Destination wedding in Latvia. This is the ultimate place in Riga!
When we were dreaming about what our perfect wedding day would look like, one of the dreams was to just fly somewhere far away and get married somewhere exotic with just the two of us present!
Then the pandemic came… Because we had our wedding date set and our wedding rings engraved with May 20th, 2020, we did not fly anywhere and celebrated our wedding in Riga, Latvia – our home country with our close family.
Wedding on the water in Riga, Latvia!
However, we still wanted our wedding to be special. To be honest, Latvia is a beautiful country and you actually can have very unique, intimate, and unforgettable weddings here.
We chose the capital of Latvia – Riga – to be the place to get married. It is a beautiful city, has all the necessary services available nearby, and is the perfect place for all activities you would want on your wedding day.
A wedding in a city does not mean you have to get married somewhere in the streets with all eyes looking on you. At least not in Riga! When we found our wedding venue – White island pontoon on the river of Daugava – we immediately fell in love with it!
It is in the middle of Riga but has this feeling of spaciousness around it. The pontoon is located in the Daugava river and although you are in the very center of Riga, you feel isolated from the rest of the city.
With water and some trees around you, it feels like you have your own private island! It was the perfect place in Riga to get married!
Our wonderful wedding helpers
Pontoon has a basement where I and my husband-to-be could both hide and get ready. At the same time, the guests arrived on the upper floor and enjoyed a glass of drink. When the time came, we came upstairs for the ceremony.
Everything was absolutely beautifully decorated by Dita from Eucalyptus Decoration.
It felt and looked just like we wanted – light, airy, heavenly…but also green with natural plants and white flowers. Can we all agree she did an amazing job? I would recommend Dita a hundred times to anyone looking for high-quality decoration services!
After a short ceremony, we went outside for some guest photos as well as our couple photos. Our talented and very professional photographer Janis Varts was unseen but everywhere the whole time.
All the experiences felt unforced and free. We were having the best time and he was there to capture it! Definitely somebody I would recommend as a photographer!
Along with Janis, we had a videographer couple from Kanepes films! We could not have asked for a better wedding video – there are tears every time I watch it! Aldis and Ieva did their job professionally and the result was perfect.
Wedding on the river, photo shoot – by the beach
After some very windy and memorable photos outside, we went back inside. The staff from White Island had reorganized the place and it was time for wedding lunch, getting to know everyone, some music, singing, smiles, and of course – wedding cake!
Martins Ruskis was our animator and musician – he made sure that the party went smoothly and everyone had fun without forgetting anything!
After a beautiful, light, and very tasty wedding cake from Kuku Tuta bakery and chatting with our family we said goodbyes and drove away to spend the rest of our wedding day just ourselves.
Our decorators from Eucalyptus Decoration organized a small wedding pitstop at the beach with some champagne for us to celebrate. The weather was quite windy however, it was a good thing because it shows movement in the photos – they turn out very unique, natural, and fun.
A clear and sunny day could never do that! We danced around the seaside, had a glass of champagne, and spent some alone time before heading off to the hotel with a warm jacuzzi waiting for us… a perfect day truly does exist!
Is a destination wedding in Riga a good choice?
Am I sad we didn’t get our destination wedding because of the pandemic? Definitely not. Apart from the fact that we got to be with our families, we absolutely loved everything about our wedding!
The privacy in the center of Riga with nature around it, we loved that it was easy to reach and nobody had to stress about the logistics, that the day was short, that we were not tired, that we were not overwhelmed with activities, useless gifts or flowers from the guests (just like we asked!) and so on!
We also loved that the beach was a 20-minute drive away where we could get some beautiful photos and that 30 more minutes away we were already at the hotel sipping champagne in a jacuzzi. Just the two of us. Just like we wanted. No regrets.
