Destination Wedding | Raana & Richie

Raana and Richie chose to tie the knot in a far away place with a very exotic and intimate beach setting. The whole thing was sublime and I already long to return to Lombok and the luxury of Hotel Tugu! I’m not going to say too much about this one but instead let Raana tell you a little about the experience in her own words and just show you some pictures!

Intimate Destination Wedding

“Rich and I met when we worked together, but it was a few years before we got together. As soon as we did, we knew we were in it for the long haul. A year after we bought our first home together, Rich proposed one Saturday afternoon in the lounge after a pub crawl with our lovely Beagle, Bobby.

We’d talked about marrying privately so after some awkward conversations with family, we started looking into the logistics of a destination wedding followed by a big party for our friends and family.

We love to travel so we picked Bali for our wedding so we had a good excuse to see it and spend time there. We’ve lived and enjoyed the best years of our lives in Didsbury so that was always going to be the place for the party.

Hotel Tugu, Lombok

“Thankfully the hotel we settled on for the wedding, the Tugu Hotel in Lombok, had the best planners you could hope for and they helped with all the paperwork for the British consulate – which turned out to be the only difficult part of planning a wedding in the Far East. We spent the first 10 days exploring before sailing to Lombok for the wedding. It was without doubt the happiest time of our lives.

“We chose the hotel in Lombok because, when we were researching, we realised that we wouldn’t get the privacy we were hoping for in Bali itself. The beaches are all public, which would mean people walking past or watching. The Tugu was recommended by a travel agent I chatted to. It’s owned by the biggest antiques collector in Indonesia and the whole place is like a museum.

It’s set in such a lot of land that we hardly saw other guests; although there were attentive staff who all knew our names and looked after us perfectly. The beach was beautiful and deserted, so it was perfect and everything we could have hoped for.”

The Wedding Day

“I chose the Zenith gown by Eliza Jane Howell for the big day. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would be the one. I tried on others but it was always the one that took my breath away. It’s not a traditional gown, but it wasn’t a traditional wedding.

I asked Agape bridal boutique in Altrincham to order the dress for me, I really liked the staff there and they have great in house seamstresses. They were able to alter the size and they also lowered the back of the dress making it truly bespoke. It was whilst I was there that I was recommended to meet Laura Donovan, who designed a head piece for me. She was a dream to work with and I’ll definitely wear her creation again.

I wore Sophia Webster Bibi butterfly shoes in rose gold. My engagement and wedding rings are rose gold so I wanted my shoes to tie in to that theme. I spent most of the wedding day with my bare feet in the sand but they were great for the party. I wore my dress again for that to make the most of it. I loved the feedback I received on the dress, people said it was the best they’d ever seen!”

The Ceremony

“The ceremony was the happiest 15 minutes of our lives. The music, the aisle adorned with flowers, the priest who married us and the beautiful setting all combined to make it completely idyllic. We wrote our own vows which the hotel had put into booklets bound by twigs and we were told that we must hold hands and look into each other’s eyes throughout, which added to the feeling of it just being us there (even though the staff had gathered to watch their hard work pay off!).”

Destination Wedding Photographer

“The most important element of our wedding planning was finding a photographer to capture everything so we could relax and enjoy ourselves, safe in the knowledge that it was all being documented. We met Mike after searching for fine art photographers on Instagram. Once we’d seen his work and the albums he can create after the wedding, we booked him for the party straight away. After looking into photographers in Lombok and realising it would be an equal cost to have Mike there, we agreed for him to cover both events.

Mike promised to have all the photos ready in a slide show for the party which was only a few days after he returned to the UK from the trip and he did not disappoint. There were many tears as our family and friends watched the day unfold starting with a casual walk on the beach, to having massages, getting ready then the wedding unfolding. The following day we took a boat around the Gili islands and Mike photographed us snorkelling and swimming with turtles using underwater camera equipment especially purchased for the trip.

Mike’s photography is so understated. It felt natural being photographed by him and he blended into the wedding and the party perfectly. The build up to both was stressful but Mike was seamless to work with. He captured everything so well and the best thing about it was that the emotions we felt on the wedding day shine through in every picture. We couldn’t have hoped for a better photographer and person to capture the whole event and we are so excited to see the pictures from the party. Mike is a true gem and I would recommend him to any bride.”

The Gili Islands & Snorkeling

I had the best time with Raana and Richie, I always feel privileged to be a part of any wedding but to get to go with them and experience the magic of Lombok and their intimate beach wedding is something I’ll never forget and always be thankful for! If you’re planning your wedding at home or abroad then I’d love to hear from you! Get in touch and let’s chat!

Right after I left Raana and Richie I went to hike Mount Rinjani and spend a few more days on Gili Air before heading home. See the blog post below for some pictures from the rest of my trip.