Richard and Julie’s Classy Boho Wedding at Villa Semarapura in Canggu, Bali

If you’re looking for some bohemian styling inspiration, Richard and Julie’s dreamy Bali wedding should be right up your alley! These two wanted to create an “elegant but chilled” vibe with a focus on good food and spending quality time with their closest friends and family.

Taking place amongst the peaceful surrounds of Villa Semarapura in Canggu, this intimate Bali wedding began with a modern boho ceremony in the villa garden, with Julie rocking the most incredible Rue De Seine gown and an uber-glam bridal look thanks to our friends at Glo Day Spa. Joined by 80 of their loved ones, these guys tied the knot against an earthy timber backdrop adorned with wild foliage, fluffy pampas grass and berry-toned blooms.

While the newlyweds headed off for an epic portrait session with Venema Pictures (complete with colourful smoke bombs and a golden Bali sunset), guests enjoyed cocktail hour by the pool before making their way to the lawn for a dreamy outdoor reception under the stars. The Bali Event Hire team were there to provide the furniture goods, including rustic timber tables, oak cross back chairs and a statement wire backdrop. Tables were styled with tall, unstructured floral centrepieces, bold pops of colour and plenty of scattered candles to create a warm, intimate vibe, as guests enjoyed a night of dinner and dancing amongst the palm trees. Magic!

Boho brides, there is so much inspiration to be found from this dreamy Bali wedding, so keep scrolling to see all of the details captured so beautifully by Venema Pictures. Plus, the newlyweds share their top tips on planning a stress-free destination wedding, along with taking us back to the unforgettable proposal story where it all began.

How we met:

We met via Julie’s work, Kanga Coachlines, where Richard hires his vehicles for his tour business.

The proposal:

I took Julie on a romantic date to Windy Point. Overlooking the city we had dinner and after dinner we started to drive home. I told her I had a few more surprises to come. So when we got to the bottom of the freeway I went up it instead of going towards home. Julie started questioning as she didn’t know what was going on.

We arrived at Glen Osmond look out and gave Julie sneakers and a jacket and hiked up to a breathtaking view of the city lights. As we approached the top of the hill Julie could see some people at the top. This was my brother and best mate Steve. They had photo gear and we played it as my brother wanted to take some photos. I then poured my heart out and asked Jules to be my wife. Dave captured the perfect moment.

We then proceeded home and we were both on a high. As we arrived home I opened our roller door. Smoke poured out of our garage and we couldn’t see anything. I screamed out “she said YES” and 60 of our closest family and friends that were at our ‘surprise engagement’ roared. (Yes, I was confident she’d say yes!) Nailed it!

Wedding date: 30/09/2019

Wedding Ceremony and Reception Venue: Villa Semarapura, Bali

Total Guests: 80

Our style/Inspiration: Classy Boho

Who we couldn’t have done it without: Mango Events

Advice for future Bali Brides: As hard as it is to put your plans in someone else’s hands, rest assured your planner has figured out and captured all you’ve wished for!

Our Wedding Day…

Julie had done so much research online flooding me with so many options so we nutted them out till we were left with 2. We went over to Bali in December 2018 to meet with each planner, search for venues and Becky was just so relatable, she couldn’t help enough and was bursting with ideas – right away we knew she was our girl!

She offered multiple options for each supplier, which was also good.

We got to go to a tasting with Dijon and straight away we knew we wanted them – Julie being Italian, this event was going to be based around the food and it was a huge hit!

Our photographers and videographers were chosen from many nights of watching strangers weddings on YouTube (mopping up tears with tissues) and coming across ones they had done – they just stood out as they’re a little left field, not your usual ‘romantic, soppy type’ clips. It was literally like you were watching a movie and just wanted to see more!

My dad is a Pastor so we couldn’t think of anyone better than him to marry us – it was so special and it made it so much more personal

Wedding Planner/Stylist: Mango Events – Becky

Décor/Furniture: Bali Event Hire

Flowers/Florist: Mango Events

Hair & Make-up: Glo Day Spa

Photography + Videography: Venema Pictures

Favours: Brass pineapple dessert spoons and forks

Celebrant: George Laslett (Grooms dad)

Catering: Dijon

Cake/Dessert: Mango Events

Stationery/Invitations: Zazzle

Entertainment: Lucky Aces

Wedding Songs:

Aisle song: ‘Halo’ cover by Jasmine Thompson

First dance: Taylor Swift – Lover

The Bridal Party Details…

Bride’s Dress: Rue De Siene – Adara Gown

Bride’s Shoes: Nina Armando – Silver satin stiletto with bow across the top of toes – entire shoe covered in rhinestones

Groom’s Attire & Shoes: Politix Suit

Flowergirls/Page Boys: Niece Evie + Nephew Joey

The rings: Designer on Etsy/Zamels

Honeymoon Details: Continued on with friends in Bali for another 2 weeks moving from Canggu to Uluwatu and finishing up in Sanur

Where did you find your styling inspiration for your Bali wedding?

Julie had a lot of ideas… A LOT but to narrow things down and make it all flow she decided on ‘Classy Boho’ – elegant but chilled.

What was the hardest part about planning a destination wedding?

Not being able to physically ‘see’ what we were getting!

Why did you choose Bali as your wedding destination?

We love Bali! Julie has a huge family and we both have a lot of friends. We’re not ones to be centre of attention so didn’t want the big hoohar here in Adelaide – we went from potentially 200 people to 80 of our nearest and dearest ☺

How did you stay organised while planning a destination wedding?

Budgeting!! We wanted to pay every cent without ‘credit’ or worry after our big day so we made sure everything was accounted for and covered

Budget: (Approximate) $30,000

Actual Cost: $35,000