Love & Laughter- Dubrovnik wedding story of Ellie & Simon

IMPORTANT NOTE: all photos in this website are copyrighted by Veronica Arevalo and any unauthorized use is striclty prohibited under law.

Even today, almost 6 months since their wedding, when I think of their special day, I smile, sometimes even laugh. It was such a happy wedding, full of love and laughter. Ellie & Simon came a year before the wedding to meet me and look at the venues; by then Ellie and I were in contact for months, thoroughly enjoying each other's emails and characters. It was a good match, and I always say this is crucial when you choose a wedding planner- as we will be best friends, at least during your wedding planning....
Hopefully we will, like Ellie, Simon and the two of us, stay friends long after the wedding bells were heard....

If you have been reading my blog posts, you know how much I am in love with wedding details, well this was one of the weddings where details were in abundance and so carefully chosen, so personal and so warm. So classy and chic.... If I were to re-do my wedding, I would steal Ellie's wedding style- color scheme, flowers and definitely her Jimmy Choos..... I would skip the Groom of course (not THAT wedding planner :)))!

Day before the wedding, while guys enjoyed a glass of cold Croatian beer in a local pub and teasing Sy about getting married tomorrow, Ellie and her Maid of honor indulged into a private massage session by two greatest massage experts in town who visited them in their luxury apartment in the heart of the Old Town (where they by the way threw a spontaneous party when wveryone arrived a couple of days before the wedding!- sorry no pictures were shared :))).

The next morning, THE DAY, as they were enjoying the bridal getting ready beauty treatments, they were served a catered champagne breakfast. Six ladies in the room and all the fun (it wasn't easy on Ellie's father when he came to get the girls- of course the ceremony was fashionably late : ))!

Sy was getting ready with his parents in their apartment, far from the crowds and champagne breakfast. It was his quiet time, that didn't last long, but long enough....

It was time to go to the ceremony venue. It was a bright, sunny and a very hot day. And everyone was in for a treat. Trust me, I was the wedding planner : ))

Bridal party was ready to leave too. Hair, makeup, nails, veil, flowers, all in place.... Ellie was ready for the most special moments in her life....

Sy was waiting patiently for his absolutely beautiful Bride, and finally, at the romantic tunes of Des'ree's Kissing you from the movie Romeo & Juliette, the Bridesmaids processional started, followed by Ellie, The Bride....

Ceremony was entirely personal, again, full of love, laughter and tears too... joyful and very emotional too...
Sy and Ellie read out their vows to each other just before Ellie's brother played a song for them on the piano and they had sand as their unity symbol instead of candles which they poured into a single unity vase after they were prounounced husband and wife....
Each guest had a personalized order of service and a fan at their chair waiting for them, and also a parasol if needed. Everything truly was attented to the very last detail....

By the time ceremony was done, sun came down a bit, and to a huge round of applause and cheers by their guests, ready for drinks and party....

Guests were ushered to the coaches which took them to the Old Town harbour where they were in for a surprise- a champagne boat cruise at sunset....
Everyone's favorite of the day- relaxed ambiance, breeze and chilled champers hit everyone's spot and were truly a spectacular experience for all guests.....

When we came back from the wedding panoramic boat cruise around Dubrovnik city walls and islands nearby, Ellie decided to toss the bouquet at the Old Town harbour pier. It was a perfect setting for this and we gathered an enviable selection of "single" ladies. To the common countdown, Ellie threw her bouquet (well technically she threw the "toss" bouquet, not her own, as she wanted her own as a keepsake and also it was veeeery heavy so didn't want to risk any injuries either - one of the first thing in the wedding planning I remember Ellie specifying for me was that she wanted her bridal bouquet for her Dubrovnik wedding to be huge. And trust me - it was. In style of course... :))

It was time for our newlyweds to go for a short photo sesison with Veronica, their photographer (www.veronicaarevalo.com ) and videographers around Old Town, while we slowly escorted guests to the reception venue for a welcome cocktail....

We arrived at their Dubrovnik wedding reception venue- the East West Beach Club, located just outside the Old Town gates, with incredible views and fabulous setting....

By the time newlyweds arrived, everyone was served a glass of champagne with strawberries and had a box of confetti at them. Seating plan was done in sync with the rest of the wedding style and tables were set up and decorated with abundance of baby breath flowers, candles in specially ordered candle holders and the most beautiful cake and guestbook table I have had the honor of presenting based on Ellie's idea and details and props....
Each guest's name was written on a small hand made lavender heart shaped sachets and each guest got a little passion flower seed bag. Very green, very natural and very personal favors if you ask me....

Guests were seated, wine was poured and lovely speeches took place. Simon's speech was personally one of my favorites of all I have heard and you could understand why he is such a popular history teacher with his great voice. Everyone enjoyed it, and even Ellie said a few words on her own!

Dinner was served, and was delicious indeed. Voices were louder and party mood fel more and more by the minute. Guests mingled, some of them heading for a cigarette down to the beach and enjoying the sound of waves and some of them leaving a message in the guest book or their colored fingerprints on the personalized fingerprint tree prepared for guests to paint and to be framed later on as a wedding memento in the newlyweds' house. Details, details, details..... Loved every single one of them....

And finally, it was time for the cake cutting and the first dance. Again, love and laughter all around us.... Ellie brought beautiful lace wrappers for the cupcakes and our pastry chef did a marvelous job on the looks and the taste. Cupcakes were served in 3 different flavors and every one of them was delicious!

For their first dance song Ellie and Simon chose Aloe Blacc's Green Lights, and it was a pure pleasure to watch them dance, relaxed, happy and in love....

A surprise wedding cake was served a bit later, a three tier Croatian and French cheeses cake, decorated with freshy picked grapes, to everyone's excitement. It was perfect timing for some crackers with cheese, which we served on platters to all tables.

Party went on into the night as the DJ released playlist created by Ellie and Simon. You must have read from my tone that this surely was one of my dearest weddings and I am so happy to be such great friends with Ellie and Simon today. I do wish them to be as happy as they were on the wedding day and to laugh away, every day of their lives.....

It was a true pleasure being part of your Dubrovnik Wedding Story.....

With love,

Ines & Marin

www.dubrovnikevent.com