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| Amari Trang wedding/ photo: Amari |
DREAMING OF doing it on the beach, in a jungle, on a cliff overlooking the ocean or amongst tropical corals under the sea? We're talking about getting married, of course. Destination weddings are all the rage, and for pure wedded bliss, nothing can beat Asia's top romantic beach resorts. It's not a question of whether to do it, it's a question of where - the options are myriad. Here's a no-holds-barred guide to resort weddings in Asia from quiet Christian blessings to colourful Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist ceremonies to tame - but ball-and-chain legal - civil ceremonies.
First things first. Many resorts cater for weddings or blessings, as well as renewal of vow ceremonies, and in most cases your hotel will arrange everything - from flowers and traditional costumes to the actual ceremony, photography and wedding feast. Often staff will assist with legalities too, but you must ensure that all your own paperwork is in order. If you'd rather avoid the hassle of trips to consulates and registry offices in a foreign country, you can always take care of the legal aspects of getting married in your home country, enjoying the romance and ceremony of a spectacular but non-legally binding resort wedding at the exotic location of your choice. However, if you want to go the whole hog, here's what you need to know:
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Planning a Resort Wedding in Asia
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| Bora Bora/ photo: Amanresorts |
For a marriage to be legal in Indonesia, the law requires two separate ceremonies: a religious ceremony (Christian - Protestant or Catholic - Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist), followed by a civil ceremony performed a government registrar. Before the wedding, you must apply in person for a "certificate of non-impediment", issued by your country's embassy or consulate. (If you only have the religious ceremony, you will receive a church marriage certificate only.) Remember that a Balinese traditional ceremonial blessing, or a northern Thai-style Lanna blessing, is a blessing only, even though it is usually held in true wedding style.
Bali Weddings International , (easily accessible at www.baliweddingsinternational.com), owned by an Australian married to an Indonesian, has been around for 12 years and will arrange every aspect of your wedding in Bali. Bali Wedding Bells (www.baliweddingbells.com) offers everything from wedding consultants and planning services to a variety of villas and hotels. You may also want to check out the informative site of Tirtha Bali (www.tirthabali.com), with details and photos of couples whose weddings were previously organised by the company. Bali Wedding Butler (www.baliweddingbutler.com) also offers a full range of wedding options. The Ritz-Carlton, Bali Resort & Spa employs a veritable army of 17 wedding and honeymoon planners. These specialists will help would-be couples navigate through touchy - and touchy-feely - issues like choosing colour schemes, general decor, flowers and music.
Phuket, Thailand, is another dream wedding destination, with Thai Buddhist weddings particularly popular among foreign visitors. To be legally married, both partners have to visit their embassies in Bangkok at least a week before the wedding to sign declarations that both are free to marry. (A marriage in Thailand cannot be registered without these forms, and overseas documents will not be accepted. If you have been married before, you may need proof that you are divorced - the same proof is needed in all other Asian countries. You'll also need, apart from your passport, your original birth certificate.)
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| Banyan Tree Phuket/ photo: resort |
Once signed and witnessed, the forms must be translated into Thai and taken to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok to be certified (use a local agency to assist with this process). The paperwork must then be taken to the local district office where the ceremony is going to take place (Phuket, for example), to arrange an appointment to register your marriage (the legal part of the marriage). Agents such as Bangkok Translation Office (e-mail: bkk@email.com) can help you with this. Once all is in order, you can have your religious wedding ceremony - traditional Thai, Buddhist or Christian.
Phuket Weddings (www.phuket-weddings.com) provides information on everything from sunset beach ceremonies to five-star hotel and beach resort weddings, while Phuket Discovery (www.phuket-discovery.com; click on "Wedding packages") will also help with legalities and paperwork (for a fee). Thailand Weddings (http://thailandweddings.com) does not only organise weddings, but has excellent information about different kinds of ceremonies in northern Thailand, legal requirements and more. Also see www.phuket.com for more useful information. In the UK, one company specialising in Thailand weddings is Thai2Gether (www.thai2gether.com). The company says it handles all legal matters and can coordinate resort bookings and arrangements. They have representatives in Thailand. The Amari hotel group has an informative Thai weddings website (www.weddings-thailand.com).
Both Muslim and civil marriages are legal in Malaysia, but first you have to sign a declaration that there are no legal obstacles to your marriage. You have to be in the country for seven days before you can give 21 days' notice of your intention to marry. You can get married at a registrar office, or during a religious ceremony where the church or temple official is an appointed assistant registrar. Your marriage certificate has to be validated by the Malaysian Foreign Affairs Department, as well as your country's embassy, in order for it to be recognised back home. Documents needed include your birth certificate and a certified “certificate of single status”. All the documents must be originals and certified by the Malaysian embassy or High Commission in your home country. You will also need three colour passport photos.
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| Ritz-Carlton Bali/ photo: Ritz |
A number of Malaysian resorts will assist with your wedding and marriage arrangements. Bridal consultant agency Wedding Concepts (http://wedding-concepts.com) has arranged destination weddings in the past.
India offers some breathtaking locations for resort weddings, whether it's at a historic palace in Jaipur (where there's lots and lots of sand) or at a beach resort in Goa. Regal Weddings (www.regal-weddings.com) will facilitate Christian and Indian (Hindu, Gujerati, Sikh or other) ceremonies. Gold Aisle (www.goldenaisle.com) specialises in co-ordinating weddings for foreign nationals in Goa. Wedding Planner Goa (www.weddingplannersgoa.com) also caters for foreigners.
If you want to marry in Goa, you need to arrive at least 15 days before the wedding, so that the paperwork (including a court hearing to get permission to marry) can be finalised. In addition to presenting your birth certificates, both parties have to get "no impediment for marriage" certificates from the local Death, Birth and Marriage Registration office. If one of you is divorced, you need proof of this too.
Foreigners wanting to get married in the Philippines need to get a "certificate of legal capacity" from their consulate or diplomatic representative. A marriage licence application can then be made at the local civil registrar office. Documents include any existing divorce decree (or a death certificate if one of the parties has been widowed). There is a 10-day waiting period before the marriage licence is issued. Once issued, it must be used within 120 days. The marriage must be solemnised by a priest, imam or member of the judiciary.
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| El Nido Philippines/ photo: resort |
To marry in Singapore, both spouses-to-be must have been in the city state for 15 continuous days before being allowed to file a notice of marriage. (Foreign work permit holders need prior approval to marry from the Controller of Work Permits in the Ministry of Manpower.)
The stunning picture-postcard Maldives is an obvious resort wedding choice - but non-Muslims cannot get legally married there, although several resorts offer memorable non-binding ceremonies. Have your legally binding ceremony at home.
In any rate, it is always worth double-checking with your home embassy in the country where you intend to get married whether a legal marriage in that country will be considered valid back home.
Asian Resort Wedding Costs
Worried about the cost and the practicalities of planning a long-distance wedding? Correspondent Theodore Ross, who tied the knot at a resort in Ubud, Bali, points out that while attending the wedding will be more expensive for your guests than if you held it at home, it will be cheaper for you! Less people will come and your currency will probably go further in an Asian location than at home. (He spent US$425 for everything, excluding the US$35 per head for the wedding meal.)
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| Anantara Golden Triangle, Thailand |
With the Internet at your fingertips, and the immediacy of e-mail, your wedding can be arranged from afar, especially if your resort is geared to destination weddings, or if you have a reliable wedding planner on the other end. Even so, you need to be cautious: Ross advises that you get everything in writing and pay as little money as possible upfront. Get itemised lists of everything, demand references and check up on them.
So, what are your options? Too many to seriously mention, but here are a few.
Romantic Wedding Locations
Several hotel groups with resorts in spectacular locations specialise in wedding packages. Amanresorts (www.amanresorts.com) has some stunning properties across a range of Asian destinations, and a reputation for hosting fabulous wedding and blessing ceremonies. Obviously nuptials in five-star bliss come at a price - but hey, what's money for a lifetime of sweet memories? Head as far afield as idyllic Bora Bora in Tahiti. Or stay closer to Asia.
In Indonesia, get legally married in the jungle at the Amanwana on Moyo Island (you'll have to coordinate this with your local embassy or consulate), or at the Amanjiwo in Central Java, overlooking the world's largest Buddhist sanctuary of Borobudur. Bali, of course, is the spot for romantic unions, and the Amankila, on a headland with sweeping views, promises a magical experience to the strains of Balinese traditional music and dance. A dusk wedding at the Amanusa exploits fabulous ocean and mountain views, while the Amandari offers a hill country experience with its stone walkways and traditional shrines.
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| Banyan Tree Maldives/ photo: resort |
At the Amanpuri, perched on a peninsula overlooking the Andaman Sea in Phuket, happy couples can have an informal Buddhist blessing involving up to five monks. Christian and non-religious blessings are also available. (The resort recommends that guests hold their civil ceremony in their home country.) Further afield, the Amansara in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is an intimate 12-suite resort, where legally binding ceremonies can be arranged once a marriage has been registered with the Cambodian authorities. (This takes about three weeks.)
Banyan Tree Resorts (www.banyantree.com) offers wedding packages at their Maldives, Phuket, Bintan, Bangkok and Seychelles properties. Exchange vows among the corals at the Banyan Tree Maldives Vabbinfaru's "secret wedding dive site", or celebrate your love with a symbolic Buddhist ceremony at the Banyan Tree Phuket.
Four Seasons Resorts (www.fourseasons.com) promises to take care of every aspect of your wedding - from arranging the licence for the ceremony to the flowers, cake and entertainment. Check out the Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa, with its luxury villas, some over-water, and the second Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru.
Those content with a non legally-binding ceremony could consider another private-island affair courtesy of the One&Only Maldives at Reethi Rah (www.oneandonlyresorts.com). Faced with newlywed golf buggies, a rose-petal-strewn aisle along a white beach and a private, personalised candle-lit dinner under the stars, it’s odd how all those legal worries just fade away.
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| Conrad Maldives Water Villa/ photo: hotel |
Also in the Maldives, the reincarnated Conrad Maldives Rangali Island (www.conradmaldives.com), formerly the Hilton Maldives, is a spectacular twin-island setting with seas so blue you may end up spending more time caressing your SONY camera than your spouse-to-be. Their water bungalows step right into azure lagoons rich with curious fish and a romantic stilted above-water spa complex will take care of any post-nuptial aches. Also check out the intimate Angsana Resort and Spa Maldives (www.angsana.com) with perhaps the nicest and most accessible house reef in the Maldives, and Six Senses Soneva Gili (www.sixsenses.com/soneva-gili), a ten-minute ride from capital Malé.
For a chapel wedding in an exotic setting, the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay has a "Cempaka wedding package". The "Balinese purification ceremony" at sunset comprises a cleansing ceremony and prayer and meditation session. In Thailand, the traditional Lanna-style Four Seasons Chiang Mai offers unions among its pavilions or in its tropical gardens, amid rice fields and with mountain views. And in Malaysia, on the tranquil island of Langkawi, you can tie the knot in a white marquee or in a pavilion for two at the stunning, Moorish, Four Seasons Langkawi. Then let it all sink in at a candlelit table for two.
Malaysia Resort Weddings
Also in Langkawi, the award-winning, rainforest-setting The Datai (www.thedatai.com) offers intimate weddings, blessings or renewal of vows ceremonies. The hotel will arrange everything, from flowers, photography, table settings and the provision of a "tropical wedding cake", to flying in a pastor from mainland Malaysia. They can also provide witnesses and help with the filing of paperwork.
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| The Datai Langkawi: Romance & rainforest |
Most guests prefer to get married on the beachfront in the early evening. This is a cosy and private cove with some of the best white sand on the island. Another romantic option on Langkawi is the Sheraton Perdana Resort (www.starwoodhotels.com). The “Malay traditional wedding” includes Malay costumes for the wedding couple, Malay dances and traditional henna application on the bride’s hands. (A Western service is also available.) Choose your ideal spot for the vows, but the wooden jetty with covered gazebo and spectacular views of the Andaman Sea sounds just divine.
And so, to Sabah. In Kota Kinabalu, the Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa (www.shangri-la.com) offers a "solemnisation package", sensibly including the registrar office service and a civil marriage celebrant. The resort also advises couples on the necessary formalities to make the marriage legal.
Another popular Malaysian wedding destination is Pangkor Laut island in the Straits of Malacca, housing the acclaimed Pangkor Laut Resort (www.pangkorlautresort.com), where a new addition is the possibility of exchanging vows during a two-hour Catholic, Methodist or Anglican wedding ceremony cruise on a large luxury yacht (maximum 18 passengers). Sailing blissfully into this sunset doesn't come cheap though. For a less extravagant union, you can also choose to have the proceedings on the beach. (Pangkor Laut Resort is showcased in our exclusive Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.)
Phuket Resort Weddings
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| JW Marriott Phuket/ photo: resort |
Prefer to tie the knot in Thailand? Celebrate your love far from the madding crowd with a beach-front elephant ride accompanied by a "long drum" procession at the sophisticated Chedi Phuket (www.phuket.com/chedi), which offers Thai or Western-style wedding packages.
Arriving at night at the torch-lit JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa (www.marriott.com) with its extensive gardens and blissful infinity pool provides all the drama and romance needed for unforgettable nuptials. In addition to Christian-style weddings for up to 400 people, you can also have a Thai ceremony. Fancy having a baby elephant escort you? Well, you can. The resort's wedding co-ordinator takes care of every detail. The JW Marriott enjoys a secluded location with acres of beach to leave your footprints in. The resort is active with conservation and environment programmes. Get wed, and then head out to save some turtles, hug a tree, or simply splash out on a sumptuous spa treatment for two.
A Buddhist Thai wedding at the elegant Twinpalms (www.twinpalms-phuket.com) involves five monks and traditional blessings with holy water. You can also have a Western ceremony, or tailor-make your own, and there is a range of locations and options for the reception, from a private romantic lunch to a large themed barbecue. This is a chic little resort, just away from the beach but close to it, with a very trendy buzz to it. If you don't feel like walking the 100 yards to Surin Beach, hail the resort's very own and terribly snazzy black tuk-tuk.
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| Sheraton Grande Laguna, Phuket |
One-year-old Trisara (www.trisara.com), a small, luxurious property with pool villas and suites facing the Andaman Sea, specialises in weddings and is happy to arrange traditional Buddhist ceremonies in private, romantic locations throughout the beachfront resort. If you choose the well-established and friendly Dusit Laguna Resort's (www.dusit.com) "special wedding", Buddhist prayers will be complimented by a "love tree planting ceremony" - your tree will then grow on the hotel grounds. This is a legal wedding, provided you make sure all the preceding paperwork is in order. Help with the greening of Phuket. The Dusit is a friendly, welcoming sort of place without snobbery or guile. A good spot to camp out with friends for some post-nuptial revelry and more.
Other Phuket resorts offering wedding packages include the Sheraton Grande Laguna (www.starwoodhotels.com/phuket), the spacious Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa (www.hilton.com) which also houses a romantic, dedicated spa villa complex, the charming Andaman White Beach Resort (www.andamanwhitebeach.com) set on a private sweeping white-sand cove amidst tall rubber trees and rolling hills far from the madding t-shirt-vendor crowds, old stalwart Le Meridien Phuket (www.lemeridien.com) and the Evason Resort and Spa (www.sixsenses.com) which has an indulgently stylish waterfront area. The Sheraton Grande Laguna is a versatile, sprawling resort boasting one of the longest, snaking, pools in Asia. Come back for your honeymoon, then return with the kids for some true-blue under-12s diversions.
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| Twinpalms Phuket/ photo: resort |
In Krabi, in the southwest of Thailand, the low-rise Amari Trang Beach Resort (www.amari.com/trangbeach) which opened in 2004, is conveniently located to cater to Trang's famous "underwater wedding ceremony", performed every Valentines's Day. Every year, about 30 couples either marry or renew their vows 40 feet below the surface. Don't like your spouse? Unplug their oxygen and find someone else. True to its location, the resort itself offers a "Romance under the wave" underwater wedding package (a hairdresser for the bride is included in the package), as well as blessing and Thai wedding packages (on dry soil).
More Krabi options include the elegant Layana Resort & Spa (www.layanaresort.com) and the hidden Rayavadee (www.rayavadee.com) set in the Krabi Marine National Park . Should you choose the Rayavadee's "Wedding bliss" package, you get a free one-night stay with dinner on your first anniversary. The Rayavadee has boat-only access and a terrific beach. Day-trippers tend to come in though to partake of less costly options along the beach strip. Towering limestone karst formations provide a dramatic backdrop to the location.
Koh Samui Wedding
In Koh Samui, Tongsai Bay's (www.tongsaibay.co.th) traditional Thai wedding package also includes a "long drum" procession. Take note that the ceremony is a traditional Buddhist service: monks should not be asked to pose for photos (this is considered highly insulting).
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| Picture-postcard Tongsai Bay, Ko Samui |
Revealing wedding gowns are out, too. If you really have to let it all hang out, choose the resort's Western wedding package (but the ceremony is a non-binding one). If you want a legal wedding, marriage registration can be arranged but you will have to get all the necessary documents translated and approved by your embassy and the Thai foreign affairs ministry yourself. More Koh Samui options include the dramatic cliff-face Le Royal Meridien Baan Taling Ngam (www.lemeridien.com) and the accessible and spacious Central Samui Beach Resort (www.centralhotelsresorts.com).
Other Thailand Romantic Resorts
The Anantara group (www.anantara.com) has a special wedding ceremony for all tastes. Enjoy nuptials on the beach, or celebrate in style during a contemporary indoor Asian ceremony, at the Antantara Hua Hin. Away from the coast, at the Anantara Golden Triangle near the border of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, you can kick off your wedding with a choreographed elephant procession, or renew your vows overlooking the Mekong valley. A panorama of rice fields is your backdrop; Thai classical music and dancers complete the picture. Close by, the Lanna-style buildings of the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi (www.mandarinoriental.com/chiangmai) offer a magical wedding setting. Couples can choose anything from a European-style white wedding to a Lanna nuptial ceremony.
Back to royal favourite Hua Hin, which has some of Southeast Asia 's most romantic hotels, including the colonial and tranquil Sofitel Central Hua Hin Resort (www.centralhotelsresorts.com) and the Evason Hideaway Hua Hin (www.sixsenses.com/hideaway-huahin). For a full, traditional Thai wedding with all the trimmings, the Hyatt Regency Hua Hin (www.huahin.regency.hyatt.com) has it all on tap.
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| Charming Oberoi Bali/ photo: Oberoi |
Vietnam Beach or City Wedding
Further afield, in Vietnam, the Evason Hideaway & Six Senses Spa at Ana Mandara (www.sixsenses.com/hideaway-anamandara) offers a wedding package including the ceremony on a "secluded beach", sunset cruise with champagne for two, pre-dinner cocktails and a gala dinner. You take away a wedding certificate framed in bamboo. Rent Vietnamese costumes for the ceremony.
More Vietnam options come from Victoria Hotels & Resorts (www.victoriahotels-asia.com). Both the Victoria Phan Thiet Resort & Spa, built in the style of a Vietnamese country house, and the Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort & Spa near the historic town of Hoi An offer wedding ceremonies on the beach. Victoria is a well-run chain with some offbeat options in the hills including a resort in the northern hills of Sapa.
Bali Resort Weddings
Back to Bali, where the Sheraton Laguna Nusa Dua (www.starwoodhotels.com) accommodates receptions of up to 400 guests. Host a wedding cocktail party or enjoy a private candlelight dinner in the beachfront Laguna Gazebo overlooking the beach and ocean. The elegant and spacious Ritz-Carlton (www.ritzcarlton.com/resorts/bali/weddings/) in the farther reaches of Jimbaran caters for weddings in a big way. Say "I do" (or renew your vows) in the location of your choice; perhaps a glass-walled wedding pavilion with spectacular Indian Ocean views will do? The dedicated "wedding concierge" will ensure that everything - from the flowers to the ceremony itself - goes smoothly. The hotel recommends that you start planning your wedding three to six months ahead. The Ritz-Carlton, Bali Resort & Spa (www.ritzcarlton.com/resorts/bali) has 17 wedding planners on hand to help you with colours, decor, music, and table settings. Relax and let them handle your honeymoon formalities. The in colours are lavender and eggplant. Men's rings? Tungsten.
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| Bali Hyatt awash in colour/ photo: resort |
For more Jimbaran Bay wedding bliss, the InterContinental Resort Bali (www.bali.intercontinental.com) offers elegant, romantic indoor and outdoor marriage ceremonies. The resort will arrange legal formalities, as long as it receives the necessary personal documents of the wedding couple at least a month before the ceremony (faxes are not accepted).
The Grand Hyatt Bali (www.bali.grand.hyatt.com) hosts beach, garden and pool wedding parties. A favourite venue is the hotel's beachfront Salsa Bar, where you can celebrate 40 feet above the ground, with views of the Indian Ocean. The Bali Hyatt (www.bali.spa.resort.hyatt.com) also has a number of wedding offerings, with the "Flamboyant wedding package" including a wedding venue of your choice on the property, 20 percent discount at the spa and an English-speaking priest!
The Oberoi Bali (www.oberoihotels.com) will arrange a legal wedding, including church minister and civil ceremony. You can also choose to have a non-binding Balinese blessing ceremony. The hotel will also organise a religious renewal of vows ceremony with a church minister for couples who are already married or don’t need a legal marriage certificate. Afterwards, romance rules. A special touch is the large swimming pool covered with a blanket of tropical flowers and floating candles.
The Legian Beach Hotel (www.legianbeachbali.com) arranges colourful Balinese-style, legally binding wedding ceremonies, with two Balinese girls as bridesmaids. Choose from a Protestant, Catholic, Hindu, Muslim or Buddhist religious ceremony. The hotel will assist will all the paperwork and formalities. Also check out the Pita Maha Resort & Spa (www.pitamaha-bali.com) up in Ubud and the sprawling and breezy Conrad Bali Resort & Spa (www.conradhotels.com) farther south in the Benoa area adjoining Nusa Dua. The resort offers stunning views of turquoise seas from an elevated lobby. Explore and enjoy the generous swimming pools, a spa, and dramatic oil-lamp colonnades. Massage by the beach? No problem.
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| Conrad Bali's Infinity / photo: resort |
The latest feather in its cap for those in search of a romantic Bali wedding was the launch in late 2006 of "Infinity", its dedicated weddings venue. This all-white, tented, futuristic venue with floor-to-ceiling glass panels and attractive water features, offers ample light, breeze and views. It is set in a 1,200sq m Ocean Garden reserve.
Close by, also on Legian beach, the beachfront Sofitel Seminyak Bali (www.sofitelbali.com) hosts non-binding Western-style or Balinese garden ceremonies. You do get a wedding certificate issued by the hotel, though.
The Ibah (www.ibahbali.com), inland in the foothills of Ubud, Bali, allows couples to exchange vows anywhere on the property. Walk through a sea of fresh frangipanis on your way to saying "I do". The hotel works with a professional wedding company, which takes care of legalities and documents. Also in Ubud, the Maya Ubud Resort & Spa (www.mayaubud.com) will arrange paperwork, the religious ceremony and everything else to make you day special. In the hills beyond Ubud, the Begawan Giri (www.begawan.com) is another romantic option. The place is now managed by the Metropolitan group known for their smart contemporary offerings.
Philippines
Goodbye Thailand, hello Philippines, where tropical paradise El Nido Resorts in northern Palawan (www.elnidoresorts.com), with access to a host of small idyllic islands, spectacular diving sites and romantic beaches is more than happy to host your nuptials. Think private white sand beach, dramatic limestone hills as a backdrop, waters teaming with fish and coral life, and we haven't even got to the sunsets as yet. Another option, this time in Cebu (easily accessible from Hong Kong and other gateway cities) is Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort (www.shangri-la.com), set on sprawling grounds with a private manmade beach. You can have a tropical garden reception, or opt for a ballroom setting or seaside ceremony, choosing from the hotel's event teams special package offerings, "La Mar", "Dream" and "Under the stars".
India
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| Oberoi's Amarvilas, Agra/ photo: resort |
For a spectacularly dramatic wedding setting, you can't beat India. The Oberoi Amarvilas (www.oberoiamarvilas.com) does not encourage ceremonies at the hotel itself, but does arrange marriages and renewals of vows "off-site" at a temple beside the famous Taj Mahal, with the reception or banquet held at the hotel. The Amarvilas rooms overlook Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan's monument to love and in some quarters, the spoiling bathtubs offer the same panorama. Other good choices are the Udaivilas in Udaipur (also from Oberoi) and the small, stunningly ornate Samode Palace Hotel which is a romantic Rajasthan gem of sorts and not too far from New Delhi by road.
For more wedded bliss in India, look no further than Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces (www.tajhotels.com), with plenty of opulent nuptial options. The Mediterranean-style Taj Exotica Goa, overlooking the Arabian Sea and set in 56 acres of gardens, will lead you to the altar with a Christian wedding and all the trimmings, from pre-wedding spa pampering to post-wedding champagne breakfast. Or choose the traditional Hindu wedding, complete with intricate mehendi (henna) application to the bride's hands and an "ancient" Vedic ceremony. The Leela Palaces & Resorts (www.theleela.com) also caters for weddings, with the five-star Leela Goa a popular beach choice.
Singapore
With easy access from one of the world's best airports (Singapore's Changi) so no guests can complain, there's always The Sentosa Singapore (www.thesentosa.com), offering all the exotic pleasures of a tropical seaside resort a stone's throw from the bustling Lion City. Singapore beach wedding? No problem.
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| The Sentosa, Singapore / photo: resort |
The hotel's wedding planner takes care of everything, whether you want an al fresco do for ten, or a ball for over 200. Packages include “Island bliss”, with an eight-course Chinese dinner, three-course Western set or buffet, “Sweet serenity” and “Royal romance”. Yes, there's a beach, spa, solitude, walks and some excellent nosh.
Last, but not least, The Fullerton in Singapore might not be a resort hotel, but set right on the Singapore River with fabulous views and an imposing high-pillared colonial ambience, it is worth a look. The garden wedding dinner under the stars or an elegant tea solemnisation are high in the romance stakes. The hotel has its own wedding specialists and a range of elegant venue choices (e-mail: weddings@fullertonhotel.com).
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