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QUICK DETAILS Names Maria and Nenad State/suburb Brookvale, NSW

Please do a short intro to this story and then go into the questions..

1. What you do for work

I have a background in accounting but a few years ago I changed my life and became portrait and wedding photographer. Now I have my own studio Mashas Photos(http://www.mashasphotos.com.au) and enjoy every minute of what I do.

2. Tell us a little about the proposal and the lead up to the wedding? Nenad proposed to me at the same place where we met, on Curl Curl beach in Sydney. He organized a bit of Amazing Race for me. He asked me to pick up the post at his mum’s place. When I opened post box, there was a note and my favorite chocolates. The note was saying to come to “our special” place. I knew exactly where I have to go, place where we met 1.5 years ago. We did have a long 3 year engagement, were enjoying being fiancée and fiancé 

3. What was the inspiration behind your wedding theme / vibe?

It’s all started from me buying royal blue shoes by Badgley Mischka. My shoes established the color palette for the wedding. And I always knew I wanted to have rustic wedding. I love relaxed and intimate weddings. We only had 14 guests so I found that rustic fits well.

4. Favourite detail and/or moment of the day (besides becoming husband and wife of course! or Wife and Wife, or Husband and Husband!)

Planting Olive tree! I had amazing wedding planner who helped me to put the wedding together. Before the Big Day we went through every detail but olive tree was a total surprise!! When we arrived to reception dinner, guests gathered together and we planted our first tree as a husband and wife. Now we have one more reason to come back to Montenegro – to check out on our tree.

5. Did you undertake any DIY projects, if so what?

No, we didn’t have any DIY. All ideas I had in my mind, my wedding planner helped me to realize with the help of very talented vendors.

6. Any family or religious traditions incorporated into your day?

Yes. My background is Russian. And in our culture mother of the bride meets newlyweds with bread and salt. Whoever break off the biggest piece of bread will be the leader in the family. 7. What does marriage mean to you? Marriage for us is family and all the good and bad, happy and hard what comes with it. It’s love and respect in the first place. So far it’s us two and cat Boris.

8. Talk to us about your dress, where is it from? how long did it take to find etc etc

I found my dream dress on Pinterest. I just pinned it and moved on to other décor pins. I went to the shops and tried lots of dresses but somehow my mind was going back to that dress on Pinterest. It took a few hours on the net and I found it. The dress is by Oleg Cassini and I purchased it in Davids Bridal in USA.

9. Any funny stories in the lead up to or on the day?

Can’t think of any funny stories I can share 

10. Advice for other couples planning a wedding?

- If you can, get a wedding planner. In that case during your big day, you can just relax and enjoy. - Do hair and make up trial! I did mine the day before as it was destination wedding and we only arrived 4 days before the big day, but I knew I wanted to do it in any case! - But flat shoes! Towards the end of the night, your feet will be in pain. This is a fact. I am glad I bought white lace shoes from H&M. They were $10 and saved my life! 

Please attach 10-20 images from the day and please reference vendors in the images below.

VENDOR CREDITS (where applicable) You will need to list both the business name AND website. If you purchased from Etsy or Ebay please list the store name as well

Photos Eduard Perov

Bridal gown Oleg Cassini

Veil / hair piece Davids Bridal

Shoes Badgley Mischka

Flowers Anastasia Belyakova from Blush Pink Events

Rings Angus and Coote, Warringah Mall

Jewellery/Accessories Earrings and dress rings by Samantha Wills

Bridesmaids dresses Zara

Grooms suit The Gentlemen’s Club, Chatswood

Grooms Shoes Hugo Boss

Groomsmen suits

Bow ties / ties The Gentlemen’s Club, Chatswood

Ceremony Art Hotel Galathea, Kotor, Montenegro

Reception and Catering Aman Resort, Villa Milocer, Sveti Stefan, Montenegro Cake Patisserrie Montenegro Cake topper BetterOffWed on Etsy

Reception stylist / any decorations / details: Anastasia Belyakova from Blush Pink Events

Stationery designer Seadreamme

Hair and Make up Galina Loyko and Oksana Perova

Any vendors we have forgotten?

Robes for me and mum from BridesmaidsRobes on Etsy Ring Pillow MomoRadRose on Etsy Customised hangers MishmashofLove on Etsy

Favours: The Red Balloon Candy Artisians, Melbourne