CHOOSING THE VENUE
- AW
- Apr 18, 2016
- 8 min read
If you are having a destination wedding, consider where your guests will be coming from when it's time to decide on a location. I'm from Australia with the bulk of my family living in Indonesia, whilst my groom-to-be is from Canada and all his family live there. Our friends come from a variety of countries, but most of them are from Canada. We have the extreme North vs South situation happening, which I think is quite unique because most destination weddings typically have guests coming from the same country. To paint a clearer picture, here is our list of guests and where they live:
- Australia = 8 people
- Canada = 28 people
- Hong Kong = 3 people
- Indonesia = 21 people
- New Zealand = 2 people
- Singapore = 2 people
- Tanzania = 1 person
When we started planning our wedding, Canada and Australia were immediately crossed out because my relatives with Indonesian passports would have to apply (and pay) for tourist visas and health insurance. We could have chosen to have our wedding in Bali, Indonesia - which is highly popular - , but both of us have friends who recently wed there and it would not feel special or unique to us anymore.
For a fleeting short moment we entertained thoughts about Singapore or Hong Kong, but costs of weddings there are way too expensive for our budget.
In the end, we chose Phuket, Thailand due to its central-ish coordinate, affordability factor and abundance of choices for the wedding venue. Koh Samui was another Thailand destination that we thought about, but flying options to get there are more limited compared to Phuket.
We traveled to Phuket 10 months prior to our wedding day and spent 3 days visiting 10 potential wedding venues. I emailed all the venues to book an appointment with their wedding/events department, most were responsive. There were 2 or 3 that did not get back to me, for those we just showed up and asked to be escorted around.
Note: To freely roam around, we rented a SUV with driver (8 hours/day for 3 days) for the cost of THB 2,500 nett per day - inclusive of unlimited petrol - from www.phuketshuttle.com.
1. KATATHANI
This was the first resort we visited, below is a picture from their website to show you where you can have your ceremony.
We arrived quite early in the day, around 10:30AM and met with a woman that works there as an event planner. I managed to secure an appointment with her, hence she was quite prepared in answering all our queries. She took us to the above spot which was quite far from the lobby entrance. You have to walk through the pools and lounge beds with children running around. To me this resort feels family oriented and would work best if you have many guests with children (12 years and under) attending the wedding. The below photos were taken by us during our visit. No filters were applied to any of the pictures.
Below is the circular stage where the bride and groom will have their ceremony.
We did not like the dining venue as it was a bit too big for the size of our party, and also it felt quite "warehouse-ish". I know it would look very different if it was dressed up to the nines with beautiful flowers and lighting, but we just did not feel a connection to this place. It felt too commercialized and did not have a hint of romance.
The beach right behind the wedding ceremony stage area is open to hotel guests, but they can make sure it is empty during your ceremony time. Nobody wants a half naked stranger creeping on the background of their wedding photos.
As I mentioned before, the resort is very family oriented and most guests that come here bring children. It does not have a sleek and modern look, which I wanted for our wedding.
When we left Katathani, we knew it was not meant to be.
2. THE VIJITT
The Vijitt resort was not what we wanted, and we knew right away when we got there. Hence I am not going to have a long write up about this venue. Although I must say that the food we had there for lunch was very delicious.
Here are some pictures we took when we were there, showing the pool and beach area.
Above shows some spots of The Vijitt resort, it was very idyllic, peaceful and extremely quiet. To me it was not festive enough for a wedding, but great for couples to unwind and have a relaxing weekend getaway.
3. SRI PANWA
I was very excited to see Sri Panwa as I loved this place the most when I was doing my
research online before the trip. This is what they show as the wedding venue.
I don't want to walk down the aisle on sand or grass, so the wood deck looks perfect to me.
When we arrived at Sri Panwa, we did not have an appointment because no one returned my email. However, this woman called Joy looked after us and brought us to visit the deck. We had to take their in-house tuk tuk (buggy) from the lobby to a separate building. After we reached the place, we had to take an elevator up to the highest floor. The owners of Sri Panwa lives in this building when they are in Phuket.
Above and below pictures show the front of the deck, where the bride and groom will stand. There is a communication tower that creates an eyesore, which is a bummer because other than that the view is just so breathtakingly gorgeous.
The wood floor itself is somewhat in need of a re-stain or re-coating because we could spot some discoloration, plus general wear and tear that has occurred.
The below photo is the top left corner of the deck, the water is very pretty and the infinity pool surrounding the deck creates a seamless transition.
The below photo is the bottom left of the deck, showing the roof of an adjoining building.
The level below the deck is called "Sunset Lounge" and you can have your guests mingle here during cocktail hour whilst waiting for the bridal party to arrive. I did not take any pictures of it but it looked very cozy and chill.
This picture below shows you the balcony and pool that belongs to the owners of Sri Panwa, you can see it from the top of the deck but you are not allowed to go there.
We then went back to the lobby using their tuk tuk and looked at the restaurant that is normally reserved as the reception venue. It was very casual and laid back with waiters dressed in polo shirts and shorts (see the girl with orange top).
The restaurant is connected to an outdoor area where you can hang out and enjoy the view while eating and drinking, or chill in the pool.
The concrete floor shown above with the sofas and tables is where you can have the dancing part of the night. I don't find this very appealing because they do not provide a portable wooden dance floor to go on top of it.
We liked Sri Panwa better than Katathani, so this is the top contender from day 1.
4. PARESA
Paresa was so beautiful and serene, their website refers to it as "Heaven of all Heavens". When we arrived, they told us that they call their staff the "angels" who are all ready to serve you as you float around the heaven that is made up of Kamala cliffs.
If you have guests who are elderly or unfit, this is not a good place for you due to their many stairs. You can get their in-house buggy to drive you around but there will be waiting times if you have many people to get chauffeured around.
If I had my wedding here, I would choose their Miracle Lawn to have my ceremony. Below is the picture of the Miracle Lawn from their website.
This lawn is located up high in the cliffs and it is very beautiful. However, the size is quite small and it is not suitable for large weddings. Below are our pictures of the Miracle Lawn.
Top right corner is shown below.
Top left of the lawn is shown on below photo.
Here is a closer look at the top right corner.
This last picture of the lawn shows you almost the whole area, which as you can see will be quite cramped if you are expecting a big turn out.
Like Sri Panwa, Paresa's resort is not beachfront, it is high up on the cliffs with magnificent views of the ocean. The dinner reception would be outdoor and take place on the deck shown below.
We liked Paresa and we could imagine the deck being decorated with pretty string lights and flowers. The drawback is if the weather is acting up, since everything is held outdoor. They showed us a room where they would hold events in the case of bad weather but we did not take pictures of it.
Westin Siray Bay was another one that we didn't particularly fall in love with. The whole resort just felt too commercialized and lacked character. Maybe because Westin is a global chain and doesnt let each location have their own unique flavour. On the day that we visited, they were preparing for a corporate event, I don't remember what it was exactly but my memory is telling me it was a conference or some sort with team building events.
The corporate event being set up was located at where weddings would be hosted, see below photos showing the artificial bright green grass which I didn't like.
Below is a picture of the Westin, showing their pool and surroundings. The view is still beautiful and similar to those from Sri Panwa and Paresa.
6. AMARI PHUKET
Amari was another favourite from my early research. It has a jetty that could be used for your wedding ceremony, and also a beachfront location if you prefer to be close to the water.
Below is what they have as promotional photo of the beachfront location.
When we were there, the Amari staff was also working on setting up for an event at that very location, it was not a wedding but styled like one. See below for our pictures of this location.
The ocean-meets-mountain backdrop is definitely jaw dropping and would look so beautiful in all your wedding photos. They also have an option to have your wedding ceremony at a jetty, which I think was too narrow. However, it is unique and the view is to die for.
Imagine you have all the chairs lined up on the jetty below, and you walk down the aisle surrounded by the clear water and blue sky.
For the reception, the tiled roof is available and would be stunning too when decorated with fairy lights or lanterns.
The drawback for me is the journey to reach the jetty. You must walk for about 10 minutes (the buggy does not go here). The path is paved but quite steep at some locations, definitely not ideal to walk in heels and long gowns.
Below is what they show on their website as an example if you would like to have a jetty wedding (not a very clear picture, but you can do some google research to find more).
Trisara is a high end resort with impeccable interiors and landscape. It is an intimate venue for events and can hold only up to 120 people for a wedding. A small ceremony can be held under the tall palm trees, over looking the ocean.
Below is our picture of the above spot from Trisara, day-to-day operation sees this space as a restaurant with white umbrellas. The lotus pond behind the restaurant adds a nice touch in my opinion.
There is a small waterfall-style water feature behind the lotus pond, below is a picture showing the back of the pond. The bridal party would be walking down one of the white staircases shown below and proceed to the altar.
The flooring is made of wood planks, which I like. With the restaurant tables and chairs cleared, it would make a nice wedding ceremony location.
More seating are scattered around this whole outdoor area.
The whole outdoor space is big enough to host the dinner and dancing portion of the night without your guests moving around too much.
We visited their rooms too which were very elegant and nice, however, I think most rooms in Phuket's resorts are all up to par. Trisara was in our top 3.
8. OTHER MENTIONS
Other places we visited include Cape Sienna, Twin Palms and Dusit Thani.
OUR CHOICE
We are delighted to announce that we chose Sri Panwa resort to hold our wedding. You can see pictures of the wedding ceremony and reception here. Runner-ups were Trisara and Paresa.
-AW
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