Hitchbird Exclusive: Alila Villas Uluwatu

Editors' Choice

Perched 100 metres above the Indian Ocean, offering views nothing less than picture perfect, lies a tropical paradise you could only say â€œYESâ€ as your destination wedding pick.

The Alila Villas Uluwatu is a stunning property in Bali overlooking the Indian Ocean. Even the team at Hitchbird could barely resist leaving as we caught up with Alila’s General Manager, Marco Groten, to discuss the current destination wedding scene and why Bali remains the top choice for destination weddings in the region.

Have you noticed any changes in wedding trends in Bali?

We do see more and more Asian weddings these days, with a lot of Chinese couples coming to Bali. This is perhaps due to the increase of direct flights to the island.

Something new that we have done is the addition of a morning session for weddings, which we just started doing this year. We feel that it’s an interesting addition which can help cater to smaller sized weddings at our venue.

Geographically speaking, where do most of the couples who get married here come from?

The number one market for us now is kind of tied between Japan and China. These are generally the smaller sized weddings, however, we do these quite frequently. The bigger sized weddings — which are obviously not as frequent — tend to be from Singapore or Hong Kong.

Typically, what are the average sizes of weddings at Alila Uluwatu?

The most popular size of weddings that we organize is an average of around 40 people. We do, of course, also have some parties of 100+ and the occasional larger celebrations, which take up the whole property. These can be done a maximum of 10 times per year.

Approximately how many weddings does Alila Villas Uluwatu hold per year?

Last year, we did about 180 weddings which were all afternoon ones. However, with the addition of morning weddings, we will probably do around 280 this year.

Other than Bali, places such as Phuket and Koh Samui in Thailand have always been considered top destination wedding choices. Additionally, we have also noticed that more and more Hitchbird couples are also looking at up and coming destination choices such as Danang in Vietnam. Where has the competition been coming from?

We do see the competition growing but for us, to be honest, the competition lies on the island itself. I think that there is an increasing amount of people that would like to go to exotic destinations to get married. However many of the other places that they consider, they eventually discover that it lacks the quality, service, and experience in all-round wedding logistics that Bali can offer to an overseas couple.

Everyone seems to know what to expect in Bali when it comes to planning a wedding here and it’s generally always been considered the safe choice in Asia — which is, of course, the best way to go when it comes to planning your special day.

In your opinion, what are the top things you would suggest guests to do in Bali in their own time, either before or after a wedding?

It’s really a difficult question to answer as Bali has so much to offer. I would suggest guests visit at least 2-3 different sights in Bali during their stay. A visit to the east of Bali is my personal favourite! It’s great for beach exploration and under-water activities such as diving and snorkelling, yet it also has lots of spots consisting of natural beauty that are great for pictures and memories. On top of this, the feel of the culture and the religion on that part of the island is a lot stronger than what we have in the south, so it really can offer you the full Balinese experience.