A Romantic Destination Wedding 

Nothing says romance like a destination wedding. With idyllic scenery, guaranteed good weather and the excitement of a holiday adding to the bridal buzz, getting married abroad adds a certain touch of magic to wedding celebrations. To find out more about why destination weddings are so popular, and to see our beautiful Kiki McDonough earrings in situ, we caught up with one of our Kiki Brides to discover more about her big day.

What made you select Dubrovnik, Croatia as your wedding destination?   

I’m from New Zealand and my husband is English-Indian so we were pulled in a few different directions when it came to selecting a country, let along a wedding venue. Ultimately, we decided to select a space that held special significance to us. Dubrovnik was the first place we ever travelled to together in our early days of dating. It was a wonderful trip full of treasured memories, so we decided to explore the potential of celebrating our wedding there. We quickly fell in love with the idea after visiting for a second time. Throughout the wedding process we got to know the city and some of its locals really well – it’s truly come to feel like a second home to us. 

What was the theme of your wedding and did the destination influence this?  

Our wedding was about bringing cultures together and incorporating moments of New Zealand, Indian, English and Croatian traditions. Our welcome bags were filled with traditional kiwi and Indian snacks made by our respective mothers, I decorated a traditional kiwi pavlova live for our wedding ‘cake’, we both got our wedding outfits designed and made by London-based ateliers and jewellery makers (hi, Kiki!), we served cocktails infused with traditional flavours (think of Old Fashioned’s infused with green tea and bay leaves – a riff on the Dishoom favourite) and we celebrated Croatia through the food and florals.  

Our ceremony florals were restrained with just four large urns bursting with locally picked olive branches and eucalyptus and our guests each wore three sprigs of freshly cut rosemary – a Croatian tradition symbolizing good fortune for the couple.  

For our reception, we let our venue do the talking with expansive ocean views and 11th century fortress walls, then we decorated the wedding table to look like a family feast. It was laden with more olive and rosemary branches, dwarf citrus trees and a mix of market style vegetables from a local farm. We served Croatian wine, Adriatic seafood and locally reared meat. Even our grappa was made from lemons, figs and cherries dried from the season prior. It was a beautiful tapestry of cultures. 

Did you have to consider your wedding destination when creating your bridal look?  

Yes, absolutely. We got married in late September, so we knew that it would still be warm. Additionally, our venue was an old stone fortress accessible only via 200+ stairs, so I had to be practical. I designed a custom gown with the incredible Andrea Hawkes Bridal team, focusing on organic silks and a timeless, sculptural silhouette. My dress featured four elements plus my veil, which I mixed throughout the day to change up the styling from first look photos to the ceremony, dinner and dancing. 

For my hair I opted for a classic up-do to both stay cool and to showcase the hand draped off-the-shoulder silk collar. I paired this with statement Kiki blue topaz and diamond earrings that very much took inspiration from the colours of the Adriatic sea and served as my something blue.  

I went for full drama with my veil, choosing a cathedral length that my mother made from hand, meticulously sewing a cascade of florals down the length. This felt appropriate for the formality and grandeur of the ceremony/location. 

What made you choose Kiki McDonough fine jewellery to be part of your wedding look?  

I actually never really considered anyone besides Kiki for my wedding day. I have long loved the brand and the richness or colour, elegance and creativity behind all their designs. I knew I wanted just a statement pair of earrings for the day, so off to Kiki I went! My lovely husband gifted me a tennis bracelet on our wedding day, but aside from the I kept things simple with my rings and the Kiki drop earrings loved how they sparkled in the Adriatic sunshine. 

What was the biggest challenge in having a destination wedding?

You have limited control when you’re working across borders and time zones, but don’t stress over this. Find good people to trust and let them do their job. A destination wedding means you’re asking guests to travel, so you’re responsible for a different level of organization to ensure everyone is in the loop. Given guest travel, you’ll often feel the pressure to plan additional days/events around the wedding. This means budgets can creep up, so don’t be afraid to set your limits and communicate the areas that are covered vs. the areas where guests are responsible for themselves.  

Finally, just be aware of insurance, taxes, exchange rates, securing large cash deposits abroad (you’d be surprised how many vendors ask for cash, so it adds up!) and import costs when you have an international destination – spend some time researching in advance because these logistical items can cause headaches! 

Wedding Planning can be hard, do you have any tips or advice for brides planning a destination wedding? 

First and foremost, hire a planner that you really like and feel safe with. Weddings are hard enough, especially when you mix in a foreign country and language. As a couple, decide your top 3-4 non-negotiables or priorities, and then release expectations for the rest. Your planner (providing you’ve chosen well) will get to know you as a couple and will be your biggest advocate. We also took time to choose really wonderful vendors throughout. We spent time with them, got to know our caterer, photographer, florist etc., communicated our vision clearly and then gave them each an element of creative freedom. I’m a big believer in the fact that creative preform their best when given agency and not micromanaged and this held true for our day. 

Finally, and most importantly, when it comes to the big day, let everything go. People will respond to and reflect your energy, so if you’re happy, relaxed, joyful and ready to boogie, then your guests will be the same. 

Shop our Bridal collection now and find the perfect fine jewellery to complement the vibrant scenery on your special day.