Laura and Nicky celebrated their blessing of marriage on the beautiful Croatian island of Brac on Wednesday 14th June 2017

… and, oh my, what a treat it was, too!

I absolutely adore an intimate wedding, but a small and intimate gathering in a tranquil little Croatian village… well what could be more perfect?

Laura and Nicky made a conscious decision to hold a very small gathering indeed – just 16 guests in total, including the bride and groom! They invited their absolute nearest and dearest relations, plus a tiny few friends, to join them for a week away in the sunshine… with a little wedding thrown in for good measure.

All of the guests had travelled from the same little town in Scotland where Laura and Nicky grew up, with the exception of Laura and Nicky themselves – they now live in London.

This was one of the reasons why they had decided to take their family away for the week. Family is hugely important to them both, and by getting married abroad they had found an opportunity to spend some extended holiday time with everyone together.

They hired a large luxury villa in Pucisca called The White House, where they could accommodate the whole wedding party for the duration of their visit, and we held the ceremony on the terrace in the early morning sunshine, alongside the pool.

It felt almost quite the risk only being able to rely on pictures before their visit to plan the day, but the villa turned out to be just perfect! It was cosy, yet specious; welcoming, yet free from bother.

The bride and groom, and their guests had the whole place to themselves for the week with self-catering accommodation, so they were able to really feel at home when preparing for the ceremony.

They stocked the fridge full of fresh fruits and Prosecco, and the girls set to work making paper pompoms between sunbathing sessions, whilst the lads were given the task of stringing them up around the pool before heading to the town to pick up fresh cherries and pizza!

We held the ceremony in front of an incredible backdrop of mountains that came together to frame Pucisca’s Harbour, with mainland Croatia sat silently in the background underneath a pure blue sky…

…it was just divine!

Laura and Nicky’s service was incredibly sweet and sentimental. We had spent a few hours together back in London over brunch one Sunday, discussing their relationship and the story of how they got together.

The service included anecdotes and details of their story, and had us all giggling over Laura and Nicky’s humorous approach to love. It was incredible personal, and I’d really come to know my couple so well by the time we reached the wedding day!

A an adapted reading of ‘The Lovely Dinosaur’ was given by Laura’s bridesmaid and best friend, Stephanie…. it has us all in both tears and stitches with it’s references to Laura’s love of hiphop music!

Laura and Nicky had decided to write their own wedding vows, but the thought of reading them out loud made the bride feel incredibly nervous.

We met together the day before the wedding to have a little rehearsal, and Laura shared with me her fears of speaking the words that meant so much to her on the day.  Together, we sat on the balcony and practised her reading. It was tough, and tearful, and I’d promised to step in if she needed me to, but I knew she could do it…

…and on the day…. deep breath, big gulp of air… take your time…. she made it!

It was one of the most beautiful moments of the ceremony, knowing how difficult Laura had found it to express herself, and knowing that she had done it all by herself in the moment just made it all the more magical.

Next up came the exchanging of wedding rings. Since it was such a small gathering, we decided to make this moment even more personal by including a ring warming ceremony.

The rings were placed in their pretty Tiffany pouch and passed from guest to guest as we listened to Perry Como singing Catch a Falling Star on the speaker by the pool. This song held a lot of significance to Nicky’s mother – it was an emotional moment for the whole family, and one which was cherished by them all.

After the ceremony, we grabbed the confetti and bottles of bubbly and headed up to the roof top terrace, where we showered the bride and groom with petals and cheers of joy and congratulations underneath the glorious Mediterranean sun!

Once all the champagne had been finished, everyone took to the steps and we began a descent down into the Brac village of Pucisca…

Walking through the village with Laura and Nicky was such an incredible experience – local people clapped and cheered and yelled out their blessings as we passed by them in restaurants and sidewalks.

The sun shone bright and the water in the harbour twinkled at our toes. It could not have been more idyllic!

Finally, the bride and groom and their wedding party boarded the boat that was waiting for them in the harbour, ready to take them off to the next part of their day – a private dinner party in a Dalmatian vineyard on the southern side of Brac Island.

I waved off my couple and blew kisses from the quay side, then headed back to the village to have some lunch of my own and a glass of Dalmatian Wine, before a quick explore of the town…

…well, when in Croatia!

I’d like to wish a huge congratulations to gorgeous couple Laura and Nicky for planning such a perfect destination wedding in Croatia. The whole celebration was simply sensational, and it was a joy to have been a part of it.

Huge thanks to photographer Dalibora Bijelic (daliborabijelic.com) for being such a wonderful person to work with, and for assisting Laura and Nicky so much with help and advice whilst planning their wedding in Croatia. All photos in this post are courtesy of Dalibora Bijelic.

Thank you also to Karlo of Capture Pi (capture-pi.com) videography for this stunning video of the day as well…. (Please note the beautiful Scottish tones are that of bridesmaid Stephanie, reading The Lovely Dinosaur on Laura and Nicky’s special day).

For more information about how to get married abroad, or to plan your destination wedding blessing with Samantha, visit our page Destination Weddings or contact Samantha direct to discuss your plans and ideas:

Phone: 07783 141 202
Email: [email protected]
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Twitter: @SamanthaKelsie
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