Notes by Nectar

When I found out my cousin had decided to have her wedding in Bali, I decided to go a few days earlier and have some time to myself. I was on a yoga retreat for a week and then moved to the Sofitel in Nusa Dua for the wedding. So, I’d been in Bali for two weeks by the time the wedding started…

It was a fairy tale wedding, quite literally. The invitations, parties, do not disturb signs and even key holders all had a fairy tale theme to them!

On Friday morning there were a couple of pujas (prayers) followed by lunch. After lunch we relaxed in our room for a while and then eventually had to get ready for the dinner.

The first night was a costume party where we had to go dressed as a fictional character. I’d ordered a ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ set from the USA, but by the time I left for Bali it still hadn’t arrived (and a month later, it still hasn’t). It would have been perfect – with long black gloves, tiara, cigarette holder, pearl necklace… but it would have also been perfect if the damn thing had arrived. Instead I wore a pink dress with butterflies on it (there actually is a Hans Christian Andersen story called ‘The Butterfly’, who knew?) but was amazed at the lengths other wedding guests had gone to. The bride and her fiance were Guinevere and Lancelot, there was a Storm Trooper, there was a V (from ‘V for Vendetta’), there were a couple of Maleficents, a Queen of Hearts, a few Tinkerbells, a Zorro and so many others. My dad said he saw someone in ‘just his hotel dressing gown’ but when I spotted the same person later on, I realised he was supposed to be Luke Skywalker. There was a Snow White, and a couple of Cruella de Vils too.

The entrance to the venue was stunning – it was like an enchanted forest. There were even little speakers in the trees with birds singing!

Once dinner had been served, it was ‘Shots O’Clock’ every half an hour…

We left just before 3am, but I believe the party went on until breakfast was served.

On Saturday afternoon, there was pool party at Nikki Beach.

We didn’t stay too long though.

On Saturday night was the sangeet. The way the hall was decorated was incredible. I have never seen anything like it before. It had an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ theme, and you even had to go through a maze to get into the ballroom.

There were women on stilts with trays of shots, and there were even people dressed as pawns moving around the chessboard – and they joined in with the dancing later on in the night. It was basically like a very large zumba class, but a lot more fun! (Sorry, the sound quality in the video is terrible.)

I was back in my room before 3am, but again the party went on all night.

We were woken up at about 11am on Sunday as we had to attend another puja. I thought I could have a nap after that, but we were told that the bride couldn’t be on her own until the wedding at 4.30pm and that we had to be ready by 2.30pm to collect the groom and bring him to her. It was going to a be long day. So, my sister and I were ready by 2.30pm, but of course nobody else was. We eventually went to collect the groom and his friends and family, and they did the baraat (groom’s wedding procession) to where the bride was waiting. Luckily it had stopped raining, but they moved the wedding ceremony indoors just in case.

The ceremony seemed to go on forever. The bride’s family and the groom’s family had each brought their own priest, so they both were trying to conduct the ceremony.

People were coming and going, getting tea and snacks, and I don’t think anyone would have noticed if I’d slipped out, but I was needed towards the end of the ceremony to shower the couple with rose petals as they walked around the fire.

That evening was the wedding reception. Once again, the ballroom had been completely transformed.

I was really struggling with my dress though. I’d bought it over the summer when I was in London and thought I’d lose some weight before wearing it at the wedding, and I had, but it was SO tight. I put it on while I was getting ready, then realised that I couldn’t sit down to put my shoes on. So I took it off again, put my shoes on and then put the dress back on. I then realised that I wouldn’t be able to lift it up if I needed the loo and would have to take the whole thing off again! Good Lord. I decided that if I did need the loo later on, I’d just go back to my room and change before coming back to the reception…

Luckily, it didn’t get to that stage. My sister and I left when our parents did, as we intended to be up early the next morning to go into Seminyak.

So, congratulations to the beautiful bride and groom – and here’s hoping their marriage is every bit the fairy tale as their wedding was!

I love my life.

To read more about Bali, click here.