S1 E13 - Meet Al: Our Wedding Butler & April Recap!

I think what a lot of people don't realise is when you come over to do cyphers, it's such a cool day in the car. We were on the way home, it was the first night we'd gone out that year and I'm literally waiting for our driver on the side of the road getting a beach corn. It was delicious. And these guys are talking to me and the one of them goes, hey, I'm in my wedding planner. And I'm like. And I swear to God, all that color just drained straight from my face. I was like, yep.

And this is why we don't go out during peak season.

It is so much food. I don't think people understand the sheer amount of food you'd normally get at a food tasting. You try all the canopies, entrees, mains.

Desserts, especially Fe can I mention, is very generous with the food.

Yeah. So some of the companies, they do provide you a lot of food and you will be the food comber afterwards. And thinking that you have to eat again four or five hours later, it's not going to be a good experience because you're going to be full and you're not going to want to eat everything. So, yeah, that's, I think a very big thing to know. And Emma messaged me and said it's violinist meant to be wearing a white dress. And I was like, what? Absolutely freaking not. And she goes, she's heading your way. Just a heads up, she's in a white dress and I don't see bag or change your clothes with it.

Hi, I'm Tristan.

And I'm Britta.

And welcome back to another episode of Bali Weddings unveiled. Today we are joined by a very special guest, one of our team. We're going to be going through our monthly recap and just introducing you to some of our team members. So today we are joined by Elle.

Hi, guys, how are you?

And exciting news. It was actually Elle's birthday yesterday, so happy birthday, Al. We are celebrating with a sneaky glass of Prosecco in the studio while we go through today's chat. So, Al, fun. Happy birthday.

Thanks, guys.

What'd you get up to?

Really appreciate it. It's been busy. I just got back from Melbourne as well and celebrating the birthday straight away. Yeah, it's been a lot.

We've had a big couple of weeks.

Yes, yes. A month actually.

Birthday month. I'm a big believer in a birthday month. And how was ubud? You had a little staycay out there.

Yeah, it was in a Bumble Resort. Everything is like cracking.

Oh, really?

Yeah. So loud. Every time we move, it's like.

Yeah.

But very exotic. Nice experience.

It looks pretty. The photos look lovely.

Lovely. Very helpful.

Amazing. So today we're going to do a bit of a monthly recap, but we also want to, I guess, share with our audience a little bit more about each of our Bali Brides team members so they can get to know us ahead of the day. So tell us about you.

Well, I've been in the industry for about 10 years, I think. Almost the same with you when you're starting, but with different company. Yeah. I joined Bali Bright.

I joined Bali Brights 2023 in May. Yeah. In the middle of a big season. So it was another. A long start. Big start.

Yeah.

Another big company to begin with.

Yeah. Mostly I'm doing a wedding butlering is assisting the bride and groom and the bridal party.

Yeah.

And then just occasionally.

Also taking clients for site visit and food tasting. That's what I've been doing also in the previous company. One of the reason why you hired me anyway.

Yes.

And then in additional with Bali Brides, I also do content creation. As is we just find out that it's quite hidden talent.

It was.

Yeah.

Which if you follow any of our social media, in particular the Barley Brides team, which was originally started that Instagram to showcase our individual planners portfolios. Al's just taking the reins on that one and he's find all of the content on there so you can pay extra to get a reel for your wedding day, which is great.

Big move.

Big move.

Yeah.

You know, I started that and I was like, everyone will post their own weddings. And then Al joined and it was like, well, we'll just let Al run it because he's fantastic.

We don't have time for social media.

No. So I think that's a really good thing. Like Wedding Butler Fast was a very new role. I think when you kind of approached us looking for work or putting the feelers out, see if we were hiring, I was like, wedding Butler. What do you mean? But then after talking to the team, it made sense. Like we did not have time to sit in the car for eight hours to take clients out on site visits. Pre covered we did, but now we're so focused on the wedding planning and our clients that eight hours in the car a couple times a week when we're busy is just not something we can do. So we got Al on board. And everyone loves you. It's been the best investment ever.

Been a pleasure to Be very.

It's not a huge part, but maybe huge in the. Behind the scene.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

To be very helpful so the planners can be. Less stress.

Yeah, I suppose.

You are just such a blessing.

Yeah. On our team. Like, I wouldn't even say it's stress. Like, I think what a lot of people don't realize is when you come over to do site visits, that's a full day in the car. And I don't know about you, Britta, but I did a site visit a couple of weeks ago because you weren't here. And I got home at 2 o' clock in the afternoon.

It was me.

And he looked at one thing. I was exhausted. I was so tired. I pulled open my laptop and I was like, I need a nap.

Yeah.

Like it's a big day in the car so fast. To have somebody to do that for us so we can focus on the planning and the admin side of weddings is great.

I mean, I went out to Uluwatu Cottages for one of my clients for August, September, all the months of blur. Yes.

You are so good with names.

So good with names. And literally it was storming, torrential weather. It was basically flooding in our street. And I still went out there. Because you were in Melbourne.

I was.

And I was like. Went out there with Emma. It was a two and a half hour trip there and then another two.

And a half hour trip home.

And I was like, long trip. So exhausted.

So we brought Ellen to do our site visits, our food tasting and then on the wedding day, he's like little fairy godmother. If you check any of our reviews online, you will see Elle mentioned quite a lot. Yeah, he's just magic. Comes with a full, full kit on the wedding day. And where are you from originally, Al?

I am from Java. I was born in there. East Java. Surabaya. Grew up there until I was 14 and then moved to another country, not country. A city called Makassar. It's like the third biggest city in Indonesia.

Malassar.

Makassar.

Makassar, yeah.

So I spent there for my high school and college. Uni, if you call it in Australia. Uni, not college. And then I moved to Bali when I was 21.

And how did you end up in the wedding industry?

I didn't expect to be in this industry at all.

What were you expecting to be in?

Entertainment.

I can see that.

Communications. Yeah. News. How do you call that? Anchor.

That's at first.

I applied to this company before Ballybrides as a model or Same role. So like for photo shoot and stuff or managing ones. But then they offered me this wedding butler job.

Yeah.

In there. I. Turns out I turned out, enjoyed it a lot. On the first day when I was on the job, I actually forgot the wedding ring, but nobody tells me to collect the wedding rings. And yeah, that was the job of the marijuana. And yeah, ever since that moment, the second one is running smoothly because I know what to do right after.

Amazing. And you said you didn't expect to be in this, but you've obviously been in the industry a long time now. Do you still love it?

Yeah, I do, yeah. Especially with the new roles, like the content creation.

It's just the creative outlet.

A whole new passion, whole new world.

And you're doing good at it too. And over the years, we just had Terra Logical in here and we wanted some tea, we wanted a bit of.

Gossip and they, they did not deliver.

They did not deliver on the tea. Like, I love them, but they've been goody, goody tissues. Well, we were like, tell us about, like, horror story from a wedding. Tell us something fun that we can get behind. They're like, we don't really have any horror stories. I'm like, you've been in the industry 11 years, surely you do. What is the most disastrous thing that has happened to you on a wedding day?

Let me see. I think it's about the weather and the locations because I started pretty rough before Bolly Brights. In Bolly Brights, the venue are spoiling you in a way. But, like, it's a nice villa, big hotels, everything's there.

Yeah.

But with the previous company that I used to work for, it's completely off road, like waiting on the waterfalls. Like offshore beaches.

Right.

Like more in nature.

Yeah.

There are. There was one time the project manager didn't check the weather. Weather and the wave scale. Something like that. Yeah. It was a Russian couple.

Like we need to do at some of the beaches to make sure you can actually get married on them.

Something about surf, Wave.

Yeah, the tides.

Yeah, tides control.

It was in Gili.

I'm having trauma already. Okay. Yep.

Wrongly predicted. The ceremony was meant to be in the late afternoon, like sunset time.

Right.

But the water is all out.

Yeah.

The bride was furious. She showed up. What is this? No sun, no water.

It's nature, babes. Yep. How do you deal with that?

Ended up to be just a photo shoot and first look. And then we redo it again in the morning for the actual ceremony when the wave is like higher. But yeah, the mood is like all Ruined in the moment. But we tried our best.

Yeah.

There is still another time because it's like two days kind of wedding.

Two days trip.

Yeah. I. No, I couldn't do Gili Islands for weddings.

Well, we did Lembong and we were like, never again.

Those are like my holiday destinations. And like even now it is.

It is our happy place. Like even on the way here to the studio this morning we were like, just, let's go to Lembong in this weekend.

Yeah, we might actually. It's beautiful, beautiful, beautiful spot. But yeah, I just feel like working on the islands becomes very stressful because of things like that. All the boats, like we've seen recently, like the boat sinking and logistics are getting the suppliers over there and then even transport on the actual islands. Like it's expensive. Yeah, yeah. It's just. It's too much for me. I like sticking on the mainland and.

They don't have much in the way of furniture. Like nice furniture over there. So if you do want some nicer chairs or tables, like you've got to get like a barge.

Yeah.

Which is a three hour drive from here.

Yeah.

To get to the barge and then getting the furniture over there. Normally you're going to do it a day before, but where do you store it? Yeah, it's a whole logistical nightmare. There are a couple companies that do weddings over there and they do them well. So I'm just.

And they have limited car. Maybe only one. Like an actual car dress is just like a truck.

Yeah, they just have the trucks and you sit on the back of the truck to get anywhere.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, fun. But that's definitely my holiday spot. And even in Bali there's certain hotels that I love, but I don't want to go like for dinner there or go for drinks there because that's a work spot. And there was like, hi, Tristan. I'm like, I just want to enjoy my glass of wine.

We went out a couple of years ago and we ran into your groom.

My groom?

Yeah.

It's. I think that's why we don't go out. Which one? This isn't us.

That one.

It was just before. Just before Christian and I got quite sick actually. What was his name? I can't remember. T. At the wedding, Anger came out and ended up taking over for me because, yeah, Christian got really sick and then I did. But yeah, we were on the way home. It was the first night we'd gone out that year. And I'm literally waiting for our driver on the side of the road. Getting a beach corn. It was delicious. And these guys are talking to me and the one of them goes, hey, aren't you my wedding planner? I'm like. And I swear to God, all that color just drained straight from my face. I was like, yep.

And this is why we don't go out during peak season.

Yeah.

We're holiday girls.

Yeah.

Speaking of that island, we think there's another disaster just to prevent any damages.

Yeah.

Because we already know that there's no actual car. Like, proper car.

Yeah.

And we have this on Gilly. Massive. No Lembong, actually.

Okay. Yeah. What's the Highlands?

The venue was in Manha Kiri. It was meant to be like 4pm ceremony. The bride was a princessy Indian kind of. But the style of the wedding is western, not an actual Indian wedding. The families are very particular about the car. They want actual car.

Yeah.

And there's only one car that we can get on the day because it's limited. It's an island.

Yeah, exactly. And there's not a lot of cars. Like most people. Skin scooter or big one of those things as buggies. Yeah, yeah.

Like truck.

Yeah, yeah.

So they were willing to wait and they don't want to get into the car because of the outfit and stuff. It ended up to be a 6pm ceremony. Like very dark.

Oh, no.

And then the product asked us, the other company.

To extend the photo and videography, but they were all booked only until seven.

Yeah.

So it's practically at night and they don't bring flashlights. So that's about photo and videographer. They're not ready for extra booking. So turns out that photos was dark.

Oh, no.

Not good quality.

That's the worst. I feel like photos. If you don't have good photos of your wedding, I'd be devastated. Yeah, yeah.

So, yeah, one of the experience.

All the.

All the things that go wrong.

Yeah. Not so much. Not to mention about the waterfall weddings. Lots of stairs. Some of my brides vomiting vomit.

Really? Yeah. Oh, no.

Way too far on the way up.

Yeah, yeah. I've done one wedding of the waterfall. It was like early, so we had to be out there at 6am and we got there and then the bride looked at the stairs and she was like, really? I was like, I told you there were 370 stairs. And she was like, do we have to do it there? And I was like, well, we could just do it up here if you like. And she was like, yeah, let's do it up here. So we literally did it at a little like look out overlooking because she.

Didn'T want to do it.

I remember that.

Yeah yeah yeah, yeah 300 something or even until 600.

I mean it's beautiful but it's also.

You need the right shoes to do that. That is a whole wedding dress.

It has to be fit bride and groom.

Yeah. And and trying to do a ceremony as well you've got to do them early like 6am Otherwise the waterfalls are hectic. Yeah.

We used to manage them like to get makeup at 2 and has to stay in Ubud because the waterfall is way up further.

Yeah.

So and then leaving by four, arriving at the waterfall by six. Yeah and then go down at about 6:30. Yeah and then it has to be done before nine otherwise the tourists are coming down and like you know disturbing your session.

Yeah busy, busy.

It's too private.

Yeah. So you've obviously worked at a lot of venues around Bali together with Bali Brides in your previous company. What are your favorites?

The Ungasan.

Yep.

Well it used to be Kayangan but should I. Yeah, yeah I got a little bit of dislike now but kind as the room is not too well maintained from the last visit and then third one probably the stone villas.

Yeah I love the newest villas.

Yeah yeah the very best preserved venue.

Yeah so far. Nightclub. Nightclub.

Have you seen the new lawn that they've got there?

The new grass? It's beautiful.

Oh the artificial grass. Yeah yeah it's very interesting.

We met up with some of my clients in Hong Kong and they're getting married there and they asked me about the grass like we're worried it's going to look terrible. I was like no it looks so good because it's green and it's beautiful. Yeah it looks really lovely. Any venues you don't like working at?

Probably all the nature. All the nature with the bugs it's challenging.

Yeah.

Like yeah. With the prediction and the weather and there is no. No all nature venue are having backup plans as in roof to get away.

When you're in a hotel I guess there's somewhere to go or options.

Yeah. Staff restaurants.

Yeah yeah we do quite a few weddings at that belonging cliff. Not so much anymore but I like. I think it's a beautiful spot. It's very cheap and cheerful but there's no facilities. There's no bathrooms, there's no nothing. There's no drinks for the guests.

There was always true bathroom but it was not very.

It's not up the top though I've never seen a bathroom there. Down there.

Yeah so it's not on the way up to the.

You have to leave kind of that general vicinity and it's gross.

Yeah. So, yeah, that's the worst. I mean, like, least favorite and then the most favorite is those three.

Yeah.

Still.

What's your favorite thing about weddings?

I think to connect with people. And it's a very delicate and personal business. Not, well, no offense, with the other businesses. You also connect to people, but not as much as weddings.

Yeah.

Since the beginning till the end. Like, you have to get to know them. And also, what you said before, like a long time ago, we don't want clients that don't want to be our best friends at the end of the day.

So, yeah, it becomes awkward. And there are certain times that you can be at a wedding and if you've got an awkwardness with the bride and groom, it just becomes like you're like, are they happy? Are they not happy? Yeah. It makes it really difficult.

And it's a very dynamic industry too, because every wedding is different. We have different styling, decoration, people to work with. It's always challenging. It's not boring.

Yeah. I think that's one of my favorite things is like getting to see different people every day. Or even like after. Not Covid after, like the Christmas break. The first wedding, I was like, oh my gosh, guys, I missed you. I haven't seen you in ages. Everyone's so happy at a wedding.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I loved that for my first wedding of the year at Puri Temple Hill. Just seeing all the supplies again. And they're all so happy to see you as well.

They're like ibuprita.

All the, like, all the, like the green army rally event hire.

They very polite of them.

I missed you guys. They were so cute. At my wedding on Saturday at t I just saw like one of the guys out there and I was just stood in the window doing this until he noticed me. He's like so cute. Now we kind of threw you in the defect and you joined Bali rides of May and it was like, whoosh. There's I think 100 weddings. Let's do this. What's your experience with barley brides compared to other wedding planning companies? Like, is there anything that you've found that we do different or you find weird? Like, I'm always curious. Yeah.

Now the most favorite thing will be. You guys are fun.

Yes.

Like very hands on.

Yeah.

The previous company was a little bit. Well, same concept with ours.

Yeah.

Like, you have like overseas planner, but then the someone else will taking over.

Right. So on the Day coordinator coordination. Yeah.

But there the comparison, maybe you guys are like handling. Handling it delicately from the beginning until the end. And you're also on the day, like very hands on. Almost like micromanaging everything. Just make sure things run smoothly and perfectly set up.

Yeah.

While the other company was just a little bit all over the place.

Yeah, yeah.

Not as intense as our handling.

Yeah, yeah. I think that's because I'm a perfectionist and I want like, it's a wedding. It's not the birthday party. That day has to be perfect or as close to perfect as we can get it.

Yeah, yeah. And very. And we very open minded with the styling, like, very open with ideas. While other companies that I used to work for is like very package, Right?

Yeah.

Like choose this styling, choose the styling and then done.

Yeah.

While ours is like very personalized, very.

Tailored to each couple.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's what makes it more exciting.

They want.

These are from Nata, by the way.

Beautiful, beautiful arrangement.

I know.

We love after second attempt.

Second attempt. Yeah. The first, the first centerpiece we didn't love, so we had a change. But now it looks beautiful. Very on. On brand. Did you have a favorite wedding that you did with us, like in the first year of starting with us? Not with any of our third party companies. We sometimes help.

Too many.

Too many.

I could choose one or two. Probably the white weddings.

Yep.

Yeah. Iman.

Yeah.

This is very elegant. It's small, but very sophisticated.

Yeah, yeah.

Good entertainment too.

Remember the bar? It was like this pure white wedding. Or the guest room light, all the supplies and white. And then the bar showed up. What color were the Eskys? The drinks containers, they were so bright. It stood out like for a mile. I was like, you need to cover them.

And then the second one, probably Marty and Alyssa, the brother said, bye, Al. She was so thriving.

She was being carried off to the.

Room with the groomsmen, like. Yeah. They were a fun couple.

Yeah.

And very colorful.

Yeah.

Decoration is stunning.

What makes your favorite weddings? Like, I know what makes my favorite weddings. What stands out to you at a wedding that you're like, I loved that wedding.

A fun bride.

Yeah.

Yeah.

To assist with, just to hang out as a person on the day. Stunning flower, unique furniture. Not just like the regular. Something to marvel at work.

Something that you're like, oh, this is different. How'd that work?

Good bar.

Good bar. Well, I mean, it's Bali brides. We don't really tolerate anything less than a good bar. Yeah.

Good food too. Yeah. And good food.

Well, we're in the corner eating our supply a meal at 10 o' clock at night.

But you can tell every time we have food tasting, like just to suggest people.

Yeah, food tasting, that's one of my favorite parts. It's the only thing that I'm sad about bringing you on board is I don't get to do as many food tastings. But again, like the time time thing is just so big for me.

Thank you for giving me the dangerous job.

Yeah. Get those runs to get all the food tasting. I think one week we sitting out to like five in a week, didn't we? What's the most food tastings we've sent you on?

There were three, I suppose, but one is cocktail, like two for tasting and then cocktail tasting.

Yeah.

And that was mine, was it? I think so.

Mine, yeah.

Somewhere between last year.

Yeah.

On the food tasting note. So we get inquiries sometimes from clients that are coming in for site visits and they say, right, we want to try two different catering companies. Would you recommend doing that on the same day?

I don't think so.

Why?

If you still have more time, hopefully, please.

It'S going to be too much for you to take.

What if we do it at lunch and dinner though, which a lot of them are like, we'll do one at lunch but we'll do it at 12 and we'll do one at five. Could they do that?

We could do that. Breakfast and dinner.

Yeah.

Because the.

It is so much food. I don't think people understand the sheer amount of food you normally get at a food tasting because you try all the canapes, entrees, mains, desserts, especially Vivre.

Can I mention there is very generous with the food.

Yeah. So some of the company, they do provide you a lot of food and you will be in a food coma afterwards and thinking that you have to eat again four or five hours later. It's not going to be a good experience because you're going to be full and you're not going to want to eat everything. So yeah, that's I think a very big thing to know.

We can also manage it like breakfast time, about 10 o' clock, for example, and then like they have side visit.

Yeah, yeah.

Like two or three places and then ended up at about 5pm and go somewhere else. Yeah, they must be hungry after that.

Yeah, I think we did that a couple of years ago. Mikayla and Mitch, I think you took them out for menu tasting. I met them at Toast.

Yeah.

And then you went somewhere else.

Ubud maybe?

No, not ulu.

I can't.

I think they're into ulu.

Yeah. But they had two menu tastings on the same day because that's the only time that they had.

Yeah.

And they went, I think they went back to, to their place, they had a little nap and then they went do the next tasting.

Pick them up again.

Yeah.

Just like Ola and Connor. That's also a long day.

Yeah. Yeah. So walk us through. You do the site visits for our clients. A lot of people listening probably don't know what a site visit is. What is a site visit?

Site visit is a session a day or two when you got to see potential venues.

Fit with your budget.

Yeah.

First before we kind of like elaborate to choose for your wedding day.

Yeah.

To see how you vibing with it, like whether you can see yourself getting married in.

Yeah.

And you're just feeling the vibe.

Yeah. And why do you go on the site visits? Why don't the clients just go have a look at the venue by themselves and decide?

Because from time to time, the site, the venues always changes.

Yeah.

The regulations, the setup, the trees, even the smallest thing. The bathroom, the preparation room.

Yeah.

So you got to see it for yourself. And reassuring yourself that this is meant for me.

Yeah.

And what if things change? What can we do about it?

Yeah. So why is it important that they be escorted for these site visits? Because we do occasionally get people say, oh, don't worry, I'm just going to go look at the venue by myself. And we, we don't recommend that. Like why do you think it's important for you to be there and to walk these clients through the venues?

I think to sell the experience that we got from the venue itself, from the events that we've done before and just frankly, to be honest with them, like this is the obstacles that we had before.

Yeah.

And yeah. What we can do for your wedding snacks.

Yeah, yeah.

And just to suggest them where to lay outing stuff.

So when we do site visits, I mean if you were to do a site visit by yourself, you just go look at the venue and go great. When you do a site visit with Bali brides, El escorts you. He picks you up from your, your hotel in the morning, takes you to all these different venues and walks through and answers all the questions and says, you know, this is where the ceremony would take place, this is where you would walk from, this is where cocktail hour would be. These are where the bathrooms are.

Yeah.

And even though a venue can point those things out, there's no heart in it. There's no love. There's no like. Oh, I can see your hesitation. Do you not love this area? There's another area that we can also.

Use plus the options of event flow.

Yeah, yeah.

Like from one place to another. Like the walkway.

Yeah, yeah. So is there anything that you wish clients knew or would ask before coming over for site visits in advance? Like, you know, don't forget to ask about the cake tasting or you need to put in lots of notice to do a food taste. Like what things do you think it's important for clients to know before booking a date with Bali Brides?

I think knowing your budget. Yeah, I suppose. Yeah. Like if it's kind of fits with everything because sometimes it tend to be higher.

Yeah. Just be a bit realistic.

Realistic.

Yeah. Like at the end of the day you're having an overseas wedding. There's always going to be extra costs involved when it comes to that, like flights and accommodation which you may not necessarily have to do in Australia because you could just. Some people just go home after their wedding.

You know, the specs of the venues itself, like how long is it going to get there?

Yeah.

And consideration to put people to stay.

Yeah.

Also like knowing the area basically. So not just like assuming ah, this venue. It's easy, 20 minutes on a Google map. But it's not exactly always like that.

Yeah. We've had clients in the past that are like, we want to see these two villas in Canggu and then these villas in Uluwatu. And I'm like such a long drive between those two places. We recommend normally splitting that over two days. Yeah.

I believe doing your own research can be very helpful.

Yeah.

Of those things, although you've never been and asking around, to be honest. Yeah. Join a few groups online or asking people.

Many wedding forums.

Yeah. Bali brides past and future. Lots of advice there. And our whole team kind of monitors that page and gives feedback and advice.

Still open minded but kind of like still putting your faith into your planner because they know best what actually we can do.

Please trust the planner. Yeah.

Even though you hear so much things outside. But yeah, keep open minded, keep hearing those advice. Although I would suggest please listen to our wedding planner more.

I think that our entire team have said that so many times. Like you have to trust your wedding planner because we're the ones on the ground. We're the ones dealing with the venues and the elements and the traffic and negotiating.

Yeah.

Just. Yeah. Even little things like lighting.

Yeah.

Like so much that goes into it that you just don't quite understand.

Yeah.

I've seen a couple of times things gone wrong when clients. This is my pov. Like just hearing stuff. Also seen stuff actually happen. Like some couples just refuse to follow the wedding planner's advice and I was there by their side the whole time. Yeah. In my heart, deep down, I kind of like wanted to say told you so. Listen.

Yeah, told you so. This is what happens when you don't listen to your wedding.

Yeah.

Because how do you say that nicely to them? You can't. There's no nice way to say. You just got to let it.

And we've covered this so many times. The major issues we ever have on event days or with suppliers, like anytime we have major issues, it's because people have booked their own. Suppliers will not listen to us. Like, you know, we had a wedding last year and Leah's clients ran out of alcohol and we had already told them the recommended amounts to buy and they halved it. Yeah, yeah. And then of course they got hit with premium pricing on the day and it was like. Yeah, we did tell you to order more than that. Okay, amazing. So that's a little bit about our. Now we want to do a bit of a monthly catch up and recap over the months that has been. Ow. You've been away for a bit. But let's just like March. What month are we in? April. We're in April now. Like what's been going on in April team?

There was a major wedding entertainment.

Yeah.

Love it. I love the content creation.

Yeah.

I made six videos.

I know. So when you, when you book content creation, we've got different packages. One one reel, two reels, like so on.

Yeah.

And the client booked the two real package for eight hours and then Al got carried away so he made them six.

I can't even imagine how many hours that is like it.

Well, always the next day we book our off work. Yeah, I know. Focus on the editing. It took them two, just over two days to edit everything. Whoa.

Yeah. Frankly speaking, it takes full on two days because on the first day after the wedding, I kind of spend the day since morning. Right after you send the link, I upload all the raw files, photos and videos. I expected that to be fast, but the Internet, you know.

Yeah, yeah.

Sometimes it takes until midnight to post all of those things.

I'm glad that wasn't an office though because you just have your anti Al get off the Internet.

Yeah.

Yeah.

YouTube's kind of white.

Yeah.

And then the next day I spend the whole day in ubud to edit the Whole reels. At first, it's like, oh, two, three. Why don't we make more?

Oh, we've got some good content. How about we just make a couple more?

Yeah.

Yeah. So we've had a big April, actually. It's been. Well, I've had my first. My first wedding of the year.

It's been a big April. What date is it?

I feel like. I feel like April has six days.

Well, I just said on the way here, I was just like, why is it only Wednesday? I feel exhausted.

Yeah. I feel like it's been a big month as well. Because last month was such. Like, there was so much going on and then. Yeah.

So many holidays as well.

Coming up.

Easter, Angalongan coming up. So there's been a lot going on and trying to get onto the suppliers before they take off on holidays. It's been a bit of a mission.

Because they always take extended holidays over that. Right. Because it's basically their Christmas and New Year's.

Yeah.

Like. Yeah.

I mean, what else we got. We caught up with Valley Event Hire last month, which was really good. Was that last month?

Yeah.

Yeah. So the owners from Bali, Event Hire, Vanessa and Sarah, came into the office to visit us and.

Oh, yeah, I saw that on the team up. Sorry for missing out.

That's okay. So they came to the office and we kind of went through their catalog and just where they're at for the year and put in our requests for any new furniture that we want.

Wow.

We're getting a lot more requests for round tables. Yeah.

So, all right, they've got some, but we've put in our request for more, so that was really nice to catch up with them. We've obviously been podcasting. I had my first wedding of the year, and if I do say so, it's probably going to be one of the most beautiful weddings I've done to date. Stunning. We have the styling by Enoch Creative, and. Oh, my goodness, that wedding was just.

Yeah, it was beautiful.

Every. Every time I'd walk around, I was like, pretty.

Like, the supplies that you had, like, you had Lydia and Sammy, like, they just bring the vibe as well.

Yeah. When you've got a good team of supplies, it just kind of makes the entire day. And we did. We had, like, the cream of the crop in regards to supplies and entertainment and venue and. Absolutely. And that ride, honestly, like, my fave, she was such a breeze to work with. It was really funny because on the day, a couple of like. Oh, it's like, you know, we heard she's A bit of a bridezilla because she, like named herself bridezilla in the speeches. I was like, she wasn't a bridezilla. She was honestly, like one of the best clients I've worked with in the last year.

She's super fun, like, very TikTok fun girl.

Yeah, she's TikTok famous. So we'll keep an eye on that one. So I'm sure that the Tiktoks from the weddings are going to be coming.

Cute selections of wedding dresses and the robes. She had three changes, four, including maybe their ropes.

Okay, the rope. I was like, there was only three dresses. That first dress she had was stunning, actually. All of her dresses were stunning. And their first dance, Britta, you know, like dirty dancing, how they do the lift. So she's a professional dancer and they. Their dances were just on point. He lifted her spunner. They did this like fun father daughter dance. And then like the groom dance with dad. It was. Yeah, it was all just a big vibe. Super cute and, yeah, a little bit stressful though. There was certainly aspects of the day that I was like, I'm gonna cry.

I remember that you went on and the dress code.

So black tie.

Honestly, like, the dress code was fine. So there was a black code, like black tie, formal dress code. So girls had to be in long dresses, men in suits. It was no white, no champagne, no patterns. And I got a message from Emma privately. She said something on the walk in. Then she sent me through a message. The guests were arriving and I was waiting on the violinist who was being set up in the chapel. And Emma messaged me and said, is the violinist meant to be wearing a white dress? And I was like, what? Absolutely frickin not. And she goes, she's heading your way. Just a heads up, she's in a white dress and I don't see a bag or a change of clothes with her. And I am normally quite a polite person, but I was already quite stressed at that point because we were running behind because tiktoks have been filmed and they were guests late. And she comes walking down the stairs and I was like, hi, please tell me you have a second dress and you're not wearing that. And she was like, like, hi, what's wrong? What's wrong with my dress? I'm like, it's white. And she's like, yeah. I'm like, the bride wears white. You do not wear white. And she was like, oh, no. Like, how is that not common sense? I'm like, please tell me you have another dress. And she's like, no, I don't. And I don't have time to go change. And I'm like.

Thank goodness. I was actually staying close by that day, and I had a suitcase in the backseat of Katut's car, and I ranked to it. And I was like, bring me my suitcase. I have another dress in there. She can put that on. And I made her change.

I can't believe you even had another dress. Standby.

I never have another dress. And I don't know why, but on that day, maybe it was because of her dress code. I had a long dress on, but I also had a shorter black dress that was.

She had options.

That was quite nice because I wasn't sure what the vibe was going to be, so I brought two just in case. Thank goodness. So I made the violinist change, and.

Then we were running a bit late.

So there was like, you know, there's always the issue with the fireworks curfew. Fireworks have to be let off by a certain time.

Yeah.

And we literally put the cake out. They were doing their final speech, and I'd already got the Fireworks curfew extended 15 minutes. They're doing their speech to do it, and I'm like, 10 minutes, nine minutes. Get rid of the cake. We're going straight to the dances. And we literally pulled the cake off the dance floor. And as soon as they're done, I was like, changing plans. We're doing the dances because the fireworks have to go on.

Still pretty. We did that. We ended up ending, you know, doing that in, like, a floating stage on the pool with lots of different.

Yeah, we did a private cake cutting with just the two of them later. Because obviously after the fireworks went off, we went to party time. I was like, I'm not interrupting the dance cake. It's gonna ruin the vibe. So we let the band do their thing. Everyone stole the dance. When I said to her, do you want to interrupt the party or do you want to do a private cake cutting? We can sit up here. It'll be a beautiful moment. So we did a private cake cutting.

It was stunning.

Yeah, it was really nice. I'm doing that for one of my clients this year as well. After the ceremony, they're going to walk down the aisle to the prep room. We're gonna have a little tea set in there, and we're gonna do a private cake cake cutting with the kids, and then they'll send that off for dessert, which will be good. Awesome. Yeah.

That's so funny. Just that whole thing. I'm like, this would make great tv.

Well, stay tuned.

Had all the footage.

Yeah. So you had a wedding on Saturday as well with Yanti. How did that one go?

It was great.

Easy, breezy, you know, we had everything going on.

You were home in bed by what, 10?

Yeah, I was home by like, like 8:39. I messaged you, I'm like race, you're home. Oh wait, aren't you coming home at 1?

So can I have like another little mini rant? So we always tell our clients, one for Uluwatu, you've got to book your transport for your guests or book our concierge service so they can manage to transport the guests because it's really hard to get transferred out. That wedding finished at midnight. Yeah, we were getting rid of the kind of last guests out of the area. We didn't leave there till after 1am because a few of the guests had not arranged transport home. And of course trying to order transport that time of night. Night. Absolutely.

And we can't leave until everyone else leaves.

Yeah. So I literally with me and Emma are like pacing like is he grabbed coming? Oh that one cancelled. This one wants 300,000. I'm like yeah, because it's 1am yeah.

And I will say after a bloody 16 hour day, all we want is to go home to our bed. But we will make sure you get home safe.

And also like Ulawa too. For us to get there, normally we have to allow two to two and a half hours because of traffic. Going home is an hour. But we're still going to stop at the office, drop all our stuff, get home to bed. And yeah, I didn't get home until 2:30 that morning. By the time I'd wound down, gone to sleep, it was almost 3:30. And then blessed my little munchkin, he woke me up at seven and I was like eh, it takes me so.

Long to wind down from a wedding. Sometimes I could just be up for another two hours even though I'm so dead tired. Yeah, I just physically cannot get to sleep. I need to pop a melatonin. I'll read a couple of chapters of my book and then I'll finally like.

Drift off to sleep.

But it's such a process. Even just that whole going home.

Yeah, yeah. I don't think a lot of people realize, I just think you know, wedding's done to go home. But like no, we've got to pack down, we've got to grab all the things, do the lost and found sweeps, drop everything back to the office. Like we take an Esky for drinks for the team to make sure they're hydrated. Higher items. Everything has to go back and then we continue on home from there. And then. Yeah. By the time you shower and wash, wash face and feel clean after a long, sweaty day, it's a bit of time to wind down.

Yeah.

Long day.

Yeah.

A night and night.

It's. Yeah. That wasn't too bad though, because I stayed out in Uluwatu, so I got to go a little bit later. But yeah. If you are booking a wedding in Uluwatu, please make sure your guests have transport home pre booked. Not just we'll wing it and get a gojek at one o' clock in the morning. No, that's not going to happen.

Even last year, Yanti's wedding, I stayed back till 1am because, bless their souls, drunk guests.

Our children. The guests or our children. They did not book transport out of there. They tried to get on a gojek with three people, four people total.

I was like, my.

You were not getting on that go, Jack. You're not getting on that bike. You were going to wait. And they had to pay the driver more money because the driver's like, well, it's this time. I want this much. They're like, well, it only says 50k on the app. I'm like, no, they're not going to pick you up for 50k.

No, not this time of morning.

Yeah.

I physically took keys out of a scooter last year because a drunk guest came out and got on a scooter. I was like, where are you going? Home. And I was like, no, you're not. And I walked the keys back into the building. I was like, someone take these off me because I'm not letting them ride home.

Wedding police.

Yeah.

Yeah. Like, literally. Wedding planner, accountant, artist, police, lady bar manager. Like, the list goes on. A babysitter for all the drunk guests.

On the dance floor.

Yep, yep.

I think we broke like six glasses at TFL the other night waiting for the bill for that. What else has been going on in the last month, guys?

Just. I actually just planned my best friend's wedding.

I saw that. That was beautiful.

It was in February.

You planned it. This is new.

Yeah.

Are we looking for a future wedding planner, Elle?

Maybe. We'll see about that.

Did you enjoy the planning aspect of it all?

To be honest, I love running it.

Planning it. It's just because I'm favorable for a friend. I am more comfortable running the show rather than doing it. Organizing behind the scenes.

Yeah. The admin is boring as well.

It's, it's, it's a lot.

It's a lot.

Although it's a very small wedding, only 26, 27 people with five children. It's still a lot to manage with the accommodation, the cars, it's split venues, church, restaurants.

I don't, I refuse to handle accommodation.

I'm like nope, not my job.

Not my job.

Do you know what else is exciting that's just happened? Guys we know. So Britta and I like over the it'll fitchy nippy holidays it's like a week off of Bali. So me and Britta went to Hong Kong, we went to the rugby sevens and Leah flew over from Australia to help look after Christian while we went and Britta and I helped plan a sneaky proposal at Disneyland. Disneyland.

Put a ring on it.

And Leah, one of our wedding team is now engaged and we have a Bali wedding happening this year. So we get to be involved in so exciting one of our team's weddings.

I know, it's so exciting attend a wedding. It's like you just get to kind of let loose a little bit.

Yeah. So Leah's planning it. I've told her I'll introduce her to a couple of like maybe anger or you know, vena. We'll get somebody else to come in and coordinate the day for her. Not to barley brides team because we all want to be present. But that's really exciting.

We've got so much fun in Oyun's wedding.

I know.

Oh my God.

So much cute photos.

So we've got Leah's wedding and then we just got the invitation to Rani and Demi's wedding as well. They're getting married at the end of the year. One of our makeup artists. So we've got two weddings to attend this year which is fun.

We never get to attend weddings.

I know as a guest just actually enjoying our show.

What does one do all day when you're a guest of a wedding? Get ready eats the flowers.

I feel like that's like quite nerve wracking knowing you have a planner at a wedding and it's like are they just going to be judging everything that's going on?

Like I attended a wedding post Covid for one of my friends and they had another wedding planner because obviously I was a friend.

Yeah.

And I try not to do friends weddings in the nicest way possible. And yeah, I did think about it. I thought it was must have been really nerve wracking but I felt really bad because at the end of the night said wedding planner had gone home, left a team there and the bride was now quite intoxicated and there was an issue with the fireworks and because I worked at the venue all the time, she insisted that it was my wedding gift to her to fix it and to go find the people in charge of the fireworks and make sure they came back into the proper three minute display sheet book.

How kind of you.

Yeah, so of course I did. But then the other wedding planner the next day messaged me and was like, I'm pretty upset you interfered. And I was like, I literally like, like I didn't mean to interfere. I didn't want to step on toes and like me and the wedding planner friends. So we kind of talked it out, it was fine. But yeah, I definitely would feel very nervous knowing that another wedding planner was attending one of my weddings.

Then you should have been there.

Yeah. Look, yes or no? I'm not going to go there. Not every wedding planner stays at the end of the night. I personally couldn't do it.

It's an emergency.

Yeah, well, this is the thing. I've seen so many emergencies and I. It's not that I don't think that my team are capable of handling it, but I'm the wedding plan. I should be there. And that's just my point of view. Every other company is going to have a different stance, but my. The head wedding planner stays till the end. Unless I think there was a wedding last year that I went home twice early because I was really unwell. But besides that. Yeah, we're there till the end because what if someone breaks their leg or hits their head on the pool and needs stitches and someone's got to call doctors. I mean you guys could handle that. But they want the person to be dealing with Chile.

The one in Tirza.

Yeah.

When you were away.

Yeah.

And just from society is coming also with anger. So it's plenty of help.

Well, even with those sorts of lines, like I was sick, I replaced myself with the owner of another company because I own the company, they'd paid for me and it wasn't fair just to say, well, you'll get Brenna Yanti, who are amazing and could have done it but they paid extra for the boss of the company. So I literally hired the boss of another company to come in and run. Yes, but we're very lucky. We do have a very good relationship with a lot of the other wedding planning companies out there. I mean we're attending an event with global weddings in a couple of weeks, which would Be really fun.

Oh, where is it going to be?

Oh, actually, we should get you to that one as well. I'll get you to come along. It's going to be at Sesay Beach Villas. So they're doing an introduction to the Bali concierge co.

So, yeah, we're going to have another training, right?

Yes.

By the end of the month.

Yeah. So that can all be offered to everyone. So that'll be good. So, yeah, monthly news. Leah's engaged. We've got a couple of weddings on the books for this year and I don't know if we can talk about it now that I found that there's no NDA involved. I don't know. Can we talk about it?

I feel like it's not done yet.

We'll keep it very simple. There is a very, very exciting meeting happening on Monday and there is massive news coming for Bali Brides and all of our clients. So we'll. The team's excited.

Yeah, I am.

We can't. Nothing's.

Nothing set in stone.

Set until it's set.

We've got some really exciting news coming. And, yeah, we're just kicking up, about to kick off wedding season.

It's killing you. You just want to. I want to tell everyone.

Tell everybody.

It seems like we still always.

We told everyone in Hong Kong, we're in the south stand. We're like, yeah, we're going to be.

Doing this and this.

And they'd be like, what? They didn't like. We were just. We'd had a few drinks. We were so excited.

And also, I think that the email that we were waiting for, it came.

Through at the airport.

It came through at the airport on the way home. And then I got the message and then I got the message last night. Oh, do you want to see Al? I'm gonna. I'm gonna sneaky show Al. I'm gonna sneaky show Al so he can get excited about the situation.

Yeah.

Viewers at home, I'm really sorry. We will share the news as soon as possible, but for now, this is just our little secret.

It's going to be major.

This. This was the message that came through last night. That's why me and Brita stayed out and had a sneaky celebration.

Oh, my.

Ended up. Oh, my.

Isn't that exciting?

The multiple words.

The multiple words. Multiple words. So anyway, yeah, a lot of. It's a big moves, a lot of things going on. We're about to come into wedding season.

Yeah.

Pray for us.

Though. I think there'll be a lot more episodes of us just chilling on the couch.

And so we still have. I think we've still got five more weddings this month. And then we really hit the ground running from next month with an average of like three a week for the rest of the year. Really? Up until October.

Yeah.

Have you got any other holidays planned coming up?

No, at the moment I just want to focus on work. Let's get my feet back at it.

I feel like we've all had our little breaks and our little holidays now. We did Hong Kong, you did Melbourne. Yanti went to Java. Not that I'd really call that a proper holiday because she was family.

Yeah, yeah. Handling family for holiday. It could not been a holiday.

Alo just said the same thing to me the other day. He said he had his family here and he's like, stuff. It's a lot.

Yep, yep.

Yeah.

I think we're all kind of trying to prioritize our sanity. Sanity.

Or just like personal life, you know?

Yeah, yeah.

The last.

Haven'T had it. Whereas this year I think we're just. We're really prioritizing it where I know I've got a routine back, which I'm excited about. Like, I'm going back to the gym and I've got my sense schedule for the gym. Like, I didn't. I. I had to do that for.

The last three years. Yeah. Like, I had my routine down, pack, and then hospital happened and then we went away and then we've just done another hospital stay the last couple of days. And then I think next week is my week to get back into it all.

So I think everybody needs it.

Peak season is going to be the test.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, getting up and going to the gym after a wedding.

No, I've just ruled that out completely.

I went the other day, remember, I got up in 8am I went to Hot Yoke year after.

But reliving the last two years that we had. 20, 23, 2024.

Yeah.

If we could handle those years, we can handle anything.

We can handle anything.

Looking back to it, like, yeah, that was beyond and above.

It was pretty.

Those were our biggest two years ever. And we just weren't organized our level of organization. Now with the launch of school, our system systems, and even now with our DIY planning course that's just launched. Yeah. School's been good.

School's been great.

Yeah. A lot of clients on there. So good to feed, like, good guides feed. My English is really doing well this time of day to give feedback to all the clients about, you know, the Weddings or the suppliers. Or even the other day I put a little post up saying I'm going to be in hospital for the next couple of days. So the clients knew in advance that I was offline for a few days. So that's been really good.

It's like our social media platform. Our own social media platform, basically.

Yeah, it's been really good just for our clients.

Absolutely. Any other news for April, March? April? No, not really.

Just weddings, really. Yeah, I've got two next month, actually.

Got a lot of clients that I assist on site visit and food tasting that actually go.

Yeah.

For this year.

Oh, good.

Yeah.

Do you have many coming up? Yeah, we might need some coverage of that.

And some. Some of them already followed me on Instagram, like my personal account.

Yeah.

Somehow they got it.

Yeah.

It's a tiny world, social media.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I've been blessed with so many that upcoming clients that already become friends. Yeah, In a way.

Yes.

Like saying Happy Birthday and stuff and dm. Like, I didn't expect this.

Yeah.

Like here too soon. But yeah, it's good. Soon.

I'm really horrible. I have a lot of clients sitting on my personal Instagram just in friend requests because I. Look, I love them, but unless we become best friends at the wedding and we're going to see each other afterwards, then I'll add them on Instagram afterwards. But I really. I don't like clients following me because I don't want them seeing my personal life and, you know, if I go out and have a night on the town, I don't want them seeing that. Like, I just. So I've started a work Instagram. So you can go follow me on my work Instagram. Not my personal one, please. I just like to keep that to myself.

Yeah. I mean, make it like private accounts.

Yeah.

Because like, our personal account, like, that's from. When did I start that? Like, 13 years ago.

Yeah.

You know, like, so many things on there from way back at school.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know, like, that's just my whole life on there.

And I get people trying to add me on Facebook as well, which I understand because I'm very active on the Facebook community. So are you. But I'm like, yeah, you don't need to see my child and my family and, like, my life. I updates and go stalking back six.

Years and be like, oh, what was she doing there?

Yeah, Holiday.

Brita and Tristan work. Brita and Tristan, very different.

I have five personally. I've got mum, Brita, boss Tristan, work Tristan, wedding planner Tristan, drunk Tristan, She's a vibe and then just like anti social. Leave me alone, Tristan. Yeah, like there's all the different personalities and yeah. The clients just get the professional one.

Yeah.

And that's it.

You get the Brita underscore Barley Brads account.

Yeah.

It makes me think about making a second account.

But you've got some spicy photos on your Instagram.

I think I like having the professional one as well because it's just, it's just showcasing what I do, like portfolios.

Or sharing cute wedding memes. I love. Like that's my account. Share the cute wedding. Yes.

Yeah. It makes me rethink about creating another account, actually.

Yeah, yeah, you do. You boo. I mean, you're not front facing to the clients. You're kind of behind the scenes for most of it.

That's another consideration.

Yeah.

Point.

But yeah, I just, I'm such. Such private person.

Yeah.

Normally that I don't want my clients.

I feel like I wasn't. And then I was, I think because so many clients did follow me when I was on Public, I was like, no.

And it only takes a story once for you to be like, you know. Yeah, you don't need to be seen.

I think it was one of your clients, actually. And I was just like, I don't know when she first followed me, but I've nicest way possible. I deleted her and then I put my account on private. I was like, no.

What worse could have happened?

Pardon?

What's the worst thing that could have.

Happened from having them on our account?

For having our private. Our.

Look, I just that there are certain things that are private and there's certain things that are professional. And I feel like when someone is following me on my personal Instagram account, I feel like I'm losing that professionalism of the job because they might see me, you know, at the beach or in a bikini or they might see me having a few drinks out and being a bit silly. And I don't want to lose that professionalism. Of course there's that side of me, but I don't want them to think less of me. I'll be like, I've seen you drunk or I've seen you in a bikini.

Yeah.

I just think that there's certain things that I need to keep for my private life, not for the clients.

Good point.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right, guys, is there anything else to cover off? I feel like this today's episode, there's not too much to cover off. It was going to be our monthly recap and meet Al but we, we haven't had a lot going on because.

It'S just been a lot of holidays.

Yeah. Like a lot of patience at the moment. A lot of things going on outside. A lot of holidays and just gearing up to kick off the season properly.

Yeah. Just more chasing suppliers and because they've all been on holidays as well. So, like, please reply to me, Andy.

Yeah, please.

I think there was a period there of the last couple of weeks. I was messaging him every day. I was like, please reply to me. I need to start sliding out.

I rang him the other day and I was like, hi. And he's like, hi, I've just been at mosque. Sorry. I was like, oh, have you been there for three days? And he's like, no. Why? I was like, because three days ago you told Emma you were going to send her an invoice. And he's like, sorry, sorry, I'm doing it right now. And then like three seconds later, Emma, it's like he's messaged me.

Yeah.

All the things about it. All right, well, let's wrap up today's episode. Our next episode is going to be on catering. Catering or have we reversed it? I don't know how we've recorded today. I don't know.

There's going to be an episode.

It's going to be an episode in two weeks time. So stay figured out. We're about to kick off the season. We're going to be covering off topics such as catering, your entertainment. We're going to be getting Lydia Rosen for an interview.

So fun.

Thank you, Elle, for joining us and having some couch time. Happy birthday again.

Fabulous as always.

I just. We literally this morning were like, what are you going to wear today? I got to wear something nice cuz Al's coming in. Yeah. Yeah. And you don't want to be on.

The couch looking like, what an honor.

Coming here, professional me, when Al's going to come in looking gorgeous. Yeah, he smells nice too. If anyone's wondering who's a good perfume.

Yeah, Melbourne served me good.

All right. Thank you so much for joining another episode of Bali Weddings Unveiled.

We'll see you in.

Thank you for having me.

Bye.

See you on a wedding day.

See you on the wedding day.