How to organize a wedding in Bali

It is exciting to have a wedding in an exotic place such as charming Bali. Professional wedding organizer Alise Kolosova knows everything about planning a wedding in Bali. Alise lives in Bali and has been organizing destination weddings in Bali for several years, and has met and selected the highest quality, customer-friendly service providers. She is familiar with wedding planning and everything in the market from a-z.

Wedding and honeymoon – two in one

One of the advantages when planning a wedding on this exotic Indonesian island – you can start your honeymoon immediately after the ceremony. It is reasonable to do so as the flight to Bali is long enough to plan a much longer time on the island. Also, you have time to adjust to a different time zone. Alise tells us that those who love Bali return once a year and want to stay in Bali longer and longer.

Proven service providers

Over time, wedding organizer Alise Kolosova has selected and established relations with the best service providers in Bali. It has been important for her to find local service providers whose rates have not been increased and who understand what Western people expect.

Alise says: “It is very important to establish contacts with proven, highly qualified service providers. In addition to the ceremony and celebration venues, there is also a wedding ceremony officiant, a musician, a sound and light engineer, and a decorator. I am very pleased to have found partners in all of these positions to work with, including photographers and videographers.

Local photographers have different understandings of what wedding photography should look like, so I work with professionals who have experience shooting weddings all over the world but who now reside in Bali. At the most recent wedding I organized here, I was working with French guys – one of them is a photographer in the fashion industry, but he also has photographed weddings for many years, so we immediately understood each other; the videographer, also a Frenchman, is currently filming Netflix series."

When and where is best to celebrate a wedding in Bali

Most often, couples from abroad celebrate their wedding in Bali when it is uncomfortably cold in the homeland – autumn and winter. That's when there's a wet season on the island. Note that during the wet season, there is heavier rain in the middle of the island, it will be sunnier by the ocean, but even then it may be cloudy and rainy. If the wedding is celebrated in the wet season, Alise would choose a location by the ocean. Bali has the same air temperature all year round, 28-31 degrees Celsius. The north of the island, where there are mountains, it is colder. During the dry season, with mostly sunny, dry days due to the hot weather, the ceremony will take place no earlier than 4.30 pm when the heat has dropped slightly. After the ceremony, the sun is low, it is a golden hour – an hour and a half long, which is very popular with photographers. Then the couple can take photos and drive somewhere nearby because the sun sets in Bali all year round at 18.30. Then it is already dark, and a romantic dinner can begin.

Considering the greater interest in organizing weddings in Bali is in the wet season, Alise's favourite is the coast of Uluwatu – the green coast in the south of the island with white sand. The coast is very rocky, with small, hidden beaches. This rocky coast is very beautiful and suited for weddings because it rarely rains here, even in the wet season. Bali also has volcanic beaches with black sand that look very exotic. The regions Alise currently focuses on are the coasts with the most beautiful, exquisite high-quality resorts and villas for weddings.

The most recent wedding Alise organized was held at Uluwatu Alila Villas – it is a very large, spacious, beautiful area, a resort with a geometrically specific, modern style. There are small villas in this location and a large three-bedroom villa for a wedding at the top of the cliff. The villa area is too small for a big party, but the location has a separate private area right on the cliff shore with cabana-style terraces for romantic dinners, gardens for a large tent, and a local temple where all the Balinese traditions can be held. This venue meets all standards, and everything is thought through.

The Ungasan Clifftop Resort is a beautiful venue for weddings of all sizes. It consists of several large villas, each of which is isolated – for an intimate wedding, you do not have to go through public spaces, each villa is located separately. Another place Alise loves is Uluwatu Surf Villas, which are also located at the top of a cliff. These are several boho-style villas, not so luxurious, but they belong here. Some villas are more open, some with their part of the jungle, which means a completely private view of the ocean surrounded by a garden.

How much does a wedding in Bali cost?

What are the costs if you want to marry in Bali? Apart from the cost of the flight, which would be spent on a honeymoon anyway, local villas for the wedding ceremony and celebration, as well as local Bali service providers, will be much cheaper than in Europe. If you choose the whole service package offered in one place, you will receive significant discounts and various bonuses, such as spa treatments or private access to the beach. Everything needed will be provided by the wedding organizer – marriage officiant, music, decorator, photographer, and videographer. Alise tells: “Half of the total budget will be for the wedding venue and all the costs surrounding it. If you book one of the villas for only one night, it can cost 500-1500 euros, while if you buy a package that includes both celebrations and everything else, it is always packaged in one advantageous offer.

Prices for a wedding package can range from 3000-6000 euros, it includes accommodation for two or more nights, meals, venue, dinner venue, service, very often a private butler, spa treatments for a couple, access to a private beach, and various other bonuses. The cost of Bali services is cheaper, but they offer all the best – the most beautiful and exclusive locations, and splendid decorations.

There are a wide variety of flowers in Bali and they are cheaper, which means, decoration services are also cheaper. Here you will receive a bigger magnitude of flower decorations than in Europe. The make-up artist and hair stylist here cost 150 euros, both make-up and hair included. Alise recommends choosing high-quality masters (she can recommend specific service providers) – not local Bali residents, but immigrants from Europe or Russia. The same refers to photographers and videographers, as they have a specific taste and understanding of what the client expects. Local make-up artists have a different understanding of what ceremonious make-up and hair arrangement is. If wedding make-up is usually associated with natural, calm, and fresh nude tones, then local Balinese masters try too much and dramatize makeup.

Most often, weddings in Bali are held in an intimate, private atmosphere – just a couple, or a couple with their witnesses, best man and maid-of-honour. However, if you decide to invite more guests, you can find beautiful villas and good hotels at great-value rates in any of the regions. Bali is one of the places that offers five-star service at almost the lowest price in the world.

How long does it take to prepare for a wedding in Bali?

Alice explains that a wedding in Bali can be arranged quickly: “Since I have the practical experience and very often it doesn't matter to the couple whether it's Friday or Saturday, the location and other partners will always be available. Tourism on the island has not yet fully resumed, so third parties are available, if not immediately on the first desired date, then on the second or third definitely."

If something needs time – it is getting visas. Plan for 10 working days to be sure you get them on time, but usually, visas are issued sooner. So, if at the end of March, you decide you want to get married in Bali, at the end of April it is possible to do it. If someone wants to get married in a hurry, the minimum time to prepare for a wedding in Bali would be two weeks. Such a scenario is intended for symbolic weddings, when the legal ceremony has already happened, saving an emotional moment and intimate ceremony for Bali.

It is also possible to organize an official marriage ceremony on the island, but you have to spend time and extra expenses to cover all the legal aspects – to translate documents, certify, legalize, etc. In Alise's experience so far, couples sign marriage documents in Europe without assigning emotional value to them, and already with new surnames and new passports in their pockets, they hold a wedding ceremony in Bali.