One of our fabulous founders recently celebrated a big and beautiful joint birthday with her hubby in Bali and we couldn’t be more excited to share all of the details right here. We sat down and asked her to share everything about what made this party what it was. She shared that even though she worked in the Bali Wedding Industry, choosing from the Bali Wedding vendors she knew and her own Bali Event Hire furniture (best known for Luxury Bali Wedding decor) was the most challenging part.
We love that Vanessa & Andy weren’t afraid to be bold with many of their design choices and created a party that reflected “them” – swapping entrees for canapes so that their guests could mix and mingle. As the sun set over the Arnalaya Beach House (one of Bali's Best Wedding Villas), guests enjoyed a night of delicious food and dancing under the stars, with every moment captured by Aggra Photo. So much fun!
Read on to find out all of the beautiful elements as we share the special moments from our sit down with co-founder Vanessa.
How did you select your Bali Event Furniture?
Funnily enough, this was probably the most challenging aspect for me.
Given I was literally spoilt for choice and could have any piece of event furniture I wanted in any style, I felt a bit overwhelmed and didn’t make my final decision until a few months prior.
In the end, we opted for our handcrafted Louis Dining tables and matching cocktail furniture. We wanted to ground the look with the whitewash and traditional hand-carving and then we used pieces from our more modern ranges in black including dining chairs and stools (from our Bentwood and Santorini ranges).
We also included our black and white striped Riviera Market umbrellas to add a modern twist.
The result was an opulent yet super cool vibe. I absolutely loved it!
What was your experience being on the client side for a change?
So super fun actually! To sit on the other side of the fence was fantastic. I have to say the service, professionalism, creativity, and general amazingness I experienced working with our friends, Bali Wedding Planner, Hitchd Weddings was second to none. They went over and above and then some to deliver to the most spectacular party and after party on the face of the planet.
It must have been challenging for you selecting your Bali Wedding Vendors?
There are so many incredible, talented, creative, magical vendors in the Bali Wedding industry so yes, it was actually super, super hard. In the end, I just selected vendors who felt right for me, either we had a great relationship, a shared creative vision or I’d seen a billion of their incredible events so I knew I didn’t need to worry.
What was the most important aspect of the Bali Party for you?
We really wanted our guests to come along on a magical journey with us. Emotionally and visually. We wanted lots of elements, contrasts and surprises and joy.
Given our long relationship with the beautiful island of Bali and numerous Bali weddings and events, it was important to tie together Bali’s rich culture with all the fabulous food, drinks and entertainment and wonder Bali also has to offer in the event space.
Our guests arrived to the beautiful, mindful sound of 2 Gamelan players. They walked up a long driveway (everyone looked fabulous!) towards our hand-carved Javanese Cermony Pergola where they were greeted by a Balinese Priest and each guest was individually blessed.
They then ascended the terraced steps to arrive at a stunning cocktail area where French Champagne and curated cocktails awaited them. We chose to serve loads of delicious canapes instead of a starter so everyone could mingle, relax and take all the beauty of Bali in.
Queue the fabulous Lydia Rose to set the scene with some chilled tunes.
We then had a gorgeous ceremony and blessing for our family. Me, my husband Andrew and our 2 girls Sunny and Bonnie. The Priest also blessed our guests and our girls handed out an Amethyst crystal (the joint birthstone of our star signs) to all our guests to wish them happiness, peace and prosperity.
Next stop was our stunning dinner. We had 3 long tables and I can’t even describe the beauty, you’ll need to check out the photos. The FLORALS were beyond, our guests just couldn’t believe how stunning it looked.
Our food was next level. Coming from food obsessed Melbourne, it was really important to us that the food was perfect. We selected MNM Food Couture, and they didn’t disappoint, it was outstanding.
Next were our speeches and then 7 Fire Dancers appeared from behind the palm trees and did the most epic show.
After this, we all moved to the back of the property where an entire outdoor cinema had been set up complete with Lazy Sunday Beanbag Sets, Palm Springs Deck Chairs, Marrakech Low Feasting Sets and bulb lighting zig zagging above us.
Another opportunity to showcase our Bali Event Hire furniture!
My husband had made a divine video of our lives which was so touching and entertaining! We left the outdoor cinema and grabbed an Espresso Martini on the way back to the bar where we were met with a water drumming show – what a party starter!
From there, basically everyone was on the Dancefloor for the ENTIRE night.
Lydia Rose and Sammy Sax were the ultimate crowd pleasers. The dancefloor was full until we sadly had to say goodbye to everyone.
What was your most memorable moment?
Honestly, there are way too many to recall but I’d have to say I loved looking at the stunning set up before all the guests arrived. I have seen literally thousands of event set ups and I was completely blown away. It was perfection.
Also, standing back and looking at everyone’s smiling faces and watching everyone on the dance floor was such a highlight. Two words – Lydia Rose!
Oh and also the speeches and watching everyone laughing in our brand new Magazine photobooth – which (fun fact) can be customised with your own words!
Our guests loved this piece so much, we can't wait to see it pop in photos at Bali Weddings.
Tell us about your dress?
I couldn’t have loved my dress anymore if I tried!! Sue from Anaessia & Carnivel Bridal Fashion House in Melbourne designed and created a custom, party dress for me. Think fuchsia, asymmetry, lace, velvet and beading, so much beading! It was a certainly a statement piece and I adored it.
Happy Birthday Vanessa & Andy, a party so classic and stylish I’m sure we’ll see this look and theme popping up in weddings shortly. Thank you for sharing all of the beautiful details from your night and we hope you and your guests enjoyed it!
Colour Palette
Plum, Merlot, white, oatmeal, lilac
Furniture
Our traditional Whitewash Louis Range and our Sleek Black Pieces got together and the result was perfection!
Reception
Louis Dining Tables and Black Bentwood chairs
Cocktail
Louis low and high cocktail sets with Black Palm Springs stools
Black and White striped Riviera Market umbrellas
Double Louis Bar
Louis DJ Booth
Black Santorini Stools
Black and White Riviera Market Umbrellas
Custom Neon
Custom Merlot linen covered Turkish Delight Set with whitewashed mini tables
Movie Area
Palm Springs Deck Chairs in Oatmeal
Lazy Sunday White Beanbag sets
Tribeca High Cocktail Sets
African Round Sets
Loads of jute rugs in round and rectangular
White scatter cushions
Marrakech Low Feasting Sets
Planner Hitch’d Weddings
Furniture Bali Event Hire
Florals Sandat
Photo / Video Aggra Photo
Tablewear The Ware
Entertainment Lydia Rose
Fire Dancers
Gamelan Players
Water Drummers
Sammy Sax
Catering MNM Food Couture
Bar Palms Bar
Hair + MU Eve and Austin
Mens Grooming Grand Avenue Barber
Spray Tans The Cottage Beauty House
Sound and Lighting Azimuth
Venue Arnalaya Beach House