Ana and Shawn's Wedding

Below is a list of activities planned for the weekend.

On Friday evening Shawn's parents - Bob and Karen - have invited close family and out-of-town guests to meet for dinner inside Kalemegdan.

This fortress, located on the site of what was originally a Roman fortification, is the oldest part of the city and sits at the confluence of the Danube and Sava Rivers.

At one o'clock the wedding ceremony will take place in Saborna Crkva (pronounced SA-bor-na TZERK-va), or Saborna Church.

Saborna is one of the most important places of worship in the country, and it's where Ana was baptized. Check out this link for more history.

Following the wedding, we'll head to Aero Klub for an afternoon reception. Ana's mother, Milica (pronounced MEE-lee-tza), has promised us old-world service and a world-class party at Aero Klub. Ana says that Serbia has the fourth oldest air force in Euorpe and apparently some officers from the air force founded Aero Klub after World War I.

In Serbia, the state doesn't recognize church weddings, so an official will come to Aero Klub and peform the civil ceremony.

Later that evening, we've reserved a boat to go cruising on the river, with more music and dancing.

We've heard that the Rolling Stones will actually be performing in Belgrade the night of our wedding, but alas they will not be playing for us. Instead, Shawn has asked for a gypsy troubadour band to play and Ana has grudgingly agreed!

On Sunday afternoon Ana's father and stepmother - Lazar and Snezana - are hosting a pig and lamb roast at the family weekend house. Note that Snezana is pronounced SNEY-ga-na, with the 'g' like in mirage.

Their weekend house sits atop a hill overlooking the Sava River, upstream from Belgrade. It was built by Ana's great-grandfather, and today Lazar cares for the vineyard and orchard on the property and makes wine and cognac after the harvest.

Make sure you take a look inside the house to see portraits of Ana's great-grandparents. The story goes that drunken Russian soldiers briefly occupied the family's Belgrade home at the end of World War II. Upon being told that there were no women inside, they shot seven bullets into the great-grandmother's portrait (Ana's grandmother and great-aunts were hiding upstairs).