Everyone is a big fan of a holiday and everyone’s a fan of dressing up in their finest gear, so when Crystal and Don combined the two in beautiful Bali, it was a celebration that was pure and utter destination wedding magic. The bride, in the dreamiest of gowns (can we talk about the sleeves?) the groom in what has to be one of my favourite suits (pink linen!) beautiful, endless blooms and a reception under the stars. Combine it all with beautiful imagery by photographer Jason Corroto and we’re well and truly ready to kick off our shoes, grab a cocktail and join in the fun!

The pair met in their twenties through mutual friends at a club – it was adoration at first sight for the bride to be, who tells us their romantic proposal story. “Don proposed while we were on holiday in Bali in 2017. It was completely unexpected and was such a nice little surprise, he did it while we were biking around the town of Ubud. It is also partly the reason we decided to have our wedding there.”

Let’s talk about THAT pink suit! Don chose a pink linen number from MJ Bale, the breathable fabric just the ticket for the tropical weather and the colour something different from the usual bone coloured linen.

This was a wedding full of black tie glamour. “Tropical black tie was our theme.. although it was SO humid on the day that it was more like sweaty black tie! It was a really relaxed vibe, our wedding planner did such a fabulous job bringing my vision and multiple Pinterest boards to life! The atmosphere was incredible, it was an overseas destination wedding and 90% of guests had never been to Bali before so everyone was on a holiday high, it was great.”

The bride wore the dreamiest of gowns designed by Christie Nicole, although it wasn’t what she had originally planned! The bride explains “I actually bought a gown off the rack a few months earlier but the more I looked at it, the more I realised it was not very “me”. I scoured Instagram for inspiration and came across one of Christie’s brides – the detailing on the gown was incredible. Once I met with Christie for our first bridal consultation I was sold! She was so warm and lovely and we got to pick the fabric and applique and design the dress from scratch – an experience I was determined to have since I don’t think I would ever go through a process like that again. The sleeves of my dress were my favourite part and Christie was so great about bringing my vision to life.”

The beautiful Royal Pita Maha set the scene for the day, Crystal and Don planning their day with the help of Botanica Weddings. Crystal telling “We chose to get married at The Royal Pita Maha in Ubud, in the middle of the Ubud jungle. It was such an amazing venue, we had our ceremony there, a garden party with drinks and canapes and our reception all at the same resort which was absolutely huge. We had a late afternoon ceremony and guests were escorted around to various locations within the resort for other activities before being ushered to the reception area. Don and I were adamant we would spend minimal time taking photos so that we could enjoy the day with our guests.”

“I chose a mix of white/pink roses and trailing orchids” tells the bride of the fresh, lush floral details of the day. “The florist and my wedding planner brought my Pinterest dreams to life! I like to think that overall, I was a pretty low-key bride and I put a lot of trust into the experts to execute my vision with minimal input from me. We were truly blown away with how the day panned out.”

Crystal walked down the aisle with both her mother and her father to  Des’ree “Kissing You”.

The ceremony was relaxed, kicking off the celebratory vibes for the day. “We wanted our ceremony to be non-religious, casual and quick. We didn’t want any long-winded readings and/or over the top vows. Prior to our vows, I had one of my bridesmaids read a short extract from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.”

Crystal and Don really couldn’t have been more impressed with photographer Jason. “Jason was amazing. We met him for coffee before deciding to lock him in and basically an hour after our meeting we had made a decision. Given it was an overseas wedding, he was SO easy to deal with and booked his own flight/accommodation without us having to get involved – one less thing for us to worry about!

On the wedding day, we barely noticed him and he got on really well with the videography company we hired for the day (who were Bali based). The two were able to capture the day without stepping on each other’s toes which was great.”

With flames and dancers, the newlyweds were led to their reception with plenty of Indonesian tradition.

Guests were seated at one long table under the stars for the evening reception. The scene and planned with thanks to Botanica Weddings “Our wedding planner (Sanita) from Botanica Weddings was a godsend!” exclaims the bride. “She was so incredibly patient and lovely during the whole process and blew us away with her level of organisation. Could NOT fault her one bit!”

“All guests were on holiday mode with us – it was honestly the best high” reminisces the bride.

And an epic dance floor was definitely on the cards, Crystal and Don kicking it off with their first dance to Angus & Julia Stone’s “Chateau”.

Advice from the newlyweds? Perhaps hold your after party somewhere different than your villa! This is a story Crystal has to tell! “We made sure to include an after-party at our honeymoon villa afterwards for anyone who wanted to party on! It was so great to go for a swim and chill out with our besties after the formalities but in hindsight, perhaps we should have organised the after party elsewhere. Our room was a BOMB afterwards and we barely slept (hardly romantic!)”

A big congratulations you both Crystal and Don! What a day, what an honour to share! Thank you also to Jason Corroto for sharing this beautiful day!