How We Pulled It Off: A Palace Wedding on the Bulgarian Coast Full of Happy Color

The celebration took place by the Black Sea, but the color palette was anything but.EMÈS WeddingsJessica Haag fell in love with her husband Atanas Dimov’s native Bulgaria upon her first visit. In 2018, the couple road-tripped across the country, visiting his family in the capital of Sofia as well as the beach town of Varna, and the ancient southern city of Plovdiv. “Each town had such a unique feel. We drove through fields and fields of sunflowers, which was so beautiful,” Jess says. “It was so different than anything I’d ever experienced growing up in the desert in Arizona.”Atanas Dimov and Jessica Haag share a chaise at their welcome party, which was held on the terrace of the Boutique Hotel Oasis in Varna. EMÈS WeddingsWhen the pair, who met through college friends and are based in Phoenix, got engaged in 2023, the idea of holding their wedding in the Balkan nation was already in the back of their minds. Atanas, who goes by Nasko, was born in the central city of Stara Zagora before emigrating to the United States with his parents at the age of five; the rest of his family still lives in Bulgaria, and he spent summers visiting. Jess’s extended family members, meanwhile, are based in upstate New York. “Either way, people would have to travel, and it’s such a special experience to get married over there,” says Nasko. “I’ve been trying to convince friends to visit Bulgaria ever since I was little, and it never came together. This was a really fun opportunity to share that part of my life, and involve my family, too.”The September 2024 nuptials boasted a stunning rainbow color scheme, traditional dancing, and many rounds of rakia. Ahead, Jess and Nasko share how they planned a summer Bulgaria destination wedding for 100 guests in the beach town of Varna. on the Black Sea.The couple were surprised by how many guests—nearly 100—intended to attend after they'd announced Bulgaria as the destination for the wedding. EMÈS WeddingsKeep guest-list expectations realisticThe first step of planning a destination wedding for many couples is figuring out if their friends and family are actually willing and able to attend. The couple floated the idea to their social circles and scheduled calls with aunts, uncles, and cousins to assess their interest in the trip. “Everyone seemed pretty on board from the beginning, so that was really encouraging,” Jess says. “Our anticipation going in was that we were probably only going to have a 20 to 30-person wedding, and that would have been hugely successful for us.” But when they sent out save the dates, they were pleasantly surprised to find that nearly 100 guests intended to come.The venue itself, Euxinograd, was a palace for the Bulgarian monarchy until 1946 and remains a government building. EMÈS WeddingsSpend plenty of time exploringBefore the couple were even engaged, Jess began following IDo Events, a Berlin-based firm that specializes in destination weddings across Europe, on Instagram. “We’d always thought we might do something overseas, and I am such a Type-A person that I thought, ‘Let’s just see what’s out there,’” she says. While she liked the firm’s professional presentation online, Jes was even more moved over time seeing how each new wedding posted felt so specific. “Every wedding [they] shared told a unique story and felt so intentional, like the couple didn’t lose who they were,” Jess explains. “I really wanted that day to be representative of who Nasko and I are as a couple. I felt that Sharon and her team could absolutely bring our creative vision to life.”Once they signed on with IDo, Jess and Nasko set aside an entire month to plan on site in Bulgaria, spending May 2024 working remotely and visiting venues with their planners. They focused in particular on the coast, which Nasko feels is underrated. “Varna is my mom’s hometown, so we’d go back in the summers when I was growing up. The beaches are amazing!” says Nasko. “Greece and Italy get so much attention as beach destinations, but the water there is perfect.”The bride on her big day EMÈS WeddingsA set table at the couple's welcome dinner EMÈS WeddingsFall for a venue—with one major asteriskWhile they were pretty sure they wanted to celebrate along the sea, the couple wanted to avoid the sort of all-inclusive, copy-paste, beachy wedding package common to resorts in the area . “We toured a couple of those places in Varna, and they were beautiful, but we wanted to showcase the uniqueness of Bulgaria,” says Nasko.The final venue they toured, and the one they ultimately chose, screamed Bulgaria: In fact, Euxinograd was the summer palace of the Bulgarian monarchy from its 1880s construction until the monarchy’s abolition in 1946. “It’s this beautiful, soft pink building with gardens all around. The entrance for a lot of our guests came from the sea, and they’d walk up this aisle filled with flowers,” Jess recalls. “Looking at the history, the architecture, the grounds, it was like this fairy-tale wedding was presenting itself to us.” They knew immediately that they’d found their place.There was some fine print, however. Though it’s also open to tourists, the palace is now a government building that hosts cabinet meetings and diplomatic visits. “One of the scarier stipulations when we were planning was that the Prime Minister [and his team have] the right to cancel our wedding up to a month before,” Jess says. “We loved the venue so much we were willing to take the risk.” With their full trust in IDo, who established a plan B with the nearby Boutique Hotel Oasis, where they ultimately hosted their welcome dinner, the couple was okay taking the plunge for their dream space.The bride and groom share a kiss in front of the myriad colors of their florals. EMÈS WeddingsGo all in on flowersHow does one complement a stately brick palace in the Bulgarian Revival style, with mansard roofs and a clock tower, surrounded by elegantly manicured gardens? An exuberant ombre explosion of roses in juicy shades of pink lemonade, kiwi, and cantaloupe orange, obviously.“I always joke that rainbow is my favorite color. The more color the better! I am a maximalist by trade,” says Jess. “It was so important to me that the wedding be colorful and vibrant. We joked it was old world meets new world.” As two Arizona residents, their reference point was “west-coast midcentury-modern.”IDo gave them a list of recommended florists, and in chatting with them, the couple found that many were trying to push them in the traditional direction. “So many of the weddings there are red roses, white tablecloths, rinse, repeat,” says Nasko. “When we found Lussó by Borisovi, they were willing to take on the challenge, like ‘This is something we’ve never done before, and it’s so exciting.’”Two major floral moments by the Sofia-based florist anchored the celebration: a brilliant spray of roses, hydrangea, anthurium, and gerbera daisies along the recessed stoned arch where they exchanged their vows (and lining the stairs up to that spot), and a spectacular installation of blooms arranged in a straight line high above the guests at dinner. The tables were lined with taper candles in bold purples and oranges, while table linens and printed materials were printed in jubilant botanicals in more juicy hues.Everso, an adaptive artist collective, served as the band for the reception. EMÈS Weddings“They're really immersive,” says the bride of the band's walking among the guests. EMÈS WeddingsFollow the vendor trailIDo came armed with a network of wedding connections across central and eastern Europe, with the couple falling particularly in love with the acclaimed L'Instant Catering, from Sofia, and the band Everso, an adaptive artist collective who can be tailored to different events and set the tone for their whole party. “Live bands are so fun, and Everso was the coolest band I’ve ever come across. I couldn’t believe they do weddings!” says Jess. “They’re really immersive, walking among the guests. As soon as we saw their reel, we knew we wanted to hire them.”But they also wanted strings for a more romantic vibe during their ceremony, and found that the Julist Quartet was backed up by both their florist and caterer “The cool thing about the Bulgarian community, especially in the event space, is everyone knows each other,” Jess says. “Having that support from our caterer and florist turned out to be critical for us.”It was important to the couple to provide some travel expertise to loved ones who had traveled long and far for their nuptials. EMÈS WeddingsProvide guests with the expertise of a travel agentIn addition to creating a wedding website that offered guests the most thorough and updated information about their celebration and the process of traveling to Varna (including details about the anticipated processing time for those who needed to renew or apply for U.S. passports), the couple connected their loved ones with a Los Angeles-based travel agent, Ekaterina Budevska of Internet Tours. As a bonus, she happened to be of Bulgarian descent. “That was hugely helpful, because a lot of my family had never been overseas before,” says Jess. “There were some individuals who we knew would need a little bit of support.”Jess and Nasko then asked their guests to share their itineraries as they booked. Folks primarily chose to fly into Varna or Sofia (which is about a five-hour drive from Varna), and the couple wanted to coordinate transportation to their hotels when possible.Guests were trained in the Horo, a traditional Bulgarian wedding dance, before heading abroad. EMÈS WeddingsStart the cultural immersion earlyBefore guests even left the United States, they were invited to an informal class at the groom’s mother’s house to learn the Horo, a traditional Bulgarian wedding dance where guests link arms and do a bit of fancy footwork with the newlyweds. Then, upon touching down in Varna and reaching their hotels, loved ones were served at check-in a drink of rakia, the very strong fruit brandy that serves as the country’s national drink.For the celebration itself, Jess and Nasko plotted a week of activities bouncing off (American) Labor Day weekend. On Monday, September 2, they hosted a golf outing and spa day for the smaller group of close friends and family who’d arrived early up in the Thracian Cliffs, a dramatic area of the coast where the emerald land seems to drop directly into the Black Sea. On Tuesday, September 3, there was a welcome dinner on the terrace of the Boutique Hotel Oasis, a luxury getaway built inside the former villa of an aristocrat along a stretch of private beach. “That night was filled with dancing before we could even get to the wedding,” Jess says.The wedding itself was held at Euxinograd, with a brunch the following morning back at the Oasis. Many guests also opted to spend time in Sofia on the front or backend of the trip, or extra days in Varna, for which the couple provided recommendations of hotels, restaurants, and activities in both cities. The newlyweds, meanwhile, bounced over to Italy’s Lake Como and Florence for a mini-moon after everyone had departed.Even the napkins contained a handful of phrases translated between English and Bulgarian for handy communicating. EMÈS WeddingsSpeak both languagesAnother aspect of cross-cultural exchange came from the use of both English and Bulgarian throughout the wedding week and far before, on their website and invitations, which were designed by Anticipate Invitations and printed in the Cyrillic alphabet on the back. The ceremony was officiated by two sisters who were childhood friends of Nasko’s, and who spoke back and forth in English and Bulgarian so every guest could follow along and feel included. During the reception, loved ones gave speeches translated into each language as well.Serve the classicsBulgarian classics served throughout the weekend included shopska salata, a cold salad. EMÈS WeddingsFollowing the ceremony, the guests enjoyed a meal by L'Instant that featured several traditional Bulgarian dishes the couple knew they had to highlight. “Bulgaria is like the agriculture capital of Europe, so they have the most beautiful vegetables,” Jess says. “I remember going to Bulgaria for the first time and having shopska salata. I had never tasted something so delicious and fresh. We had to have it in our meal.” The cold salad is typically comprised of diced and salted tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and onions, dressed lightly in oil and vinegar and then piled with grated sirene, a crumbly brined cheese that’s a bit gentler than feta (though in the couple’s case, their salad included the twists of Kalamata olives, paprika oil, and basil).One reason the couple flipped for their caterers was the company grew its own food, so they opted for yet more veggie dishes, like an entree of ratatouille with pink tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant, as well as slow-roasted Iberico pork and local sea bass with a green pea mousse. Bulgarian flavors popped up again in the desserts, which included a brownie with caramelized walnuts that nodded toward the traditional Garash cake.Food played into a key cultural wedding tradition during the reception, too: The couple stood back to back holding a bread loaf over their heads, then played a tug of war to rip it apart. Whoever gets the larger piece is said to be the boss of the household, or the literal bread winner, and Jess was thrilled to triumph over her new husbandBulgarian pop hits featured on the party playlist, which played until sunrise. EMÈS WeddingsEnjoy a (very) long nightWhile Everso was responsible for the major party vibes, once their set ended the couple put on a playlist that included a few Bulgarian pop hits they’d previously shared with American guests to help them learn about the sounds of the area.In classic European fashion, the wedding lasted as long as the guests and couple wanted it to—which for a handful of friends meant partying until the sun rose over the sea. “The nice thing about Bulgaria is there’s really no last call. If you’re having a good time, they’re not going to kick you out,” Nasko says. Even the heavily regulated palace event spaces were theirs to enjoy until 6 a.m.“Nasko and I waited a while to get married, and we had all these huge milestones we hit first as we grew up together,” says Jess, of their decade-long courtship. “So when we decided to get married, we didn’t want to be rushed. We wanted to really celebrate, on our own terms.” Mission very colorfully accomplished.Kaitlin Menza is a writer and former editor at Teen Vogue, Glamour, and Seventeen. She covers food, travel, health, pop culture, and everything else wonderful the world has to offer. She lives in New York City. You can find her work at kaitlinmenza.com. ... Read More