Bali has been the backdrop to almost every big chapter of my life. Between my Indonesian heritage and the 30+ trips I’ve made back over the years, this island doesn’t feel like a holiday destination to me — it feels like home. So when it came time to actually plan our wedding, there wasn’t really a decision to make. It was always going to be Bali.
And more specifically, it was always going to be Uluwatu Surf Villas.
I’d spent hours (okay, weeks) scrolling venues, getting quotes, comparing photos — and I kept landing back on the same place. Perched on the cliffs of Uluwatu with nothing but ocean in every direction, barefoot pathways, and those famous molten-gold sunsets, it was everything I’d pictured without ever having stepped foot there myself. We booked it sight unseen. Sometimes you just know.
In 2023, that dream became very, very real. Here’s the full story of our Bali wedding at Uluwatu Surf Villas — the planning, the chaos, the vendors, and the most emotional day of our lives so far.
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How We Ended Up Planning a Bali Wedding
Funnily enough, the decision to actually get married didn’t happen in some big romantic moment. It happened over lunch, sun-drunk and three cocktails deep, celebrating my birthday with friends, when someone finally asked the question everyone had clearly been thinking:
“So… when are you two actually getting married?”
Fair question. We’d been engaged since January 2020, and then, well — the world shut down. Borders closed, plans froze, and somewhere in the middle of all that uncertainty we fell pregnant and welcomed Kylo in March 2021. A wedding understandably slid to the bottom of the list while we figured out how to be new parents in a world that felt like it had hit pause.
By that birthday lunch in December 2022, nearly three years had passed since the engagement. We hadn’t been avoiding it — life had just been life.
That lunch flipped a switch. We realised we didn’t want to keep waiting for a “perfect” window that was never going to magically appear. We wanted to choose joy on our own timeline, especially after the few years we’d all just had.
So Bali came straight back into the picture — and honestly, planning a destination wedding in under six months worked in our favour more than you’d think. Post-COVID, nobody had travelled anywhere in years, and everyone we knew was itching for an excuse to book flights and get together properly. Yes, it was a big ask of our guests. Overseas weddings always are. But something about the timing made it feel less like a big ask and more like exactly what everyone needed.
We locked in May 2023, took a breath, and went all in.
Why We Chose Uluwatu Surf Villas
If you’re weighing up Bali wedding venues, I can tell you the decision was easier than I expected — because nothing else came close once I found Uluwatu Surf Villas.
Here’s what sold me:
- Those uninterrupted, panoramic Indian Ocean views
- Enough villas on site to comfortably house our whole guest list (we stayed in one of the Ocean View Villas ourselves)
- A cliff-top ceremony lawn with zero obstructions — just you and the horizon
- The privacy of having the whole property tucked away from the main strip
- The rustic, barefoot, surf-culture feel — timber, bamboo, neutral tones
- Staff who felt like family within about a day
I didn’t want a wedding that needed to be dressed up to look good — I wanted a venue where the landscape did the heavy lifting. Uluwatu Surf Villas gave us exactly that. No amount of styling beats a cliff and an ocean that colour.
More than anything, I wanted our closest people to feel like they’d stepped into something soulful, not staged. That’s exactly what this venue delivered.
The Morning Of: Steps, Surfing and Staying Grounded
If there’s one part of the day I’d tell every Bali bride to protect fiercely, it’s the morning.
We woke to waves crashing below the villa and that particular kind of quiet excitement that sits in your chest before a wedding. Instead of diving straight into hair and makeup, the girls and I made our way down the (many, many) stone steps to the deck below Uluwatu Surf Villas. Worth every single one.
Down there, we did a private Pilates session right on the water — ocean breeze, waves, and genuinely calm minds before the chaos of the day kicked in. It grounded me in a way I didn’t expect a wedding morning to feel.
Up top, the boys were doing the most Uluwatu thing imaginable: a group surf session, salt-crusted hair, laughing before 9am.
That contrast — us moving slowly by the water, them out chasing waves — summed up “us” perfectly. By the time we climbed back up (legs shaking, hearts full), the tone for the whole day was already set: calm, present, joyful.
From there it was coffee, tropical fruit, music, and the very real feeling of “oh, this is actually happening today.”
Hair and makeup was done by the brilliant @dollface_darlings, who nailed that soft, glowing Bali bridal look I’d been chasing. My dress was from Grace Loves Lace, paired with shoes from Novo — simple, coastal, effortless, with one dramatically oversized veil, because I only plan on doing this once. Matty wore a pink Calvin Klein blazer from Myer, and we had a matching mini one made for Kylo through Etsy.
Our photographers, Terralogical, floated between villas capturing every real moment — the nerves, the last-minute touch-ups, the laughing. Our videographers, Leura Film, were just as good, quietly capturing all the emotion without ever getting in the way.
By midday, the butterflies were very real.
The Ceremony: The Most Emotional Part of Our Uluwatu Surf Villas Wedding
Nothing quite prepares you for standing on that cliff-top lawn. Ocean in front of you, waves peeling below, that golden Uluwatu light doing exactly what it does best.
Our celebrant — and long-time friend — @chloebrinklow ran a ceremony that felt personal in a way I don’t think a stranger could have pulled off. There were happy tears everywhere, ours included.
Florals by Florette Bali kept things soft and natural — textured neutrals that complemented the view instead of competing with it. And our planners, @ramonas.world, understood the brief from the very first email: breathtaking, but simple. They pulled every detail together seamlessly, which if you’ve ever planned a wedding from overseas, you’ll know is no small thing.
Golden Hour at Uluwatu Surf Villas
Bali golden hour is special on any given evening. Uluwatu golden hour, from that clifftop, is something else entirely — which is exactly why I made a call I’d make again in a heartbeat: I cut our couple photo session short.
Straight after the ceremony, we had a champagne tower moment with our guests, where my sister-in-law gave the most beautiful speech, before moving straight into cocktail hour as the sun started to drop. And I wanted to be in it. Not tucked away on the cliff edge for an hour of portraits while everyone else mingled — actually there, hugging people, laughing, soaking up the fact that our favourite humans had flown all the way to Bali for us. That mattered more to me than a longer photo list.
So we gave ourselves a short, sharp window with Terralogical and Leura Film for couple portraits at the cliff edge while the sky turned into a wash of peach and gold and the ocean looked almost molten. It wasn’t a lot of time, but it didn’t need to be — these are, hands down, my favourite photos from the entire day. That mix of adrenaline, quiet love and pure joy, squeezed into twenty rushed, perfect minutes.
If I could relive one hour from that whole trip on loop, it would be this one. But I’d still choose cocktail hour with our people over a longer photo session every single time.
The Reception: Fairy Lights, Good Food and an Even Better Party
Dinner was set up under fairy lights beside the villas — long tables, warm lighting, acoustic music drifting as the sun properly dropped.
Furniture and styling came from @balieventhire, with @the.ware behind the décor and our showstopper champagne tower. Catering by @manauluwatu blended Indonesian flavours with modern plates, and honestly, guests still bring up that food months later. Our cake, from @butter_bali, was simple and genuinely delicious — not just a pretty one for photos. We also had a custom bar sign made by @rawdesignsco, which ended up being one of my favourite personal touches of the whole day.
Music came from an acoustic band, @frontentertainmentbali, through sunset and dinner, before @dex_scotty took over as DJ and turned the night into an actual party.
Our first dance under those fairy lights, with waves still crashing somewhere below us, is a moment I know I’ll be replaying for the rest of my life.
And true to form, the night did not end quietly. At some point — I genuinely couldn’t tell you when — the whole dance floor ended up in the pool, dresses, suits and all, still belting out Murder on the Dance Floor like our lives depended on it. The party carried on until 4am. Nobody wanted it to end, and honestly, neither did we.
Our Full Bali Wedding Vendor List
If you’re planning your own wedding at Uluwatu Surf Villas — or anywhere in Bali — here’s our entire dream team:
- Venue: Uluwatu Surf Villas
- Rings: Armans Jewellery
- Dress: @grace_loves_lace
- Shoes: Novo
- Groom’s Suit: @calvinklein via @myer
- Wedding Planner: @ramonas.world
- Catering: @manauluwatu
- Furniture: @balieventhire
- Decor & Champagne Tower: @the.ware
- Florist: @florettebali
- Hair & Makeup: @dollface_darlings
- Band: @frontentertainmentbali
- DJ: @dex_scotty
- Photographer: @terralogical
- Videographer: @leurafilm
- Celebrant: @chloebrinklow
- Lawn Games: @theislecobali
- Stationery: @kaylamanoe
- Cake: @butter_bali
- Bar Sign: @rawdesignsco
Every single one of them made the day what it was.
Our wedding at Uluwatu Surf Villas wasn’t just a nice day — it was, genuinely, one of the best of my life. Barefoot on that cliff, the sun dropping behind us, the people we love most in one place after years of not being able to gather at all.
If a Bali wedding is even a maybe for you, and Uluwatu is on the shortlist, I can’t recommend Uluwatu Surf Villas enough. Between the setting, the staff, and that view, it’s a venue that does most of the work for you — you just have to show up and let it happen.
