Nadezhda and Viktor’s Rainy Outdoor Party Wedding All Planned in 5 Months

Today I am taking you off to Bulgaria for the super chilled and laid back wedding of Nadezhda and Viktor. This gorgeous couple held a stunning outdoor ceremony, along with 165 of their nearest and dearest. They planned the whole thing in just 5 months, which just shows how much can be achieved when you really put your mind to it, wedding planning doesn’t have to take years! After their ceremony, they held a gorgeous outdoor reception with long tables and festoon lighting and then danced under the starts till 5am. Their was rain, which can only bring good luck on your wedding day and a whole lot of fun and laughter. An amazing wedding, so chilled and so much fun, all captured by Petar Begov Photography.

We called it a ‘Wedding’, but it was a great party to which our son was invited. We called him “The Ring Bearer”

Nadezhda and Viktor  were married on 13th July 2019 at  ‘Lago Pasarel’ next to Pasarel town in Bulgaria. ‘We’ve always known that we want to have an outdoor wedding, but not in your usual wedding venue or restaurant. Sadly, there aren’t too many options for this close to Sofia. The first time we went to Lago Pasarel was in March. The spot was extremely muddy and the whole scenery was…. let’s say very far from what you can see on the pictures. A couple of weeks later is was fifty shades of GREEN and we thought – that’s a great party spot! We had 165 guests and it took around 5 months to plan.’

How they met 
We met through some friends. Today, w‘ve been married for just over a year, parents for 4, together for 9 years!

The proposal
Viktor proposed to me in December 2018 when we went on a trip to Bali with our (then) 1-year-old son. It was that one night our friends offered to stay in with theirs and our kid, so we can go out to dinner. The whole thing was a huge surprise for me, because we had talked about getting married at some point, but decided it could wait a few years. I guess it couldn’t..

How did you allocate your budget?
Viktor is a producer in advertising, so he’s done hundreds of budgets. We joked that we would approach the wedding budget as if its an ad. That is exactly what we did. We also thought about the things we didn’t want to compromise (location and lighting) and started building the costs from there.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
Due to the large number of guests, the food and drinks were our biggest expense and it was more than we initially planned. Luckily, it was worth it as everyone had enjoyed the dishes we selected. The dress, cake and flowers were on a lower budget. I was never a fan of the idea of buying a ridiculously expensive dress that I would get to wear once.

How did you choose your photographer?
I came across Petar Begov’s work by randomly browsing through NEA Flowers account on Instagram. Petar and Zheni had done a lot of shoots together and they were all very similar to what I’d imagine our wedding would look like.

The dress
I found the dress on Pinterest. The only image I had was of the back of the dress, so Tedy, the woman who sewed it for me and I decided on the front together. She was recommended to me by a friend and did an amazing job! The shoes were white Converse sneakers and my only accessory was the pair of small diamond earrings my parents gave to me after I gave birth to my son a few years back.

The suit and bridesmaids
Viktor and I looked at a couple of suits, however, we ended up in Scotch & Soda and there we found THE ONE. I didn’t have bridesmaids, so everyone was free to wear whatever they want. The only instructions we included in the wedding invitations was for people to have their dancing shoes on.

Theme or colour scheme?
I never really thought of having a particular colour scheme. The only consideration I had was to avoid colors that would blend with the green surrounding, but at the same time have tones that would accompany the forest. We ended up with some white/baby pink flowers, graphite and beige table cloths and light candles.

Flowers
The flowers were the things I was least worried about, because Zheni is an amazing professional and we immediately ‘clicked’. I showed her hundreds of images of flower arrangements which were all great, but very different from one another. Despite my chaotic references, she ended up making the final call for most parts.

Decoration
We had some green strings and small flowers on the tables to accompany the candles and table cloths. There was a large wooden arc for the ceremony, which I built myself and was beautifully decorated by Zheni; some candles were floating in the lake next to the party and after sunset we had the bulb strings above the table arrangement lit.

Food 
We had a welcome drink that included champagne with dry ice and small bites – hummus with quail egg; dehydrated apple chips, cheese truffle bites with pine nuts; For dinner – The food was arranged on a couple of long buffet tables. We had green salads with sun dried tomatoes and parmesan placed in small bowls that came along with an ampoule of dressing; a large ‘chess board’ of white cheese and black olive paste; roasted peppers with tomatoes; fish fillets; mini beef burgers; ribs; chicken breast with white wine, sun-dried tomatoes and celery.

Wedding cake
The wedding cake was the so-called ‘Naked cake’, pretty simple, garnished with seasonal fruits.

Entertainment?
The summer rain we had around 3:00 was great entertainment. Everyone was dancing with their shoes off. Other than that – the  DJ was ‘on duty’ until about 5:00 o’clock in the morning.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We want to Naples, Italy for a week full of wine and food.

Personal touches
We basically planned the whole wedding ourselves. From seating charts with small colourful pins to ordering 40+ table sheets from H&M, washing, ironing, looking for candles, coordinating.

Special moments
The best man speech was one of the highlights of the evening. Extremely funny, but also heartwarming. It was followed by our first dance (Elvis Presley – “Only Fools Rush In”). About an hour later we teared-up during the maid of honor speech. She introduced my dad who I danced with to The Beatles – “Hey Jude”.

Advice for other couples
The only advise I would give other couples is to try and enjoy the planning of the wedding as much as the day itself. Planning such a big event is hard, but could be a lot of fun and doesn’t have to lead to a nervous break-down because “there is just so much to do” or “everything is so expensive”. I would have made a few different decisions if I had to go over the whole thing again, BUT all I remember today was having my closest friends with me, tones of laughter and dancing.

For more information on Petar Begov Photography go to

www.petarbegov.com / [email protected] / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM  / +359878 112013

I am a wedding photographer based in Sofia, Bulgaria. As an artist I always look for an inspiration, for a challenge, for new feelings and horizons to explore. The wedding photography combines different genres of photography but it is first and foremost the art of storytelling. Capturing the moment is important but capturing the emotion and the vibration that makes this moment special is what I am after. My goal is to let you have fun and to enjoy the day. I love a little bit of vintage, nostalgic, analogue photography look with a some modern artistic tones and instant photography colors.