Elise & Luke

A rustic, organic wedding in Uluwatu was the vision for Elise & Luke’s big day, and we think you’ll agree they pulled it off seamlessly!

Joined by a close-knit group of family and friends in Bali along with their 2 adorable daughters, it’s the kind of dreamy wedding you see across Pinterest boards and bridal magazines – but with personal, heartfelt touches that helped to make it completely ‘them’.

For starters, these two could not have chosen a more picturesque location to tie the knot – the gorgeous Villa Istana, complete with it’s very own infinity pool and private courtyard. Set atop the cliffs of Uluwatu, guests were treated to panoramic views of the Indian Ocean as their backdrop for the evening.

Working with the creative masterminds at Bali Exclusive Weddings and Aisle Project, Elise & Luke chose to focus on a fresh, neutral colour palette of crisp whites and greens, offset by navy blues and earthy timber tones. With such incredible views behind them, the styling of the day was kept simple but refined with a focus on beautiful details – from Elise’s crystal Samantha Wills earrings to the sweetest flower crowns you’ve ever seen.

After an intimate oceanfront ceremony (did we mention THAT view!), guests continued the celebrations in front of the villa for a relaxed candlelit dinner. A hand-picked selection of boutique furniture and decor pieces from the Bali Event Hire team sat pretty underneath strings of twinkling festoons and an amazing foliage canopy.

Wooden tables paired with timber bentwood chairs were filled with delicate bunches of baby’s breath, tarnished lanterns and sweet potted succulents to create the perfect rustic setting. Organic details continued to feature throughout the night, with rattan charger plates, linen napkins and earthy wood slices completing the tablescape. Oh, and one seriously gorgeous 3-tiered naked cake by Ixora Cakes as the perfect treat to end the night.

There’s a whole lot of love in these images, as guests helped to celebrate one truly beautiful family in a breathtaking location. Read on as we chat to Elise & Luke about their experience planning a Bali wedding, how they chose their key suppliers, and their words of wisdom for future Bali brides!

How we met: Through mutual friends.

The Proposal: We went on our annual family holiday in January to Port Douglas, Australia. Our anniversary always falls around this time so we always go out for dinner child free. We went to dinner at Nautilus (amazing) he had organised my sister and his friend to film on the Go-Pro. They bought our daughter who was 2 at the time to bring the ring box and there he asked me to marry him.

The Details…
Wedding date: 21/09/2016
Wedding Ceremony & Reception Venue: The Istana Villa, Uluwatu
Total Guests: 80
Our style/Inspiration: Rustic/greenery and simplicity
Who we couldn’t have done it without: Bali Exclusive Weddings & Aisle Project.
Advice for future Bali Brides: Do your research on wedding suppliers and planners as they really make the day and whole experience worthwhile. Our experience was more than we could’ve hoped for. Use a wedding planner as they know all the in’s and out’s, will tell you what/who to use and not to use.

Our Wedding Day…
Wedding Planner/Stylist: Bali Exclusive Wedding – Truly amazing team, I researched for months before I chose a wedding planner and this company were reasonably priced, worked towards our budget, were polite professional and efficient. No problem was ever big or small for them. Besides planning our wedding they planned other things for our guests (transport,transfers etc). We organised to go over 9 months before the wedding and they took us to cake tasting, menu tasting, viewing of the venue, meeting up with all the suppliers to make sure our day will run smoothly. When we arrived in bali before the wedding they took us to the Australian embassy to legalise our marriage, a wedding rehearsal at the the villa, transport for the wedding party to the villa from our hotel and debrief after the wedding.
Décor: Aisle Project
Furniture: Bali Event Hire
Flowers/Florist: Aisle Project
Hair & Make-up: Renee Pettit makeup artist (perth girl) based in seminyak who travels to you.
Photography: Terralogical
Celebrant: Pencatatan Sipil Registry Office – Celebrant: Yang Bernama
Catering: MPC Bali (Merah Putih Catering)
Cake/Dessert: Ixora Cakes Bali
Stationery/Invitations: Galina Dixon
Entertainment: L&C MUSIC
Transport: No transport for the wedding party as we stayed at the villa. Guests made their way from the Conrad in Nusa Dua via shuttle organised by Bali Exclusive Weddings.
Gift Registry: No gifts, as having our guests fly over to bali to share our day was more than a gift to us.

Wedding Songs:
Bride : Ingrid Michaelson – Fools Rush In.
Bridesmaids : Sixpence None The Richer -Kiss Me

The Bridal Party Details…
Bride’s Dress: Custom made Bizzaro bridal couture
Bride’s Shoes: ALDO shoes
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: White Runway – Pia Gladys 3 different styles from her range (NAVY)
Bridemaid’s Shoes: Witchery
Groom’s Attire & Shoes: Tailor and Co custom made suits. Aquilia shoes
Flowergirl: Custom made bizzaro bridal couture with the same material from the brides dress.
Jewellery: Bridesmaids- Samantha Wills earrings and ring. Groomsmen – Daniel wellington watches
The Rings: Bride – Hearts On Fire diamond rings. Groom – platinum wedding band (House of Fraser)
Honeymoon Details: No honeymoon, we stayed in bali for another 10 days with some of the guests, family and our two children.

Where did you find your styling inspiration for your Bali wedding? I found my style inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram. Rustic with lots of greenery was the look I was going for, Bali Exclusive Weddings and the Aisle Project certainly blew my expectations/ideas out of the park.

What was the hardest part about planning a destination wedding? The hardest part was probably spent researching wedding planners that were going to handle everything from start to the very end.

Why did you choose Bali as your wedding destination? Bali is a beautiful place, all the hard work that comes with planning a wedding certainly was made easy with Bali exclusive weddings and the benefit you get to enjoy the beautiful island as well as go there for a wedding.

How did you stay organised while planning a destination wedding? My sister was a huge help she has worked in events before so she helped a lot, along with emails, Skype emails and more emails. Before we started with the wedding planners I already had researched weddings in Bali and drew inspiration from other weddings and then put our own spin on it to make it ours. The best advice is to be organised and know what you want, the planners and decorators will give you ideas but it’s always good to know what you want then it will make the process smooth and get the ball rolling.

Elise & Luke, what a beautiful day you’ve shared with us. Thank you, The Bali Bride xxx