Kosovo wedding

I am a Cheshire wedding photographer from Chester. I photograph weddings in Cheshire, The Wirral, Merseyside, Liverpool and Manchester. I have also covered wedding in other parts of the UK. I am willing to travel world wide. This wedding was photographed in Kosovo.

I had the pleasure of being invited to a Wedding in Kosovo. This was the Wedding of my Cousin Lazer and his wife Rasella. Having no idea about the traditions of a Kosovo wedding, I was looking forward to experiencing a new culture. The evening before the wedding the grooms side of the family had a get together. I thought there would be about maybe 20 of us at the most, but there must have been at least 80. This was not a quiet dinner with family which I expected, but a party of many people, drinking, eating and dancing. The dance was a traditional dance were everyone holds hands in a circle. The dance once started didn’t really stop. At one point the Circle was that big that we had to go out of the patio doors around the tables. Not much foot work was involved, but after one hour of dancing, you feel like you have done a workout.

The following morning both sides of the family met at a larger hotel. We were greeted by the brides family as we walked in and we were given a handmade flower button hole. Again everyone ate, drank and danced. The bride came in wearing her Bridal gown and sat with the Groom. Later they danced and everyone with them. We all left at this point to go to the wedding ceremony at the church. The ceremony lasted only 20 minutes, short but sweet, and then we all left to go back to the hotel. The evening started at 8pm and finished at 3am. There must have been 350 people. They hired one of Kosovo’s most famous folk singers Shkelzen Jetishi (aka Xeni), which if your interested in listening to his music you can find him on Facebook. Again we ate, drank and danced. Everyone I met was so lovely and really made so much effort to make me welcome. I don’t think I have danced so much, and that’s saying something!