Sunset
Seminyak
The west coast faces the sunset, which is why so many symbolic ceremonies here are held at six in the evening.
Weddings
The ceremony, without the paperwork.
A symbolic wedding has no legal effect and needs no documents. That is the whole point: everything about the day is a choice rather than a requirement.
- No legal documentation
- USD 3,330 to 6,370 per couple
- Celebrant, flowers, photography
The first decision
Legal, or symbolic.
This page is about the right hand column. It is worth seeing what you are opting out of.
Legal marriage
- Paperwork
- Documents from Indonesia and from your home country, including an affidavit of no impediment.
- Recognised
- Legally recognised, subject to both countries accepting it.
- Lead time
- Start months ahead. Document turnaround is the slowest part.
- Who to hire
- A local planner who has done the paperwork before.
Symbolic ceremony
- Paperwork
- None required.
- Recognised
- Not a legal marriage. It carries whatever meaning you give it.
- Lead time
- As long as the venue needs, which is usually weeks.
- Who to hire
- A celebrant and a venue. The rest is styling.
Couples who want both usually marry legally at home in a registry office, then hold the real ceremony here with everyone present.
The package
What a symbolic package contains.
Because there is no legal component, the package is entirely about the day itself. Most are built from the same four parts.
- 1 Venue hire A villa, a beach setting or a clifftop deck, taken for the afternoon and evening.
- 2 Celebrant and vows Someone to lead the ceremony. With no legal script to follow, the words are entirely yours.
- 3 Flowers and styling Arch, aisle and table. This is where most of a symbolic budget actually goes.
- 4 Photography The only lasting record, since there is no certificate at the end of it.
Stolen villa photos and operators impersonating real ones have both been reported in Bali. Verify every supplier through an official account or a recognised platform before you pay a deposit.
Where
Anywhere you can stand together.
With no legal venue requirement, the location is chosen purely on how it looks and how it feels.
Sunset
Seminyak
The west coast faces the sunset, which is why so many symbolic ceremonies here are held at six in the evening.
Relaxed
Canggu
Bohemian villas and a coastline with fewer resorts on it. Good for couples who do not want a formal room.
On the sand
Jimbaran
A calm bay, and dinner served on the beach afterwards without anybody moving location.
Asked most often
Questions couples ask first.
Keep reading
The rest of the ceremony guides.
Same island, different ceremony. Start with the pillar guide if you are still deciding.
- Destination Weddings in Bali The pillar guide: beach, clifftop and jungle venues, and what a legal ceremony asks for that a symbolic one does not.
- Intimate Weddings Under about twenty guests the whole wedding fits inside one villa. That changes everything about the planning.
- Vow Renewal Packages You are already married, so there is no paperwork. Just a date, a setting and a dinner afterwards.
Pick a date. That is the hard part done.
Send the month, the guest count and whether you need the ceremony to be legal. You will get venues and a real quote back.