Croatia Online Lifestyle - Weddings

Photo: Pause for a snap on Trogir's new pedestrian bridge

© Jane Cody

If it’s Saturday, and you can hear the loud honking of the horns of a convoy of cars, there must be a wedding on. Croatian weddings are an all day affair and hard work for the families of the bride and groom. Not for the Croatian bride and groom, a quiet morning getting ready to look your best for your public debut at the church. No, you have to entertain all the guests before you’ve even got married – bride’s friends at the bride’s parents house and groom’s friends at the groom’s parent’s house. The dangers of being jilted are also minimised as the groom goes round to collect the bride from her house, before the wedding. He’s offered an alternative but usually ends up picking the bride!

Then it’s off to the ceremony in convoy, flags waving, a reasonably short wedding ceremony, followed by party time at a local restaurant. The party normally continues into the small hours with a number of courses, dancing in between, and a few ceremonies – bouquet throwing, garter hunting (by a blindfolded groom working hard under the bride’s dress!) and cake bashing. There’s no delicate first slice of the cake, the aim is to demolish it as quickly as possible with a sword!

The Dalmatians certainly know how to celebrate a wedding and it’s good to know that Croatia is one place where family traditions are still thriving.