Margaritas & A Magical Full Moon For One Beautiful Bali Bride

June 27, 2022

Linda and Adrian Fagerlund consider Bali to be their spiritual home, so there was never any question that they would be married here. This gorgeous wedding was a ‘Hamptons in the Tropics’-style affair with a small group of their most favourite people on a clifftop in Uluwatu – perfection. Enjoy our little reminiscence with beautiful Linda!

The Details

Bride: Linda Fagerlund (nee Tran)
Groom: Adrian Fagerlund
Date: 20th July, 2016
Currently residing in: Sydney, Australia

Tell us how did you meet? Was it love at first sight?
It was very serendipitous! We met through mutual friends. I had a rare day off work and was having lunch in Bondi Beach with friends when Adrian unexpectedly walked through the door. There was instant chemistry and a strong attraction towards each other, but nothing happened until he again showed up at a friend’s birthday drinks a week later. It all moved pretty fast after that… We moved in after 4 months and never looked back!

What about the engagement story? Can you give us an snapshot?
We were holidaying at Siargao Island in the Philippines with our closest friends in 2015. We had a beautiful private oceanfront villa with its own jetty. The morning of New Years Eve, he asked me to go on a walk with him. We walked down to the end of the jetty looking out to the ocean and I thought nothing of it, until he started getting emotional and got down on one knee. There were lots of tears and screams of delight when we walked back to everyone who had been watching the whole thing. It was such a surprise; I had no idea he had been carrying the ring in his backpack everyday since the holiday began, stressed that he’d lose it in our travels.

So you decided to become Mr & Mrs Fagerlund. Why Bali?
There was no question that it would be Bali – it has always been our spiritual home. Adrian and I have both spent a lot of time there and we go back every year. It speaks to our love of the ocean, the simple island life and beautiful design and architecture. Being one of our favourite places in the world, it made sense for us to share it with our family & friends.

How did you choose your Bali wedding planner?
As I wanted to have a very small wedding, I actually didn’t think I needed a planner at first. But I am so glad I did – Kevin at Silver Lace Weddings was a recommendation from my wedding venue and he was incredible. He called me on the phone as soon as I first reached out to him, and we had such a lovely chat that I felt like I could trust him and he understood exactly what I wanted. The personal touch was important to me.

Did you have a theme for the wedding? And was it a late night Pinterest obsession?!
Yes there was definitely a Pinterest board involved! Our theme was an all-white ‘Hamptons in the tropics’ style affair. We kept everything white with natural details focusing on lots of native greenery and wood. The white theme extended to our guests as we wanted it to feel as inclusive as possible. We wanted the experience to feel understated yet elegant, and paying tribute to our natural surroundings by the ocean.

Who did your catering? Did you sit down for a formal dinner or party the night away with canapés and cocktails?
The Ungasan provided in-house catering and it was simply perfect. We had a beautiful 3 course sit-down dinner complemented with copious amounts of espresso martinis and margaritas throughout the night.

Tell us about your music. Did you have a special song to walk down the aisle to? A First Dance song?
I walked out to Higher Love by James Vincent McMorrow. I created playlists of our favourite songs that took us from sunset beach club tunes for pre-dinner cocktails, to soul/blues for dinner and finally dance floor classics to finish off the night, which featured a lot of MJ, Whitney and 70s disco classics. One of our best friends, Telly, is a DJ so he mixed it all and took care of proceedings – it was incredible.

Instead of a waltz, we opened up the dance floor to ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ by Justin Timberlake. It set the tone for the entire night; we didn’t stop dancing til 4am.

What was the most challenging aspect about planning a destination wedding? It can’t be easy!
It’s challenging when you’re working within the limitations of what can be easily sourced in a place like Bali. It helps to set a clear vision but importantly, being reasonably flexible within it – have alternatives at the ready, in case you can’t get the exact design of chair you wanted or cake designer.

Did you get to spend much time with your guests who travelled for your wedding? Did you host a day after party or a night before welcome dinner?
We decided to arrive in Bali a week before the wedding, and it was great to relax and host guests as they trickled in. As our wedding was very intimate with just 23 guests, it was quite easy to spend time with everyone and this was a big factor in our decision to keep it small. Many of our guests also treated it like a holiday and stayed on in Bali with us, so we kept the partying going well into the following week as well. We couldn’t have asked for a better crew to celebrate with.

Talk to us about your hair and make up. Who was your muse?
It was all about beach simplicity. For makeup, my muse was Jessica Alba – natural sunkissed skin without too much fuss. I am not a big fan of overdone professional makeup, so I did my own makeup for the wedding. And one of my best friends is an amazingly talented hairdresser so I was lucky to have her do my hair in simple long beachy curls.

Tell us about your D R E S S ?
It’s from Grace Loves Lace. I spent months trying to find the perfect mix of classic meets bohemian and fell in love with the French lace and backless detail. I wore it with bare feet and I had so much fun dancing in it.

What was THE most memorable/special part of your day / evening? A moment, a thought, a hug.. do tell?
So many special moments, but I have to say our reception dinner was unforgettable from beginning to end. We had all our favourite people in the world seated at the same table and they stood up and gave us the most honest and heartfelt speeches – there was so much love in the air. And we were sitting on a clifftop in Bali under a full moon. I almost had to pinch myself.

If there was one piece of advice you could give a Bali bride planning their big day, what would it be?
There’s always going to be last minute panics no matter how planned you are. Remind yourself of where you are and the bigger picture – it helps to keep things in perspective and brush away the little worries you can’t control.

List of Loves

Cocktails or Bintangs? Cocktails
Wedges, heels or Flats? Heels (then into flats soon after!)
Suntan. Fake it or bake it? Bake it
Hotel people watching or villa alone time? Villa
Nails. Nude or bold? Nude
Sand between your toes or poolside fab? Sand between the toes
Nalu Bowl & Green Juice or Eggs & Coffee? Eggs + Green Juice!
Sunrise or sunset? Sunsets
Bikini or one piece? Bikini
Favourite Instagram account? @doyoutravel

Suppliers

Wedding Planner: Kevin @ Silver Lace Weddings
Venue: The Ungasan
Florist: Silver Lace
Photographer: Terralogical
Catering: The Ungasan
Cake: Ixora
Furniture: Bali Event Hire
Hair & Makeup: Hair by Coco Choco, Makeup – own
Sound and Lighting: Silver Lace
Bridal Dress: Grace Loves Lace
Shoes: Alexandre Birman
Jewellery: Own
Bridesmaid dress: NA
Groom’s Suit: Varqa Homme
Stationary: NA