When our clients contacted us mid – planning their grand wedding in Villa Dalmacija Split, we had only three months to plan the event.
The thing is, some couples just NEED a la carte wedding planning.
Beyond the usual vendors, menus, designs, etc. that are offered in packages.
Tome & Yelena were one of those couples.
They needed time to realize that standard wedding packages and vendors weren’t for them. They needed a more personalized approach.
We were on a mission to incorporate Croatian traditions with their New Yorker aesthetic while finding exciting new vendors and making their dreams come true.
The Venue Villa Dalmacija in Split
The venue our clients chose before they found us was the magnificent Villa Dalmacija – Split.
The villa is fairly close to the city center of Split, but it offers complete privacy right next to the sea.
The wedding venue in question is a beautiful historic venue that has everything you need for an absolutely magic wedding in Croatia.
Keep in mind that the venue itself needs to be booked at least one year in advance, because it’s one of the most popular wedding venues in Croatia.
Our couple had Villa Dalmacija booked before they came to us, so the rest of the planning could have been done in a short time span.
When renting out the villa you get access to inside space (in case of rain), outside space, the woods around the villa (great for photoshoots), the pier, and a super – cute backyard.
We used the whole space for various events during the day.
Another fun fact is that villa Dalmacija was used as part of Dorne in Game of Thrones.
So yes, you can get married on a Game of Thrones set.
The backyard was used for cocktail hour, the pier for the ceremony, the surroundings for the couple’s photoshoot, and the open space of the villa itself for the reception.
The Groom
Since our groom has Croatian roots, he got ready in another town.
His American friends and his Croatian family enjoyed traditional finger food and good company.
They traveled to Split by bus and kept the fun going along the way.
This was a great way of cherishing the groom’s Croatian roots.
The Bride
While the guys were enjoying their time away from Split, the bride’s crew was getting ready in a rental close to Villa Dalmacija.
What I loved was the fact the bride had a mix of girls and boys as “bridesmaids” and this is how we got these awesome pics.
The Symbolic wedding ceremony at the villa
Our clients decided to have a symbolic ceremony.
This is something we recommend to all of our clients, because who wants to deal with complicated bureaucracy before their wedding day?
The ceremony was held at the peer at villa Dalmacija.
The beautiful, a Pinterest-worthy arch made the whole thing even better than we all imagined. The sun is responsible for the amazing light we have in these photos, but most importantly the couple’s chemistry and love are the keys to this emotional part of the wedding.
Cocktail hour in the garden of Villa Dalmacija
After the ceremony, the guests went to enjoy cocktail hour in the backyard of villa Dalmacija.
While mingling and drinking seriously AMAZING cocktails, they listened to the beauty of Croatian klapa singing. If you want to incorporate a little bit of Croatian culture into your wedding, klapa is the way to go. Their amazing love songs go great with sipping cocktails.
Couples photoshoot on the grounds of the venue
While the guests cooled-off with cocktails couples usually go with the photographer to do their shoot.
If you feel that’s absolutely not your thing, you don’t need to do it.
But if you feel you would like to do it, then it’s important to have a photographer that fits your personality. This means, they shouldn’t be only good with technique but an amazing people that’s going to relax you and get the best photos possible.
Villa Dalmacija is special because you have spots on the grounds that are great for a couples photoshoot. You also get some privacy and don’t need to worry about guests watching.
Our photographer Barbara Tursan, did just that, and, well here are some of the results:
The reception started with the bride and groom entering.
after that they had their first dance, then there was dinner and speeches, throwing the bouquet and a lot of fun.
To make all that happen we needed to plan it perfectly.
Our clients really love music, and they wanted a strong band to perform during the night.
One more really important thing was that their English had to be perfect.
When music is a priority, finding the perfect live band might be tricky.
We managed to find a young, fresh, amazing band from another town, that traveled to Split and absolutely nailed it.
One more challenge we had was that all the food served had to be gluten-free.
Our bride has a gluten intolerance, and she struggles with food at every event. Since this was her day she wanted to serve delicious traditional food – that was gluten-free.
Even though we knew this was going to be challenging. We loved the possibility of our bride being relaxed about the food on her big day.
The amazing menu was designed specifically for our clients, by a catering company in Split. They did their best to create the yummiest meat, fish, and vegetarian options made from gluten-free – local produce.
The cake was designed by super-talented Jelena from Dolcemania.
And then, there was the light. We all thought that we needed a vendor to provide some professional lights, but we also wanted to keep it as natural as possible.
So we had the whole villa lighted up, in natural warm tones and some additional light for party time.
Floral & stationery
If you google villa Dalmacija weddings, you’ll see a bunch of pastel/romantic/classical decorations that are typically used in this venue.
We wanted to keep the romantic aspect of the flowers, but also add a more modern look.
We did it by deciding on an overall style and theme that was seen across the design elements in this wedding.
The theme our couple decided on was a jungle vibe, with gold details, and a mix of exotic flowers with blush shades of regular flowers.
We used the jungle theme for the stationery to make the overall look even more modern.
After an intensive planning period and a lot of work and love that both us and the couple have put into this wedding. We managed to get a great combination of modern style, elegant setting, fun music, traditional food, and drinks. The result was an emotional, beautiful, fun night for both the guests and the couple.
We want to give special thanks to our amazing couple for taking us on this ride with them. And all the amazing vendors without whom this wedding wouldn’t be as special.
Foto: Barbara Tursan – http://www.btm-photo.com/
Light: https://pecovjencanja.hr/en/
Music: Zgroove the band – https://www.facebook.com/zgroovetheband/
Catering: https://www.restorangusar.hr/
Cake: http://dolcemania.hr/
Florals: Mirella floral design – http://mirellafloraldesign.com/
Makeup: Daniela make up – https://www.facebook.com/makeupdaniela.split/
Stationery: Filip @ Tie the knot Croatia
Planning & coordination: Tie the knot Croatia
And many many more that helped us along the way.
And if you’ll like us to help you plan your wedding, fill out our form here: https://www.croatiaweddingplanner.com/form/