Planning A Croatian Wedding In New York

Immigrants are a delicate, but persistent problem. Nowadays, more and more people choose to leave their homes and go abroad in order to find work or to find a better paid job. If we consider the financial aspects we can say that working in another country is better, but if we think about home sickness, our families, traditions and cultures, things tend to complicate. Moreover, the differences between the “old home” and the “new home” are more visible when that particular person is getting married.

Let’s take the example of a Croatian couple who wants to get married in New York. That’s a big issue, because planning a Croatian wedding in New York is very interesting and not that hard. First of all, you need to make sure that your traditions and parts of your cultural background are integrated in the biggest day of your life. You might want to give up some of these elements, but make sure you won’t regret it later. Usually, childhood is a very important period of our live because this is the time when we develop and experience for the first time, what means to have a family, friends, and a home.

When planning a Croatian wedding in New York, start with the venue. Fortunately, there are many traditional Croatian venues in New York. You can plan your wedding ceremony in “St. Ciril & Methodius & St. Raphael Church” (Midtown), the “Croatian Catholic Mission;” “Most Precious Blood Church” (Astoria) etc. And don’t forget: if you can’t afford to pay for these locations, you can always choose to decorate a smaller one with Croatian elements.

Further on, when talking about food or music, you should know that “Djerden Burek” in Midtown is probably one of the best caterers, which offers its clients various Croatian dishes. In what concerns the musical domain, a DJ that knows exactly what songs to have in his playlist is more than indicated. Search for a person who is aware of the Croatian songs and can understand what tradition means to you. Examples like “Tvoja Zemlja” by Vice Vukov or “Vjerujem on te Voli” by Daniel Popovic are more than necessary if you want your wedding to “fell Croatian”.

Other traditional customs which you could use during the wedding reception are welcoming your guests with rosemary branches, which is a symbol of good luck and prosperity, serving Kolaci cakes or putting out baskets for the persons who want to dance with the bride (in order to do that, they need to put a certain sum of money in the basket).

As you can see, planning a Croatian wedding in New York is not more difficult than planning a regular wedding, but the best part of it, is that you get to incorporate your traditions and to feel closer to home. Wherever you are, remember that traditions are meant to remain in your life for ever. I consider that no matter how wealthy you are, the places you grew up in are always going to make you feel nostalgic.