Ashlee and Barry’s Tropical Flower-Filled Wedding at Komune Resort, Bali

Ashlee and Barry first met on a school bus and remained friends for 14 years before their relationship blossomed into something more. After the sweetest proposal (involving an 8-week old puppy!), these two decided to plan a destination wedding in one of their favourite holiday locations, beautiful Bali.

Taking place at Komune Resort, Ashlee and Barry drew inspiration from the picturesque scenery of Bali along with their own relationship – ensuring their day was truly personal, memorable and unique. Working with the uber-talented Elvira from Hari Indah (described by the newlyweds as a serious magic maker!), this colourful Bali wedding was packed with tropical blooms, lush foliage and stunning natural backdrops.

After an intimate beachfront ceremony, guests enjoyed the most incredible reception under the stars, decked out with a selection of bohemian-inspired furniture from the Bali Event Hire range and one seriously cute gelato cart. And we think you’ll agree the team at Bloomz absolutely nailed it with the epic tropical arrangements that featured throughout each element of the day.

We’ve fallen completely in love with all of the details from this bold, colourful and beautifully styled Komune Resort Bali wedding, created with an absolute dream team of vendors (including our friends at Leura Film and Evermotion to capture all of the magic!). Keep scrolling for an inside look into how Ashlee and Barry planned their day, along with a dreamy set of snaps from Evermotion.

How we met:

On the school bus, he went to the local boys school I went to the girls school. We were friends for 14 years before anything happened, we kept getting closer and closer. It took a few years of convincing, but eventually we realised we were perfect for each other.

The proposal:

It was a year to the day since we moved into the place we bought and spent the past year madly renovating it ourselves.

Barry caught me completely off guard, I arrived home from work and Barry took our 8-week old puppy into our room and came out with him wearing a top asking me to marry his dad. He got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife… I cried for about ten minutes before I could give him an answer…YES! Of course.

We then went to dinner at our favourite Mexican restaurant and celebrated with a few margaritas.

Wedding date: 4th October 2018

Wedding Ceremony Venue: Hotel Komune, Bali

Wedding Reception Venue: Hotel Komune, Bali

Total Guests: 68 guests

Our Style/Inspiration:

The beautiful surroundings and our relationship. We worked really hard on making sure that there were pieces of us in all elements of the day.

Who we couldn’t have done it without:

As a wedding and event planner myself and self-proclaimed control freak, it was always going to be a challenge to hand the reins for my perfect day over to someone else. We made a trip over to Bali and met with Elvira from Hari Indah and I instantly felt at ease, we had the best time collaborating with her – she is a serious magic maker!

Turning the corner to walk down the aisle and seeing our concepts brought to life made me soo excited – she totally exceeded my expectations.

Advice for future Bali Brides: HIRE ELVIRA!! Seriously wedding planners are worth every cent (and more)

Our Wedding Day…

Wedding Planner/Stylist: Hari Indah – right from the start when I was researching and found a planner whose name translates to “a beautiful day” I knew I had found the right person to work with – it’s the deep and thoughtful touches that help make a day and that is just what she does.

Décor/Furniture: Bali Event Hire

Flowers/Florist: Bloomz Flowers Bali – Flowers was a big one for us and we wanted the beautiful local tropical flowers to be the stand out of our styling against the beautiful green foliage of Komune and contrast of the black sand beach. Elvira recommended her as being the go-to for all things tropical and WOW did she deliver.

Hair & Make-up: I was lucky enough to have two very talented friends from home come over for the wedding and do my hair and make-up (Evie and Addy you are superstars!) We also had Yeanne Make Up artist for bridesmaids and mothers.

Photography: Evermotion – I have always been very opinionated about wedding photography so it was key to finding a team. I found them while researching on Instagram, immediately loved their work and how they captured moments and emotions so well.

Videography: Leura Film, they sure delivered with a beautiful video that still makes me cry every time I watch it. They nailed the brief. We really wanted to capture the feel of the day and see all of our favourite people that flew to Bali to help us celebrate.

Favours: Custom stubby holders in welcome bags (survival kits) delivered to guests rooms as they arrived. On the day the guests also received a personal handwritten letter from Barry and I thanking them for joining us and telling them how important they are to us.

Celebrant: Heather Boylan

Catering: Hotel Komune Bali

Cake/Dessert: We wanted to mix things up and decided to go with a Piñata in the shape of a wedding cake. We had a secret party room so Barry and I snuck off into the party room and the doors were open revealing us hitting the piñata which was filled with glow sticks and party props to help kick the party off.

On holidays to Bali we also have a tradition of going to get gelato/ ice cream each day, so naturally we had an ice cream cart guests could help themselves to for desert.

Stationery/Invitations: I am lucky enough to have a very talented sister who also doubled as my maid of honor (Thank you Lauren)

Entertainment: As guests arrived to the ceremony we had Rindik players to help set the scene and then DJ Sammy Sax took over. We grew up in Many where many a fun night out was spent dancing to a DJ with Sax so wanted to recreate that vibe – Sammy was amazing and had all ages up and dancing.

Transport: Not needed as almost all guests were staying onsite at Komune Resort.

Gift Registry: We asked our guests to join us in Bali to celebrate and hopefully spend a few days with us, that was the greatest gift to us.

Wedding Songs:

Down the aisle: Heartbeats – Jose Gonzalez
Signing: Follow the Sun – Xavier Rudd
Up the aisle: Everywhere – Fleetwood Mac
Announcement: Baby, I love your way – Big Mountain
First Dance: I got you Babe – UB40 + Chrissie Hynde

The Bridal Party Details…

Bride’s Dress: Catherine R Couture from Perfect Day Bridal

Bride’s Shoes: Loeffler Randall

Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Rebecca Valance and Bec and Bridge

Bridemaid’s Shoes: Loeffler Randal, Rubi + Nude

Groom’s Attire & Shoes: Industrie – no shoes

Jewellery: Brides earrings – Kenneth Jay Lane, anklet gifted from mum with my dad’s lucky dolphin charm and I added paw print charm gifted by Holly who made our rings in honour of our puppy.

Groom – Grandfathers vintage Rolex, bride had restored as a wedding gift.

The rings: Custom made by Holly Michele Jewellery

Honeymoon Details:

We stayed at Komune for the week of the wedding with family and friends then went onto the Slow at Canggu, Como Uma in Ubud and finished at MU Bali at Bingin.

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

Our wedding style really came from Bali and its flowers. We figured if you are going to get married in a different country the wedding should reflect where you are. Bali is our happy place and we love the sounds and smells (well some of them) the offerings around the place and the colours. We wanted it to capture the beautiful tropical flowers of Bali. It was all about creating a simple backdrop to showcase them and including as many different things that related to us as a couple.

These days it’s hard to plan an event without the use of Pinterest and Instagram, they are a great source of inspiration. I found the easiest way to start was to make a board and pin everything you like. You soon see a pattern of what you like and can then run with that.

What was the hardest part about planning a destination wedding?

The countdown to get there! We honestly were so excited we couldn’t wait to get to Bali and celebrate.

But I guess just realizing Bali time is a real thing, almost refreshing when you come from a world where everything is so instant.

Why did you choose Bali as your wedding destination?

Bali is our happy place, it was our first OS holiday together and the first OS trip we took as a family after my dad passed away. I feel Bali is a special place and heals the soul a little.

How did you stay organised while planning a destination wedding?

Spreadsheets are life! That and frequent calls with Elvira our planner.