Bethany and Samuel’s Tropical Wedding at Padma Resort Ubud
Bethany and Samuel are one of those couples who are truly in love, and that is evident from the way they look at each other. Samuel proposed to Bethany unexpectedly while they were planning their round-the-world trip and suggested that they should get married while they were away. Fast forward to a visit to Bethany’s childhood village and Sam popped the question officially and they both decided that Bali was going to be the magical location for their big day.
In Bali, they exchanged vows in a beautiful Ubud ceremony with 37 of their closest friends and family. Their wedding location at the Padma Resort Ubud was perfect for their tropical and bohemian Bali theme with those endless lush jungle vibes. The beach club’s modern architecture and tropical surroundings, with a stunning clifftop view overlooking Bali’s shores, set the scene for an unforgettable celebration.
Bethany and Samuel spent months on Pinterest, sourcing inspiration for their big day. Once they reached out to the Fortune Bali team and handed over their inspo they brought their dream wedding to life, with a romantic clifftop ceremony with a beautiful orange, white, and red floral aisle and lush greenery from Bali’s natural scenery.
Below, you can take a look at Bethany and Samuel’s celebrations, along with their tips on staying organized while planning a destination wedding and the Bali svendors that made their day unforgettable.
About Us…
Bride’s Name: Bethany Louise Gibbons
Groom’s Name: Samuel Cole Lapite
How we met: on Hinge the dating app
The proposal: We were sat planning our round-the-world trip and at some point sam came out and said shall we get married while we’re away and it just kind of grew from there. A few months later, there was an actual proposal from sam during a dog walk in my childhood village. Even though we knew we were going to get married I was still surprised by the proposal as I thought Sam had prioritized saving for the trip over a proposal.
The Details…
Wedding date: 24/07/2023
Wedding Ceremony Venue: Padma Resort Ubud
Wedding Reception Venue: Padma Resort Ubud
Total Guests: 37
Our style/Inspiration: Jungle/ tropical/ bohemian
Who we couldn’t have done it without (Bali Supplier): Lis Shanti fortune Bali wedding. She was amazing.
Advice for future Bali Brides: I think any destination in Bali for a wedding will be beautiful and nothing like anyone has experienced before. Be brave and just go for it, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, think of what you want, find that and then find something completely different. more options mean more comparisons so you can truly make sure you’re getting exactly what you want. We initially wanted a beach wedding but then found a rainforest wedding ticked all our boxes and more.
Our Wedding Day…
Wedding Planner/Stylist: Iis shanti (Fortune Bali) recommended by Padma.
Décor/Furniture: The theme was gold, greens, oranges, Bohemian/jungle/tropical style.
Flowers/Florist: Dewi Paramita recommended by Lis Shanti (Fortune Bali)
Hair & Make-up: Me and my bridesmaids ended up doing our own hair and make-up, My best friend Helen is a MUA however she was unable to make the wedding as she fell pregnant earlier in the year but she showed me what to do so I could get the girls to do it for me she also sent over a bag of makeup for us to use. Then luckily for me one of my bridesmaids had worked as a hairdresser in the past so she knew what she was doing and how to get the look I wanted.
Photography: Malong Studios – recommended by Iis Shanti (fortune Bali)
Videography: Neoma Film -recommended by Iis Shanti (fortune Bali)
Favours: I made our wedding favours from clay and a stencil. It had our initials, wedding date and Bali on the front with tropical flowers. I then hand-painted them in gold, green and orange. Also, each guest had a clay monstera leaf which was painted with their name on it.
Celebrant: Ps. Witanto is a lovely respectful gentleman who has a fun sense of humour. We asked for a simple, non-religious ceremony. Also recommended by Iis Shanti (Fortune Bali)
Catering: We used Padma Resorts’ in-house caterers and had an Indonesian/Balinese buffet with 7 live cooking stations.
Cake/Dessert: Lemon and coconut. Two tiers.
Stationery/Invitations: We had two invitations. The first was to say we are going away for 8 months and we are planning to get married in Bali, would you be up for coming? Then once we knew how many were interested. An invitation was sent with the date, time and place. We used Zazzle for our invitations.
Entertainment: Music, Polaroid station guestbook. Monstera leaf guestbook to sign.
Gift Registry: We didn’t have one as our family were travelling so far.
Wedding Songs:
Down the aisle: Agape by Nicholas Britell
Flower shower: We give thanks by kokoroko
Wedding breakfast entrance: You & Me by Disclosure ft. Eliza Doolittle (we edited this slightly to remove the large chunk of electronic music in the middle)
First dance: is this real love? By Debbie ft. Lucky Daye
The Bridal Party Details…
Bride’s Dress: Ryan, Ivory/hazelnut, Brand: All who wonder. I bought the dress from Dress Me Pretty Bridal Room Hinckley, Leicester, UK.
Bride’s Shoes: Ted Baker, ivory (LD24)
Bridesmaids Dresses: from- Rewritten, Brooklyn dress. Satin, forest green colour
Bridesmaids Shoes: Zara, gold heeled sandal
Groom’s Attire & Shoes: Anika Tailor Kuta. 3 pieces in a dark rainforest green plus a tailor-made shirt also made by Anika Tailor. Shoes were a last-minute panic but from Zara the day before the wedding.
Flower girls/Page Boys: Sam’s little sister Erin was our flower girl, her dress was an Ivory Boho dress with a flower crown from NEXT in the UK
Jewellery: Laura Vann pearl shell circle drop earrings. A gift from my late grandfather for my wedding day.
Engagement ring: Aardvark jewellery, Paraiba emerald and diamond engagement ring
The rings: White gold wedding bands bought from Michael Jones Jewellers Northampton before going to Bali. As we were on a world trip and stopped to get married in Bali we decided to send our wedding bands home to avoid them getting damaged and made wedding bands in Ubud that we could wear for the rest of our trip at Chez Monique Ubud.
Honeymoon Details:
We didn’t plan a honeymoon as such but left the UK in April to visit Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Singapore before heading to Bali. We then spent 3 weeks in Bali with our family and friends. We have since been to Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Japan. So in total, you could say we’re on an 8 month honeymoon!!
Where did you find your styling inspiration for your Bali wedding?
I always wanted a bohemian-style wedding. Both of us love nature, the jungle and the tropics and wanted to incorporate that into our wedding especially with our wedding venue being in the middle of Ubud’s forest. It was important to tie in with that. I love tropical flowers and bright colours so it was important to have that too. We used Pinterest and Instagram to help with our styling our wedding!
What was the hardest part about planning a destination wedding in Bali?
The hardest part was ensuring the venue matched the pictures. It’s easy to have outdated pictures on a website and given the distance from Bali to the UK and the fact we were planning a round-the-world trip it wasn’t a simple “let’s just pop over to the venue to check it out.” Luckily everything was exactly how we expected it to be I’d even go as far as to say that It was better than the pictures.
Why did you choose Bali as your wedding destination?
Firstly we wanted to pick somewhere that would fit perfectly with the middle of our trip. Secondly, we wanted somewhere our family and friends would probably never consider going to. Sam had already been a few years ago so he could vouch for the beauty of it and it was somewhere I had also always wanted to visit so it just made sense.
How did you stay organised while planning a destination wedding in Bali?
We just made sure everything was finalised before we left for our world trip in April. I kept lists of things I needed to do before going and also had a list of items I needed for the day.
Our wedding planner was always in contact and very easy to contact which made everything a lot easier.
Budget: £12,000-15,000
Actual Cost: £15,000
