Lakes, waterfall, caves and mountain ranges. The perfect setting for a nature photoshoot.
I was scrolling through Instagram one day and the winter half-frozen waterfall of Plitvice National Park caught my eye and I fell crazily in love with it, so there and then it become one of the top places on my bucketlist for my Croatia trip. It's that kind of winter fairytale land that makes you sing "Let it go... Let it go~"
Photo Credits: Tinker Travels , Stunning Plitvice Lakes
These are the amazing photos of Plitvice National Park covered with snow and ice, that I was hoping for. BUT SADLY, it did not snow days before we arrived there and NOPE, I didn't get the kind of winter fairytale land I was hoping for! Dream vs. Reality check... But anyways, what we managed to take was a completely different autumn/winter nature-scape feel for our Pre-Wedding shots here! Not too bad a setting either.
We made the right choice to stay inside the National Park at Ethno Houses Plitvica Selo for 2 nights, so I could get ready our makeup, hair and gown in the resort before strolling out into the National Park for the photoshoot.
Love the rustic feel of the resort.
The restaurant owner was so sweet! He found out that we are getting married soon and brought out 2 glasses of champagne to congratulate us. Cheers! Ok it wasn't as beautiful a picture as it looks as we were struggling to finish the champagne fast so we can finally head to the National Park to take the actual shots! XD
After about 15 minute hike in my bulky gown, following an illustrated map the old school way (should have used our GoogleMaps), we finally saw the Plitvice Lakes! YASS!
The scenery is indeed breathtaking. Luckily for me the wooden pathway was still quite smooth and easy to walk in heels. So ladies, if you are wondering whether you heels will sink into the mud, there's actually nice pavements to walk on. However, I'm the kind who preferred comfort and efficiency over details, so I cheated and walked around in my boots, and changed into heels when necessary! ^^
After about 10 minutes walk into the entrance of the park, we chanced upon this nice photo spot with the valley behind us. We are glad it was winter off peak season, so we only had to queue a couple of minutes to take photo at this spot! xD
I felt like a celebrity/ attraction as I paraded through the park in my wedding gown. I can't remember how many thousand times the visitors we past by in the park congratulated us, and how many thousand times I said 'Thanks!' There were actually quite a few groups that wanted to take photos with us! X'D How embarrassing but yea ok, once-in-a-lifetime feeling like a celebrity in the limelight.
We finally reached the center of the park after many 'congratulations' and 'thank yous', where we found many smaller waterfalls and cascades that look super gorgeous in these shots.
Further down, to our surprise, there's a huge patch of lalang field. Time for some Korean Drama Autumn Love kind of shots! ^^
And here's probably one of the rare shot that I got that vaguely looks like a snowy winter wonderland.
And finally, we reached the main highlight -- the highest waterfall in the Plitvice National Park -- Veliki Slap Waterfall, also known as the Great Waterfall. Don't be fooled by the photos below that looked as if we had the entire waterfall to ourselves. The many visitors at the waterfall were super nice and offered us private moments to snap these multiple fancy shots! HAHA!
Yes, it was tiring as hell, but looking at the photos now, it's all really worth braving the cold and dragging around my long wedding gown. <3
Special thanks to my loving parents for helping us carry our bags and coats while we did the shoot, and my talented bro for capturing these amazing moments!
And yes, this concludes my 3-part Pre-Wedding Photoshoot in Croatia and Slovenia.
Many couples always think that popular European destinations are the to-go places for holiday or pre-wedding photoshoot. But I feel that countries like these in Eastern Europe also has a lot to offer.
If you love these pre-wedding photos, check out the other 2 parts of my photoshoot in Dubrovnik, the land of Game of Thrones, and the fairytale land, Lake Bled in Slovenia!
Photography: @traitszsj My talented Bro
Stylist and Props: My lovely Mummy
Helper: My macho Daddy