Bride Name:  Kristy Carroll
Groom Name: Anthony Carroll
Where do you live? Melbourne
Wedding Date: 06/06/2019

Tell us, how did you meet? Was it Love at first sight?

Anthony and I met towards the end of high school and I definitely had my sights set on him for a little while! We had a lot of mutual friends and I just had this feeling that if we got to know each other that we’d hit it off, and we did. The rest is history as they say!

What about the engagement story? Can you give us a snapshot?

Even though Anthony and I had been together for a long time, the engagement totally blindsided me.

It was Christmas morning and I was getting some things organised to bring to lunch with the family. (Lucky for Anthony) we had run out of dishwashing liquid, so Anthony casually offered to duck down to the service station while I finished getting ready.

As he arrived home, he gave me a buzz to meet him in the backyard to give him a hand (this was a bit suss, but I agreed to help, thinking my Christmas present had arrived!).

As I walked outside, I saw him holding the most gorgeous little puppy. At this stage I was so confused, thinking he found a lost puppy wandering the streets haha! He told me to check her collar and it said “Will you marry me?”, he then got down on one knee and presented me with my beautiful engagement ring. It’s fair to say my answer was “YES”!

So you decided to become Mr & Mrs… Why Bali?

We went on our first overseas holiday together in Bali over 10 years ago and shortly after Anthony’s parents bought a holiday house in Legian. Since then Bali has become a second home to us, so we could not think of anything better then showing all of our family and friends what Bali has to offer.

We also loved the idea of stretching out the celebrations beyond just the one day. While we were a little hesitant about getting everyone over to Bali, it ended up being the best decision ever and we’re so pleased we went with our gut – I cannot recommend a destination wedding highly enough!

Did you have a theme for the wedding? And was it a late night Pinterest obsession?!

For our wedding I really wanted to kept things simple and modern, with a touch of tropical. I knew straight away that I wanted long tables with classic cross-back white chairs as the starting point for our reception set up.

Lighting was also a big focus for me – the more lights and candles the better! While the aesthetics were important to us, we also were really set on surprising our guests with some sort of entertainment that helped get the dance floor started. We ended up arranging neon water drummers and they were absolutely mind blowing. Such a fun element that added to the excitement of the day.

Did you sit down for a formal dinner or party the night away with canapés and cocktails?

We chose a sit-down dinner. We really wanted everyone to be able to take a seat, enjoy a fantastic meal and soak in the ambience of dining under the stars. Our set up included festoon lighting, lanterns and candles, which made the experience truly magical.

What was the most challenging aspect about planning a destination wedding?

From talking to a lot of girlfriends, I felt that planning a destination wedding held similar challenges to planning a wedding at home. In some respects, our Bali wedding seemed a little easier as you do have a planner to lean on and additional items can be more cost effective – therefore I didn’t feel too restricted by budget, which did help! The main challenges were around communication and just making sure that everyone, from your planner to your celebrant, were on the same page as you when you’re mainly communicating by email rather than face to face, which can be tricky.

Did you have a special song to walk down the aisle to?

We chose Only You by Parson James. We came across the song by accident and just fell in love with it. I played the song so many times leading up to the wedding and still adore it.

Talk to us about your hair and make up. Who was your muse?

I know a lot of people say they want to look like themselves on their wedding day, but I kind of felt I needed to mix it up for the special occasion! I also wanted to be comfortable in the Bali heat, so opted for 2 different up dos. A high bun for the ceremony and then a fun ponytail for the reception. I kept my makeup more inline with my usual style and was lucky that my amazing makeup artist understood what I was after instantly.

Tell us about your D R E S S ?

I sort of stumbled across the dress I ended up picking! I had something so completely different in mind when I started shopping, but felt that everything I tried on wasn’t quite right. I tried on this particular dress as I loved the bottom with all the tulle and after I tried it on it really just stuck in my head!

What was THE most memorable part of your big day?

This is a hard one!

I really loved listening to the speeches and having fun on the dance floor with everyone, as well as more intimate moments in between the ceremony and reception with our bridal party, getting our hair and makeup touched up and enjoying some drinks and chatting.

But the most memorable part of the day would have to be a little moment between my husband and I. We were walking together towards the end of the night and Anthony thanked me for doing so much to bring the day/night together and mentioned how he was blown away by how it was truly the best night ever. Even though Anthony helped a lot in the lead up, it was a really sweet moment and made me feel so good that everyone was having fun (especially the hubby!).

If there was one piece of advice you could give a Bali bride planning their big day, what would it be?

Try to take your time picking key elements of the day, I know it can feel like you must have everything organized ASAP – but try not to rush if you can. And check and double check everything! I sometimes felt bad for putting people out or being super specific on what I wanted, but at the end of the day it’s your day and every bride deserves every detail to be perfect!!! So don’t ever be afraid to ask.