Dubrovnik Luxury Weddings Ltd

Where do I begin? If I?m honest words can?t describe how unbelievably happy and thrilled my husband and I were with the service from DLW and most importantly the ?Amazing Ana?. We began our DLW journey with Paula when my Mum and I traveled over a year before the wedding for a meet and greet and she was fantastic. We had actually booked Cavtat as our wedding venue before ever having been there. My husband and I had previously holidayed in Dubrovnik but never made it to Cavtat and what an amazing choice we made! We got married in St.Nicholas Church, had a small cocktail reception post Church in Ancora bar, followed a 1 hour boat trip around the peninsula and finally off to Spinnaker terrace. The terrace was set up beautifully for 85 people, the staff were brilliant, the food and wine really really great!! Ana & co were there the whole day ensuring everything ran smoothly. We were blessed with the weather which was a bonus. We can honestly say it was the best day of our lives and we had guests commenting on how it was a ?fairytale? wedding. We?d do it all again in the morning in Cavtat and with DLW! We hope to see you next June for our first wedding anniversary :-) Lots of love & best wishes Sarah & Padraig xxx

Paul and I got engaged in summer 2013 whilst island-hopping around Croatia. We got engaged on Spain island and spent the last night of the holiday in Cavtat because it was close to the airport. As soon as we arrived in Cavtat, we fell in love with it; it is a beautiful bay, unspoiled by tourism, and the idea was planted for an abroad wedding. I started researching as soon as we got home.

I contacted Dubrovnik Luxury Weddings and Paula emailed back straight away to say she had lived in Cavtat and knew it very well and also sent a draft budget on the basis of what I had told her so far. We started emailing and she told me all of the options for a wedding around the Dubrovnik area. It took Paul and me a while to decide on venues but we eventually decided to get married at St Nicholas church in Cavtat and hold the reception at the Hotel Croatia, on the Quiet Terrace, overlooking the bay.

Maja was our assigned wedding planner and she was brilliant. Together, over the following months, we built our wedding day. Paul and I didn't have many set ideas about what we wanted for our wedding day. We asked if we could incorporate a boat into the day and Maja gave us options and sent pictures so we had an idea of what it would be like. We knew we wanted live music so we were sent links to YouTube clips of different bands so we could decide after listening to them which to go with. Having a religious wedding abroad meant we had to complete quite a lot of paperwork at home and we were told exactly what we needed to do.

I can't think of any suggestion that I put to Maja that wasn't met with a positive response. She was always pro-active and the approach of DLW was to create anything for you that you asked for if it was possible to do so. And every time I asked about something, I would also be told how much it would cost. DLW was great at sending budgets. Everytime the wedding plan was updated, a new budget would be sent. Paul and I knew at all times what the current budget was, and when we opted out of canapes, for example, deciding to spend that money on cocktails for the guests instead, all switches were made with no fuss and we were never made to feel that changes were inconvenient or any trouble.

I assumed that with having an abroad wedding, some things would have to be sacrificed, so I was thrilled when Maja asked if we were coming over to do a menu tasting and hair trial. The menu tasting at the Hotel Croatia was a brilliant experience. It was included in the price of the hotel's wedding package and Paul and I could choose a 5 course gala menu each for tasting. We were also given the freedom to create whatever menu we wanted. On the evening of the tasting, we were taken to the Steak House restaurant which was much quieter and treated like VIP guests. The Food & Beverage Manager came down to see how we were getting on and answered any questions we had about the wedding menu. He, too, made us feel like nothing would be too much trouble.

Maja went beyond just organising the day itself. She also helped us to organise booking a restaurant for our 45 guests the night before the wedding and putting on a BBQ the day after. Maja was there on the wedding day with her colleague Ana and I was so pleased knowing that Maja would be there in person having been the one who had put everything together with me over the past 10 months. I think it would be awful to build your day with one person, to have a stranger be there on the day itself.

The wedding day was a very hot August day! Our ceremony was at 4pm. Davor, the stylist, had arrived at the hotel at 10am and spent 4 hours doing our hair. The styles he created for me and my bridesmaids were outstanding. I have been a bridesmaid myself 4 times and have never seen such good wedding hair. Maja delivered the flowers to the hotel and I was anxious to see them. Decisions about flowers and other decorations had all be made via email using pictures from the internet to exchange ideas so I didn't really know for certain what anything would look like on the day. I was not disappointed with the flowers. They were stunning and captured exactly the ideas I had sent by email. They were top quality flowers and really beautiful colours.

We had an atmospheric ceremony in the beautiful St Nicholas church. The violin and cello players were first class, and had learned my entrance music especially for me. After the wedding, we had photos on the church steps before heading to the boat.

The drinks reception on the boat was a surprise for our guests and went down very well. There was beer, prosecco and soft drinks. Maja arranged all of that and got the quantities spot on. We also had fruit kebabs which I was thrilled with - they were top quality, fresh fruit and looked really vibrant and colourful. They were the perfect accompaniment to the prosecco.

After the drinks reception, Paul and I went off for photos around the village with Tomi, the photographer, whilst the guests made their way up to the hotel where a cocktail drinks reception was waiting. By the time Paul and I got there we were really hot but when we walked out onto the terrace, I was blown away by how it looked. The white table cloths, white chair covers and pink sashes looked immaculate, and the centrepieces of candles, mirrors and rose petals looked so classy and elegant. The view of the bay below is second to none and I can't imagine that any wedding ever had a nicer setting.

The first course was served, and then we did our speeches. The sun was setting at this time and by the end of the final speech, it was dark and the candles on all the tables and around the edges of the terrace had been lit (totally unobstrusively by Maja and Ana). I feel tingly and emotional just thinking back on how gorgeous the terrace looked all lit up. It was so atmospheric and romantic.

The band we had chosen was Jazzoholics - a swing/jazz band. I was a little nervous about the band because of all things, music was one of the most important things to me, but I needn't have worried because they were brilliant musicians and played from 6pm to midnight almost non-stop. They would have learned our first dance free of charge if we had wanted them to but our song wasn't really compatible with a swing/jazz band so we used an iPod instead. Everyone loved the band, and when we saw them playing in the village 2 days after the wedding, they recognised and acknowledged us during their set.

The hotel had made our wedding cake (again based on a picture I had sent to Maja) and it tasted divine. Everyone was full after the dinner but after tasting the cake, ate the whole piece! On the dance floor later, 2 guests told me that it was the best food they had ever had at a wedding.

I would not change a thing about my wedding day and I would recommend any couple gets married in Croatia and uses DLW. The team is first class and I think the quality of the suppliers is better than what most of my friends have had at home. DLW took all the stresses of planning a wedding away. Paul and I were thrilled not to have to trek around photographers, hair dressers, florists etc and although it is inevitable that there is a slight worry because you have to go with who you are given, anyone booking a wedding with DLW need have no such worries because the florist, photographer and stylist are clearly at the top of their professions. The day ran like clockwork and (in my totally unbiased opinion) was one of the best weddings I have ever been to!

We had a fantastic wedding day split between Dubrovnik and Cavtat in September just gone. I can easily say that we would not have been able to organise anything without Kristina's valuable insight, industry knowledge and professionalism. Once I met Kristina and her team I relaxed completely about the wedding as it was clear the details were in safe hands. I would not hesitate to recommend her and her team to anyone thinking of having their wedding in Dubrovnik. We have fabulous memories of the day, all the little aspects were looked after, we literally did not have to think of anything on the day other than enjoying our time with our guests. I am still noticing small touches when I look back on our photos, the table decor was faithfully matched to sample photos I had emailed before the wedding, extra decorations we carried over were tastfully added, I had asked for very specific colours in my bouquet; it was glorious,my table plan and seating arrangements were set up perfectly despite having only decided last-minute that I wanted guests to sit in a certain order at the tables. We recently received our photo album, I can't stop looking at the photos. Tomi's photography speaks for itself. We can honestly say that if we were to do it all over again there is nothing we would change and that is largely due to the stellar work and professionalism of Kristina and her team. Best wishes to anyone planning a dubrovnik wedding for 2012 :)

We recently got married in Dubrovnik and we really had a wonderful day - it was a dream come through for us. Kristina and Paula were so helpful and I cannot recommmended them highly enough. They went out of their way to ensure we had a truly perfect wedding day and one we will never forget.
They came up with wonderful suggestions (from the flowers to the cake, hairdresser, beautician etc) and ensured that all our guests were looked after well and that all went according to plan. They suggested a boat trip for us and all our guests were delighted with it as it gave everyone a chance to see some more of beautiful Dubrovnik and provided a great opportunity to take some great pictures.
I really would not change a thing about our day and am so pleased with the service provided by the wedding planning team - they were excellent and a pleasure to deal with.I was delighted with Tommy the photographer he was terrific and we have a wonderful album to remind us of our Special day.