The wedding was held at the Church of St. Nikolas which was a beautiful old church located by the shore of the Adriatic Sea, The wedding was at 7:00 p.m. We all arrived at 7:00 p.m.! Another wedding party was coming out the door as we came in. This is clearly a popular place for weddings.
Jelena was walked down the aisle by her very distinguished-looking father. Jelena is a member of a jazz/gospel group, Rivers, who sang at the service. You will never guess the song as she went down the aisle (this should be a giveaway!)
Alright.
It was "Chapel of Love"! It was delightful!
Jelena and Petar sat in front of the congregation in satin chairs during the first part of the service. The priest looked like a cherub and smiled during the entire service. We didn't have a clue what was being said but, as one of our new bilingual friends, Ivana, said, we definitely felt the energy.
Petar told us that, at one point, he chuckled because the face of Saint Nikolas, at the front of the church, looked just like Jud! This is not news. He has been told before that his face looks like Santa Claus!
I forgot Kleenix. Zrinka, Petar's mom, gave me a whole pack! I needed them. Every one of them.
The music ranged from traditional (Ave Maria played beautifully by a violin soloist) to rock to gospel. I was tickled to see Jelena sing and dance a little to the music! Many guests told us that they have never seen a wedding like this before in Croatia.
The flower girls were so precious and and well-behaved during the entire service. The priest called them "little angels." They were! There were rose petals inside the bottom of their dresses.
The recessional was "Oh Happy Day", sung by Jelena's group. Jud, Kat and I started clapping along, as instructed before by Jelena. People looked at us a little oddly, then began to clap along.
Petar and Jelena walked out of the church in a flurry of rice and confetti. It looked like snow in the early evening. They had huge smiles on their faces.
It was a beautiful, joyful service, but the fun was not over.
Stay tuned for Part Three, The After Party.
Hi Suz, what a wonderful wedding and an amazing experience for all of you!! Wow. And taking the time to blog, again, wow. Thanks for stopping by, I'll be posting pics. And we made it home safe and sound!! thank you for caring. Hugs, Riki
ReplyDeleteI cry at every wedding and my eyes are tearing up right now. These two are such special people!
ReplyDeleteOh, what a beautiful wedding! How wonderful that you were able to be there!
ReplyDeleteOh just lovely! How wonderful that you got to go and that we get to see all the wonderful photos. The flower girls sure are adorable.
ReplyDeleteHugs~Hope
There's nothing quite like the experience of witnessing the coming together of two loving hearts...it looks like there was an abundance of bright joy and happiness in the air.
ReplyDeleteSuz;
ReplyDeleteWhat a great experience for you! It looks like it was a beautiful service and Church. The music must have made the atmosphere very joyful and full of love! How wonderful! One of my favorite songs to sing is "Oh Happy Day"! Those flower girls looked like little angels! Thanks for sharing with us your experience. I thought those pictures you shared last time were of the wedding - oops! Those were awesome too!
Hugs to you Suz
OK...don't know what happened, tried to post and it disappeared...LOL
ReplyDeleteAnyway how wonderful to have been at the wedding, what a memory. Great photos
Catherine
lovely!
ReplyDeletethat looks so incredibly romantic!
ReplyDelete