MONIKA & DAVID

Q & A WITH THE BRIDE
Who
Monika, 27, Teacher & David, 29, Project Manager
Location
Croatian Catholic Church of Our Lady, Blacktown
Guests
375
Theme
“Pink and Navy”
The Wedding dress
“A long full length Henry Roth satin dress corseted with lace and beaded edging. For the ceremony, I also wore a shawl that had the same beaded edging as the dress.”
Bridesmaids’ dresses
“The Charis dress from Bridesmaids Only, in a navy colour. It was below the knee dress with a high neckline, I was going for a classy look that wasn’t too revealing for a traditional ceremony. They wore hot pink shoes to match with their flowers.”
Invitations
“They were navy blue with touches of pink. We had them in both Croatian and English for our guests.”
Flowers
“I had hot pink roses with diamantes in the middle of each one. My bouquet had a charm in memory of my father who passed away two years ago. The bridesmaids and flower girl all had roses in a mix of pinks.”
Ceremony
“In the morning, David actually came to pick me up and needed to barter with my mother and brother. After a series of fake brides, I eventually came out and we danced our traditional kolo on the driveway, then the boys with some friends and family left on the London Bus for the church. I travelled in a London Cab with my mother and the bridesmaids to the church. My mother walked me down the aisle to give me away to my husband. I walked down to a violinist playing Pachelbel’s Canon. Our ceremony was a full traditional Catholic Mass in our Croatian language. We had friends and family as readers and the choir from the Parish sang all the songs that I love from attending regular Sunday mass.”
Reception
“Our wedding dance was ‘Sad kada dosla si’ by Bosutski Becari played by a combination of the band and some friends who play traditional Croatian instruments. They had a practise together in the lead up to the wedding and the song sounded amazing, really made our night! Our friends who played the instruments also played for guests as they arrived, as well as during our ‘slatka rakija’ tradition where guests come and have a shot with the bride and groom while giving their gift. The reception was at the Croatian Club in Punchbowl.”
Decorations
“Our centrepieces were alternating. One table had a large candelabra with lit candles and the other had a glass vase with mixed pink flowers on the top. We had a floral hedge on the main table as well as our married names on display. There were also lights around the hall in pink and blue. We added some other touches like photos of us holding the table numbers on every table, a Mr and Mrs Pozar sign on the bridal table and framed mirrors to welcome the guests and direct them to their tables.”
Favours
“Guests took home photos from the photobooth as well as a small box filled with candy from the buffet. Some also had the joy of taking home plates of leftover Croatian cakes at the end of the night.”
Wedding cake
“It had 5 tiers (with decent tasting flavours we chose like red velvet and cookies and crème) and was decorated with cascading fresh flowers. My husband actually made the cake table, which had a clear top, and it was filled with flowers underneath.”