and nearby islands. Those islands are large enough to host a luxurious hotel and restaurant and yet small enough to make you feel like you are on a private island prepared only for your destination wedding in Croatia. Both islands are accessible by a short regular boat ride.
Poreč is a notable jewel alongside Rovinj. Magnificent waterfront promenade stretches all around the old town of Poreč. In the old town of Poreč and near the city there are numerous villas suitable to host a chic outdoors wedding ceremony and reception.
Choosing a destination wedding venue in Istria
We can now conclude that Istria offers a large variety of breath-taking wedding venues, such as modern villas with swimming pools and lot of hills and greenery around or luxurious hotels with majestic views to the Adriatic sea. There are also rustic and authentic destination wedding venues in Istria, such as rustic villages and agrotourism. Those venues are characteristic for nurturing the Istrian tradition.
To help you choose a venue, we have compiled an article about choosing a destination wedding venue in Croatia. In that article we recommend booking a destination wedding venue in Croatia at least 12 months in advance. You may also like to browse the most popular destination wedding venues in Istria. Keep in mind that the mentioned venue list doesn’t cover all available wedding venues in Istria. Contact us to find out more about other venues, not previously mentioned. Lastly you can use our venue finder to check what venue best suits your expectations. Note that you can use the venue finder without signing in or leaving any information about yourself.
It is not an easy feat to choose a wedding venue in Croatia, but there are other aspects to consider. Food and beverage are especially important aspects of each wedding. Destination weddings in Croatia are uniquely memorable for its mouth-watering gastronomy and unprecedented choice of local award-winning internationally recognizable wine labels!
Destination weddings in Croatia are not complete without a dash of the unique local gastronomy
Not just in beautiful sights, but Croatian nature riches also lie in the great choice of fresh food. You may choose between fresh Adriatic fish and seafood, meat and prosciutto from the local farms, extra salty cheese authentic to the pastures of the Croatian islands or naturally grown fruits and vegetables. All premium dishes are perfectly balanced with olive oil and other Mediterranean spices, which will appeal to even the most delicate palate!
Guests of your destination wedding in Croatia are sure to enjoy all mentioned organic delights. But now it’s time to add a drop of local wine to wedding menu. Croatian white and red wine, as well as rosé gained global popularity. Wine is naturally processed in line with patented centuries-old methodologies. With their bellies and glasses full, your guests will have no other choice but to enjoy your wedding in Croatia until dawn!
Many oenologists consider that a favorable Croatian climate is the key to the high quality of local wine. But how favorable is Croatian climate for the weddings?
Croatian climate
Without doubt, weather and seasons are the key elements to consider while picking your wedding date in Croatia. Coastal parts of Croatia enjoy a Mediterranean climate of cool, rainy winter and hot, dry summer. Average air temperature peaks during July and August at almost 30°C. Each month from April to October averagely gets more than 150 sunny hours. Thus it is not surprising that destination wedding season also peaks during these months. Although newlyweds are eager to start planning their destination wedding in Croatia in July or August, we must warn you that weather sometimes gets unbearably hot. Not even a blow of fresh wind may cool you down in the direct sunlight. Also, to avoid crowds of tourists during these months, newlyweds often set their destination wedding during other, less crowded months.
You may be asking yourself what more does your destination wedding in Croatia needs? More time to enjoy your stay? You might consider extending your destination wedding in Croatia into an exciting honeymoon.
Destination wedding can be a perfect honeymoon getaway
Croatia is not popular just for holding destination weddings. It also finds its way to the top of the honeymoon destination charts. One weekend may simply not be enough time to savor all Croatia has to offer. But a longer stay in Croatia during the honeymoon may be just what you need. Having a honeymoon in the same destination as your wedding may enable you to invite your family or closest friends to spend a few more days together.
Destination wedding in Croatia offers various possibilities and flexibility in setting up the wedding schedule. There are some key differences from the local wedding. Most newlyweds who choose to marry abroad feel that they no longer have to invite all their friends and distant family members. This lets them adjust their guest count according to their wishes and preferences. Second aspect of destination weddings is the distance, which limits newlyweds’ communication with the local vendors and venue managers. Interaction with the most vendors, such as wedding photographers and musicians doesn’t suffer a lot, because you can assess their quality by observing their previous work and portfolios. You don’t have to meet them personally. But evaluating the catering company or visiting the wedding venue is impossible without visiting Croatia.
Planning a destination wedding and communication over a long distance can be misleading, confusing and non-deterministic. It is easy to misinterpret a detail and lose track of the wedding planning process. These are important reasons to hire an experienced local wedding planner.
Hiring a destination wedding planner in Croatia
Wedding planner helps you set up a wedding in Croatia
Wedding planner in Croatia will serve as a communicator of your desires to the vendors and venue managers. But communication goes in both ways. Wedding planner will listen and understand newlyweds’ destination wedding expectations and craft the suggestions according to newlyweds’ wishes.
Croatian Wedding venues are flexible and highly adjustable to any wedding style, but they have limitations. Wedding planner knows those limitations very well. This enables her to warn you if a venue you took interest in doesn’t have the capacity for the guest count or if there is a more appropriate wedding venue available in Croatia. When the newlyweds decide to visit the selected wedding venues in Croatia, the wedding planner coordinates venue managers and catering companies in order to bundle all planned venue visits and food tasting in one or two days.
Wedding budget is a cornerstone of the destination wedding. An experienced and thrust-worthy wedding planner shines through when dealing with venue managers and vendors. She strives to hit the best deals possible with them and get the highest quality for the proposed budget. A wedding planner also has an important task to watch out not to break the budget.
Wedding planner can also suggest lists of wedding vendors that are capable to realize exactly the wedding style that you strive to achieve.
Arguments for hiring a local wedding planner in Croatia
The strongest argument in favor of hiring a destination wedding planner in Croatia is newlyweds’ ease of mind. Wedding planner will communicate with venue manager, caterer, photographer, musician, lightning and audio engineer, florist, hairdresser and all other vendors, find a suitable accommodation for the newlyweds and suggest the accommodation options for their guests, supervise the venue preparations, coordinate the ceremony and all that while keeping an eye on the budget. Only tasks that that you will have to deal with are inviting guests and booking plane tickets. If you are considering to hire a wedding planner, then we suggest you to read more about it in our blog on hiring a destination wedding planner in Croatia.
Legal requirements and wedding types in Croatia
Church, legal or symbollic wedding in Croatia?
Newlyweds can decide to have a church, legal or symbolic destination wedding in Croatia. Whichever they decide on having, it is unavoidable that they will have to deal with some legal documentation. Read our blog which compares church, legal and symbolic wedding types. It is often hard to understand international laws and at it might feel overwhelming to sort the legalities over the phone. This is just one more reason to hire a local wedding planner in Croatia. She will not just make sure to inform newlyweds of all the required documents. Wedding planner will also keep all legal personnel organized and help you acquire and prepare all documents on time.
In Croatia it is possible to organize destination weddings of any religion. An experienced wedding decorator can adjust the overall wedding style to appropriately reflect the religious traditions, such as it was done in this Indian wedding.
Religious wedding in newlyweds’ home country and civil wedding in Croatia
A lot of newlyweds decide to have a religious wedding in their home country and a civil wedding in Croatia. Newlyweds have a choice to set their civil ceremony in the town hall or outside it. It is preferable to have a wedding outside the town hall. That way the ceremony style can match the overall wedding style. In both cases wedding planner will make arrangements for the registrar to be present. The registrar must hold the civil wedding in Croatian language. If any or both newlyweds don’t speak Croatian, then it is a legal requirement that a court-appointed translator attends the wedding and translates the whole ceremony to the newlyweds’ mother tongue.
Local legal system allows same-sex and LGBT destination weddings in Croatia. Read our blog about a recent same-sex destination wedding in Croatia.
Elopement is an increasingly popular type of the destination wedding in Croatia. It may seem much simpler to organize elopement than a wedding with numerous guests, but required legal documentation is the same nevertheless.
Starting to plan your destination wedding in Croatia
Croatia provides everything that is necessary to plan and realize a unique memorable destination wedding, unparalleled in its charm and appeal.
Planning and organizing a destination wedding in Croatia is not an easy feat, but a rewarding one, nevertheless! Starting to plan your wedding in a foreign and completely unknown country can be daunting initially. But regardless whether you are planning a lavish multi-day event in a luxurious villa with a rehearsal dinner, welcome cocktail hour and a sunset boat trip or an intimate and cozy family get-together, wedding planners at the wedding planning agency Flammeum are ready to step in and surpass the expectations!
Flammeum is a destination wedding planning agency in Croatia. Wedding planners at Flammeum specialize themselves in organizing destination weddings in Istria. Browse services that wedding planners at Flammeum provide or reach out to us and tell us everything that will make your destination wedding in Croatia great!