BACK REPORT (INCLUDING WEDDING)

by

Kerryn

October 2001

I will do summary of our holiday first and then the Wedding.

We stayed at the Legian Beach Hotel in a bungalow and some of our guests also stayed there. It had 2 nice swimming pools but was difficult to get a sun lounge. I don’t know if I would stay there again as it was a very large resort and I prefer the smaller resorts. The road in front I think has affected the resort as you now need to walk across this dirt road and it is no longer on the beach. We also asked if we could extend our check out the night we were leaving and pay a bit extra but they would not unless we paid quite a bit of money.

Whilst staying in Legian we had some leather jackets and shoes made by A. Sodig 1 who was also recommended by somebody on the Forum, he was very good and his prices were excellent. We tried Dolphins in Legian and were very disappointed, weren’t prepared to Bartar and were $30 more for a leather jacket than where we went. We were very happy with our jackets and shoes and since then a friend has also got a suede jacket made that is also very good.

On the Monday night before our wedding all of our guests and ourselves went on a Sunset Dinner Cruise with “Wake Experience” and a great time was had by all. The food was very nice which we ate on the upper deck, good sunset and the staff were sensational. Because there were 25 of us we had the boat to ourselves which made it even more intimate.

We stayed at the Inter-Continental Resort at Jimbaran Bay for 3 nights, as this is where we got married. The resort was beautiful, staff fantastic, it is right on the beach and the food is divine. We were upgraded to a suite, which was a loft room, and we felt very special. A group of us from the wedding ate at Ratih CG Café on the beach and enjoyed our meal and it was very cheap. The band that comes around to each restaurant and table was fantastic and we tipped them well so they could keep playing.

After our wedding and for our honeymoon we stayed at the Pita Maha in Ubud for 2 nights, which was amazing. The staff just couldn’t do enough to assist you and the whole resort is beautiful. You stay in an area that is all fenced off, like a compound and we had our own little private plunge pool and an adorable outside bathroom. It had a CD player, day beds, large living area and a great view. We ate at the restaurant one night and the staff was fantastic and personable. We felt like the Queen and King.

We enjoyed our stay in Ubud, we hired a motorbike and went cruising off the beaten track and saw all the little children on their way to school. We also had a Lulur Massage at The Bodywork Center, which was fantastic, and only cost approx A$20 each.

From Ubud we went to Lovina Beach and hired a driver who was recommended to us by the Forum, his name is Dewa Made Adiwisma. He drove us to Lovina but we did some sightseeing on the way, his rates were good and he is a very quietly spoken lovely man.

We stayed at the Puri Bagus in Lovina and this was a very nice resort located on the beach. We caught up with our friends from Scotland who had flown over for our wedding in Lovina and had a great time. We went snorkeling one day and I would have to say it is up there with the Great Barrief Reef. Our Scottish friends went to see the dolphins and really enjoyed this trip; we also visited the hot springs and had a bit of a dip. We enjoyed our time in Lovina and would recommend it to people as it is a bit quieter than Legina/Kuta and there is lots to sight see on the way.

Our Scottish friends came across a driver who also organized the snorkeling etc and he drove us back to Legian, he was very good and reasonably priced, his name is Dewa Nyoman Laba and is based in Lovina.

WEDDING

We were married on 2nd August 2001 at the Bali Inter-Continental Resort at Jimbaran Bay at 4.15pm. We had a wonderful, beautiful, relaxed and romantic day and the resort exceeded our expectations. We didn’t go through any wedding companies or travel agents etc to organize our wedding, the resort did everything and we had no problems at all and it was very easy. Our contact at the resort was Sulistyaningsih who organized everything and she and the resort staff were fantastic. We had never been to the resort before so didn’t know what to expect and they exceeded our expectations and catered for any of our needs

We had 28 guests, which was made up of family and friends and got married on a grass area right near the beach. Our reception was held also in another grass area by the beach. We had a buffet, which was magnificent and brought our own wines, champagne and spirits in from Australia with the help of our guests.

The resort provided 4 traditionally dressed Balinese girls as flower girls and they were beautiful, both areas were decorated traditional Balinese. The resort grounds are so spectacular that it was hard to decide where to take the photos. Naturally, we had photos on the beach at Sunset and various photos on the resort grounds.

I had my hair done at the resort by the Hairdressers who did a fantastic job and had a mobile massage lady who came to the resort and provided massage; toe and finger nail manicure’s for the groom, Matron of Honour, my mother and myself. She was good and cheap.

Our flowers we got from Denpasar where there are about 10 florist shops in a row all with beautiful flowers. It is opposite the Tiara Dewate Shopping Complex. I did also notice after our wedding some florists in Seminyak.

Our videographer, other couples on Bali Forum recommended us and he was fantastic. His name is Deden and we found out only about two-three weeks before the wedding that his wife is Sulis who works at the Resort and organized our wedding. Deden has just started our on his own and also organizes tours and weddings. They both were a lovely couple and our video was fantastic and have received lots of good comments from family and friends.

Our photographer we also found on Bali Forum, he is a professional photographer who lives in Melbourne but was holidaying at the time in Bali. He was very good and our photos are fantastic and contemporary, we have received lots of good comments from family and friends. His name is Steve Gray and he wants to do more wedding photography in Bali and has a web site where you can view his work.

Getting married in Bali was the best decision we every made, it is so romantic, beautiful and different and I would recommend it to everyone.

If anyone wants contact numbers, email addresses for any of the above please email me.

I wanted to thank Dale & Kerry who gave us lots of tips and Karen who is the Australian Representative for Puri Weddings, even though we didn’t use her services she gave me some good information.