What is it like to Elope in Fiji?
Have you been thinking about eloping in Fiji and wondering if it is the right decision for you? Is it less stress than a wedding day with guests? Will it still be personal and special if it is just the two of you?
There has been such a huge uptake of elopements in Fiji post CoVid, we decided to do some research into why couples elope, what makes this an attractive option and how they found the experience.
When we saw Tiarni & Adrian’s gorgeous elopement feature on social media, we reached out to bride Tiarni to learn more about her firsthand experience. Read on for some very insightful feedback!
Of all destinations, what made you choose Fiji?
Neither of us had ever been to Fiji, so eloping over there was a bit of a risk. We both had Fiji on a list of places we wanted to visit. I had looked up other places both overseas and in Australia, but the package is available in Fiji we’re a lot better, both money wise and inclusion wise.
What was it that made you decide to elope?
An elopement style wedding was always on the cards for us, we have never wanted a big fuss of a wedding. We both love to travel and wanted to incorporate our wedding into that, so a relaxed elopement was the way to go. Barefoot on an island was definitely our style.
What attracted you to the resort? What were you looking for from a location and did it meet your expectations?
Once we started looking for places to get married in Fiji, Mana Island Resort always stayed on our list. I spent a good couple of months researching and looking for elopement packages or small wedding packages that a lot of the resorts we’re offering, but Mana Included all the things we were looking for, and for such a great price. Also, their response to my emails about booking a wedding were prompt and always friendly.
What we were looking for from them was to just take the stress out of planning the wedding day. Getting married internationally, it’s a lot harder to know what to plan yourself so the fact that they included a wedding coordinator to do that for you takes away so much stress . We just wanted a package that included a celebrant, a coordinator, the setup and decor, flowers, and music, which Mana’s package covered.
The package also included warriors, marriage certificate, a welcome board, a bottle of champagne and the options to add on photography, makeup and hair, and things such as a cake. All of these exceeded our expectation. I could never have imagined such beautiful flowers all set up.
How much involvement did you have in the day and what did you leave over to the resort?
I left a lot of the planning over to the wedding coordinator Ashika. Generally, I love to organise and plan things myself, so doing this was a little stressful, but I thought she knew what was best.
What did the pre-wedding timeline look like?
We planned and booked our wedding about 1 year out, so we didn’t hear from them for a few months.
About 5 months out we organised the extras of photography and hair and makeup. Mana gave us a few recommendations for both along with prices and packages.
About 3 months out, I asked about having a say in my flowers. They gave me a list of different bouquets they have organised before and I sent back the ones that I liked the look of the most.
1 month out, absolutely everything else was organised and decided on. They asked questions such as what colour themes we had (we didn’t have one so I just told them as bright as possible), and what beach we wanted the ceremony on.
Apart from this the resort took care of it all. And we couldn’t have been more impressed.
Walk us through the day:
The day was so much more relaxed than any wedding that I’ve seen or been a part of. Adrian and I stayed in the same room the night before our wedding, so the morning was just like any other morning, we just went for breakfast and had a walk on the beach as normal.
About 11:00 AM my hair and makeup artist Palavi from Totoka Hair & Make Up turned up at the room. It was really relaxed and we just chatted for a while and had some lunch ordered to the room before we needed to start getting ready.
About an hour before the wedding my flowers turned up at the door. When I opened the box, I was absolutely amazed. They were perfect. Truly the best bouquet I’ve ever seen.
As we were both getting ready in the same room, Adrian had already seen my hair and makeup, but he wasn’t going to see my dress until I walked down the aisle. So he got ready about half an hour early and went down to the ceremony site. Once he had left, Palavi helped me get into my dress and make sure everything was sorted. She was amazing. Then Ashika knocked at my door along with the two warriors ready to escort me down the aisle.
It wasn’t too far of a walk down the little path to get to our location. Once we arrived there that was the first time I had seen the decor and set up, and it was stunning. We had Fijian serenades playing and singing as I walked down the aisle. The whole ceremony was short and sweet but perfect. We had the signing of documents, and then, still with the band playing music, we got to pop the champagne and cut our cake, right there on the beach.
We wanted all the staff that had come out for it, to share the cake with us. So we all stood around dancing an eating cake. I remember looking at Adrian and saying how much fun we were having. We then had about half an hour of photography, on the beach and in a few other locations around the island. After this we had about an hour of downtime to call family and friends, before we had planned to have a private picnic on the other side of the island.
The staff picked us up in a buggy and took us to a secluded beach where they had set up a beautiful private picnic to watch the sunset.
Our wedding was such a fun and relaxed experience but also so romantic. Our room had been cleaned and decorated with gorgeous flowers on the bed and in the spa. Such a nice touch.
The next day, one of the singers from our wedding came to our room and sung for us, so we could record our first dance together. These were little touches that we didn’t expect.
What were you nervous about?
The setup and decor, I had no clue how it was going to look. But I could not have pictured a more incredible setup.
We were also a bit unsure about the feeling of the day. Being and elopement with just the two of us, we were a little concerned that the day might feel a little cold and have no feeling or romance about it. But the staff made all of those worries go away. We had about 15 or so staff watching our wedding and they made us feel as if we had loved ones and friends around us. Definitely nothing to worry about there was so much love around us.
What were the highlights for you?
The love we felt from the resort staff was beyond what we could have imagined. I cannot speak highly enough of them. Plus the fact that it was so relaxed. And the way we got married was “us”. No drama, just happiness and fun. No stress.
How do you feel about your decision to elope now you’ve done it?
We couldn’t be happier with our decision to alert. Looking back, it’s even better than what we wanted or could have ever imagined. It was 100% the right decision for us, we wouldn’t change a thing. It was perfect.
What is your advice for brides planning an elopement in Fiji?
Relax! I did stress out in the earlier stages of planning, as some emails don’t get a response right away, and I was stressing that everything wasn’t going to be planned. Just go with the flow, Fiji time is a thing, but things will get sorted.
Wait until about a month out, and everything gets answered and falls into place. Also, let them take some control. They know the best suppliers, how to decorate, etc, they do such a wonderful job.
Have fun. Really just relax and let go. We didn’t really know what we were going to do the night of our wedding. We ended up singing and dancing and swimming and it was just perfect. So just have fun. And don’t stress, there will be so much feeling in romance on the date, it’s the perfect place to elope.
Who Did They Use
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Wedding Venues
Mana Island Resort & Spa
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Fiji Wedding Photographers
Ocean Studio Fiji Photography
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Hair & Make Up
Totoka Hair & Beauty
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