What do you do when a volcano threatens to derail your ‘three-years-in-the-works’ wedding? “Pay the money and get wedding insurance to keep your mind at ease,” jokes Ness, who fortunately didn’t need to cash in on that helpful hint when she and her fiancé tied the knot in Bali. To add to the excitement, Ness’ twin sister and her fiancé Alex were set to wed in the same location a mere three days later (which just so happened to be featured in our Real Wedding Special earlier this year). Alma (who shot both weddings) describes the whole experience as “epic”- scroll down and you’ll see why.
LITTLE LOL “About two weeks prior to our departure, the volcano alert level for Mount Agung was raised to high. We were spinning out thinking that flights would be grounded, but we agreed that even if no one else other than the four of us could get to the weddings, we would still go ahead and take the three-day journey there!”
THE VENUE “Villa Tantangan was the first of many villas we saw with our wedding planner Kira, from Hitch’d Weddings & Events in Bali. Every other venue we inspected fell so short. It didn’t matter that it was so remote- that was the biggest attraction of the venue- second to the architecture.”
THE DRESS “Initially, my goal was to find a dress that wasn’t a ‘traditional’ wedding dress and therefore a bit cheaper. But of course, this resulted in me purchasing two dresses and making two dresses. None of them sat quite right with me though, and about six months before the wedding, I came across my Zimmermann dress. I couldn’t get it out of my head, so I called the store to book a fitting and bought it that day.”
REFERENCES “Our lovely wedding planner put us in touch with all of our Bali-based vendors. As it was a destination wedding, it was much less stressful to specify our brief with Kira and for her to give us input about which vendors she thought could help progress our ideas.”
A WORD OF ADVICE “Keep in mind why you’re doing this in the first place. It’s so you can marry your partner and so you and your family and friends can make some amazing memories. Try not to get caught up the little details and getting it 100 per cent perfect. It will all work out on the day. Separately- and as I’m somewhat obsessed with mitigating risk- my more practical advice is that if you’re having a destination wedding (particularly in Indonesia with the propensity for volcanic activity), pay the money and get wedding insurance to keep your mind at ease! And get a wedding planner.”
STANDOUT VENDORS “The Alma photography and film team were superb. They did a great job of putting us at ease and making use of our surroundings to get some amazing photographs. Of course, we couldn’t leave out Hitch’d Weddings & Events and Flora Botanica Designs and their implementation of the ceremony arbour. It was exactly what we envisioned and totally exceeded our expectations.”
This wedding was originally published in Issue 20. If you’d like to check out more from this issue, limited copies are available via our online store and postage is on us.
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer & Videographer Alma Event Planner/ Stylist Hitch’d Weddings & Events Florist Flora Botanica Designs Invitations HollyAnneBlake Printer Snap Ceremony & Reception Villa Tantangan Catering Dijon Cake Butter Tableware The Host Table Hire Items Bali Event Hire Lighting/ Sound Azimuth Bali Traditional Balinese Entertainment FOF Entertainment Production Wedding Rings Chirn Park Jewellers Insurance Dream Wedding Insurance Guest Book WeddingGuestBookCo BRIDE Bridal Gown Zimmermann Shoes Lipstik Shoes Hair & Makeup Eve and Austin Bridesmaid Dresses Alice McCall Bridesmaid Shoes ASOS GROOM Shirt, Pants & Shoes Country Road Watch & Groomsmen Gifts Bow & Stern Grooming Bali Barber Groomsmen Suits Uniqlo