10 Mar Ceremony in Rome, Party in Dubrovnik – What a wedding!

Becky & Vu – A True Croatian and Italian Destination Wedding

When a couple that chooses to ditch their family tradition and have a destination wedding in Croatia and Italy ask you to be a part of the most important day in their lives you simply cannot say “no”, especially if they’re fun and lovely like our couple Becky and Vu. They decided to say their “I do’s” in Italy and Croatia which made us lucky because we had an opportunity to take beautiful photos of their love story.

Both the bride and groom are Vietnamese, but born and currently live in the USA. They share a thirst for adventure and travel to beautiful places so it was no surprise that they decided to have a destination wedding and bring all their family and friends from across the globe to Europe. It’s not just that they decided to have a destination wedding, but they raised a bar by having their wedding in 2 different countries and cities – Rome in Italy and a popular wedding destination – Dubrovnik in Croatia. Both places are actually perfect for weddings as they represent the old continent with some of the world’s most beautiful locations and sceneries.

Wedding Ceremony in Rome, Italy

We would lie if we would say that Rome isn’t a gorgeous city. With a high number of monuments that gives this town an “old” and unique character where you can feel the romantic vibe all over the city. Once you decide to go discover the hidden places and its piazzas and squares you won’t stop that easily. When you see one, it simply draws you to see more. What is interesting about Rome is that it is a home of the Vatican, a small city where history is all over the place.

We decided to start early in Rome, in order to avoid all the tourists who are also into this location. We wanted to not be disturbed while shooting this scenery and prepare ourselves for this destination wedding in Italy.

First time when we meet our lovely couple we had this feel like this is going to be a wedding to remember. Our meeting was in Vatican, in St. Anne’s church where they were preparing for their wedding rehearsal. We immediately started to take pictures of the church as its architecture and romantic feel was something we could not resist.

The bride and groom planned to get married in St.Anne’s church at 12 am and organized a casual lunch for their family and closest friends after the ceremony. We had plenty time before the ceremony so we took advantage of this opportunity and went to visit all the famous Rome locations in order to get some material for our wedding movie. The first stop was the famous Piazza Della Rotonda where serenity and romance combines. We headed to Piazza Navona through small, traditional streets of Rome where we caught the perfect light and took some spontaneous pictures of this creative and antique place. What we enjoyed the most was the sound of the fountains at the square of St. Peter. The architecture of the Vatican itself is a perfect background for shooting any kind of photos, especially wedding photography.

Although they chose not to have a traditional wedding, Becky and Vu had their entire ceremony and mass in Vietnamese. Although we don’t know the language, everything seemed familiar with a touch of exotic. This was the first time we had a chance to attend a Vietnamese wedding ceremony. It was beautiful!

After the ceremony, Becky and Vu organized a casual lunch at the well-known restaurant – Les Etoile with an adorable garden and beautiful terrace at the top of the building’s roof. From the restaurant’s terrace, we could see the entire Vatican and Rome like they were on our palms. Considering the fact that Vatican has some strict legal regulations regarding shooting the monuments from the air and getting too close to them, we took a chance and recorded the city view from the air.

While the bride and groom went to Dubrovnik the same day, we decided to stay a bit longer and visit nearby villages that we wanted to include in our wedding video.

Wedding  Celebration in  Dubrovnik, Croatia

As in Rome, we started pretty early in Dubrovnik too. We decided to visit most popular locations in Dubrovnik before the tourist’s rush hours in order to shoot most iconic places in this city.

Becky and Vu booked one of the most beautiful and oldest villa’s in Dubrovnik – Villa Sheherezade for their preparation place. We decided to take photos of the villa and have a chat with the bride on how they met and tell us something about their love story while we admire her traditional Vietnamese wedding attire.

“We have been blessed with the ability to travel by opportunities our parents provided for us in immigrating to the United States. Although we can never repay them for all they have done, we wanted to give them an opportunity to experience the beauty beyond the comfortable perimeter of our home towns”

When we asked her how they chose Rome and Dubrovnik, Becky said that in 2014 they took a trip to Europe which was Becky’s first time and feel in love with both cities. One year later they were engaged and in the early wedding planning stages when they decided to go against family wedding tradition and plan for the most epic trip their imaginations could dream up.

“The most important thing for us is to have both our parents relaxed and get enjoy our planned wedding trip without having to worry about anything”

Soon, the guests started to arrive at the villa’s terrace and gather by the pool to enjoy the view of the villa’s gardens and Dubrovnik. We took a chance before the celebration started to shoot the outlines of the Old Town of Dubrovnik as well as villa’s architectural scenery from the air with our drone camera.

The first dance of our newlyweds began and after that the real wedding party started. What surprised us was the glowing accessories their guests had which added a bit of flair to their eccentric destination wedding and wedding photos. They also had a smokescreen which gave the special vibe and atmosphere to the venue.

When we asked Becky to share some tips on planning a destination wedding for our future clients, couples and readers, she said that planning a wedding from another continent is no easy feat so it is important that communication remains open and flowing with everyone involved in your wedding planning. We could not but agree with her.

Below you can see some beautiful moments of Becky and Vu’s Italian and Croatian destination wedding and for more information about this wedding feel free to check out our official  cinematic destination videography  blog  Filmmarry  where we wrote even more details about Becky and Vu’s wedding.

The Wedding Team & Vendors

Wedding Videography –  Filmmarry by DT Studio

What Becky said about us (testimonials); quote:

“We wanted our adventure to be documented by the most skilled destination wedding photographer and cinematic videographer we could convince to come along with us. Vu, master of research and detail, scoured the vast interweb, interviewed many, and confidently selected DT Studio after countless hours spent viewing and reviewing their online portfolio. We were elated when they agreed to shoot for us.”

“ DT Studio, Croatian wedding photographers and videographers exceeded our expectations of responsiveness and flexibility. Best of all, we received the most amazing wedding photos we could ever imagine and we will cherish the memories these photos elicit for the rest of our lives.”

Wedding ceremony church – Sant’Anna dei Palafrenieri, Vatican, Italy

This is a well-known Vatican parish church that is designed, built and dedicated to St.Anne, Virgin Mary’s mother. As many couples who plan to have their destination weddings in Rome are Catholics, the church has a priest that speaks English. The church was built in the 18. Ct and has a typical design for this Renaissance era with many silver and gold stucco details which adds a bit of baroque to the simple, plain, white design.

Wedding Ceremony lunch venue – Les Etoiles

One of the most visited restaurants in the Vatican for its terrace and the panoramic view that provides. It has a great scenery backdrop which is mostly used by the TV networks. Except for fine, local food on the menu that is mostly traditional Italian cuisine what you will find here is their offer of some of the best wines in the Italian region that you could find on the market.

Wedding Organization and Decoration – Marcela Ljubomirac (D’inspiration)

This is a family-owned business that focuses on planning destination weddings in Dubrovnik in Croatia. They have over 5 years of experience in wedding planning and over 30 years in the tourism industry. Their main goal is to make your dreams come true when it comes to weddings

Wedding celebration venue – Villa Sheherezade

One of the most luxurious retreats and resorts in Mediterranean. With its interesting history, it’s one of the most popular sites for couples to have their destination wedding in Dubrovnik. As it is strangely placed on a cliff it provides a great view of Dubrovnik, Lokrum and the Adriatic sea. A pitch-perfect paradise, especially for photographers.