Aerial view of the old town of Dubrovnik on the Croatian coast

Jewish Destination Weddings

Under the chuppah,
between two shores

Weddings at the restored Subotica Synagogue in northern Serbia, or along the sunlit Croatian coast — planned from first mood board to last dance.

Destinations

The old city of Dubrovnik above the Adriatic
The Adriatic Coast

The Croatian Coast

More than a thousand miles of coastline, and the sea is never out of sight. This is where you come to be married with the water a few metres away — a chuppah on a beach, in a walled garden above a bay, or on a terrace where the only sound at dinner is the sea.

The whole coast is open to you. Dubrovnik for honey-coloured walls dropping straight into impossibly clear water and the drama of a UNESCO-listed old city. Split for a Roman palace at the heart of a living town, with the Dalmatian islands just offshore. Istria in the north for hilltop stone villages, olive groves, truffle country and quieter, gentler coves. Each has its own character.

Interior of the restored Subotica Synagogue, looking towards the ark beneath the chandelier
Subotica, Serbia

Subotica

Subotica is a small town in the far north of Serbia, right on the Hungarian border — so it is easy to reach from either side, whether your guests fly into Belgrade or into Budapest.

Its synagogue is the reason to come. Step inside and the whole room is colour — a soaring blue dome, walls climbing with stylised flowers in rose, gold and green, and stained glass that sets the space glowing in the late afternoon. Ornate, floral and unexpectedly warm: a garden built indoors.

And there is a whole celebration to build around it. A lake sits just a few minutes from the centre of town, with parkland and terraces along the shore — a natural setting for a welcome dinner or a relaxed gathering the day after. The surrounding countryside is wine country, and its wineries make beautiful, characterful venues for the meal and the party.

Services

Everything, from the mood board
to the chairs

We plan the whole wedding. It starts with a conversation about what you actually want — not a checklist, but the feeling of the day: the room, the light, the music, how formal, how loud, how traditional. From that we build a mood board, a realistic budget and a plan you can actually picture. Then we find the venue and assemble the day around it, sourcing and booking every vendor — caterers, florists, photographers, musicians, hair and make-up, transport, stationery, lighting, and yes, the exact chairs you liked — negotiating on your behalf and coordinating between all of them so that nothing falls between the cracks.

How Jewish the wedding feels is entirely your decision, and everything is possible. We can arrange a rabbi. We can work with the kitchens to make the food kosher. We can organise a Shabbat meal for your guests before the wedding, bring in Jewish music, and build in any other tradition your family wants to carry with them — as much or as little as you like.

And we are there on the wedding day itself, from the morning until the music stops — running the timeline, briefing vendors, greeting guests, and quietly solving the things you will never hear about. Your only job that day is to get married.

A wedding reception table laid with flowers and glassware

Why us

What makes us different

We understand Jewish tradition — you will never have to explain what a chuppah is, why the ketubah matters or how kashrut works, and we can weave in as much or as little of it as you want — and we live here and speak the language, so we deal with venues, caterers, florists and officials directly, in their own words.

About

Hi, I’m Rachel

I’m originally American, and I came to Serbia more than twenty years ago. One of the very first places I visited was the synagogue in Subotica. At the time it was dilapidated and run down — closed for years, its windows dulled, its great dome quietly waiting. Even then, you could feel what it had been.

A few years ago it was fully restored. Every bit of its original charm and grandeur came back: the colour, the light through the stained glass, the sheer scale of the room. Standing in it again, whole this time, I had one thought — someone should get married here.

That thought became Chuppa Adriatica. I plan Jewish weddings in the two places I know and love best: the Art Nouveau grandeur of northern Serbia, and the limestone-and-sea beauty of the Croatian coast. I live here, I speak the language — and I care enormously that your wedding feels like yours, and feels Jewish, wherever in the world your family is flying in from.

Rachel

Contact

Let’s begin

I read every enquiry myself and reply within two working days. Prefer to write yourself? hello@chuppaadriatica.com

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