If you’ve never been to a Serbian wedding – you need to attend one. They are incredibly fun. Suzana and Milos’ wedding was a blast and full of Serbian rituals. Everything from massive flags to handmade authentic Rakia bottles – it’s just all so awesome. Serbian culture is incredibly family centric and nationalistic – the Kumovi (the Godparents) play an important role in any Serbian wedding. All the holidays involve family, food and alcohol…all in abundance.
Anyway, back to the wedding. It was a pretty nice day, a bit windy but otherwise beautiful. The clouds would roll in and out which made photographing fun because we’d have shade and then it was gone. During portraits I always look for shade with the best light patterns and there was plenty of that on the grounds of the church. Which by the way is a monastery. the New Gracanica Serbian Orthodox Monastery has some gorgeous grounds. This was my first time shooting there and I really enjoyed it – the church where Suzana and Milos had their ceremony was incredible. The small windows created some awesome light patterns as you’ll see in the photos and the entire church had this golden glow from all the decor. The entire church filled with a mist – so awesome!
Being a Chicago wedding photographer, I was already familiar with Orthodox ceremonies which helped but I was careful to not step anywhere where I shouldn’t be. There are no seats in the church so everyone has to stand and this brings an intimacy to the ceremony unlike any other. Once the ceremony was over we explored the ground and did some portraits then headed to the party.
The food – WOW. I’ll say it again, if you’ve never been to a Serbian wedding – you need to attend one!
I hope you enjoy viewing the photos, we had a blast creating them! Cheers to Suzana and Milos!
