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Wedding | Krista & Nathan | Shangri La

Nathan met his future wife in 2018 at the Penrith Panthers League Club. Although she was initially talking to one of his friends, Nathan persuaded her to follow his Instagram business page. The next day, she received a friend request from his personal account, which she initially ignored, thinking he wasn’t her type. However, after agreeing to go out to dinner with him, the two quickly became inseparable.

From the beginning, Nathan told her she wasn’t going anywhere, and although she jokingly told her family about her “stage five clinger,” they predicted she’d marry him one day. Now, six years later, they’re married, with two young children and a poodle completing their family.

Nathan originally planned to propose in Fiji on a private island, but due to COVID border concerns, he quickly had to come up with a new plan. On Christmas Eve, he placed a special gift under the tree, which his partner opened the next morning with their daughter by their side. Inside was a box that read, “Will you marry me?”—all caught on video, as they record themselves opening presents each year.

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Review: Shangri La Resort upgrade 2019

One of the things we love doing at Bula Bride is getting to know the Vendors that are part of our directory, so that when we are asked for information about a location, product or service, we can provide personal and helpful insight or recommendation to the bride or groom. So when we were invited down to The Shangri La’s Fijian Resort and Spa in July, we (the kids and I) jumped at the chance as it had been about 2 years since our last proper visit.

The resort is the only island resort in Fiji connected to the mainland. Less than an hour from Nadi International Airport, you could be stepping into one of the resort’s three pools, or diving into the lagoon, which is unaffected by the tide. Spread across more than 100 hectares of private island are 443 bures, rooms and suites, all with unobstructed views of the Pacific Ocean or lagoon. It’s just a short trip to a very beautiful part of Fiji.

I had read the media releases saying Shangri-La has invested USD50 million to revitalise their resort (Fiji’s largest private-island resort) which included a world-class dining makeover, the establishment of an exclusive adults-only precinct and renovation of the function facilities. Hearing that the upgrade having given Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa a new lease of life, I looked forward to the opportunity to check this out in person!

So – the question for me was, is all the hype legitimate? Are the upgrades really that significant? Has the investment really bumped The Shangri La Resort up to the top of the list of being a world class destination to get married?

If you want to know what I think…read on!!

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Melanie & Geoffrey – Shangri La

Melanie & Geoffrey have done what so many couple are choosing to do these days – create an intimate family wedding that doubles as a holiday at the same time. The Shangri La is the perfect venue for this as it is a family resort, with adults only options and intimate ceremony locations available for smaller wedding parties. From every part of the resort, the views out to the ocean are simply stunning. We catch up with bride Melanie on planning her wedding in Fiji.

BRIDE & GROOM: Melanie & Geoffrey
THE DATE: 15 May 2019
THE LOCATION: Shangri-La Fiji
THE NUMBER OF GUESTS: 10 (including us)

We met through online dating and had our first date at a coffee shop about 2 years ago. I remember being so sick prior to our date and almost cancelling on him but my mum pushed me to go and it was the best decision of my life. Geoff always says he knew we would be together from the moment he saw me. We immediately hit it off and could not stop talking, we talked about everything (and we still do!). Geoff is everything I ever dreamed of and more. He is an amazing father to my son and I couldn’t imagine our lives without him in it.

We were going on a family holiday to the Shangri-La and decided to get married while we were all together. We wanted an intimate, family wedding and couldn’t think of a better time or place to get married. Researching and organising our wedding involved lots of googling and emails back and forth between the resort and me. We kept it pretty simple and went with the recommendations of the resort. My mum is a travel agent so she did a lot of the planning for us. There were a few hiccups from the resort but mum was able to liaise with them to sort it out.

I liked reading stories on Bula Bride about other people and how and what they decided to do as part of their ceremony. Seeing photos was also really inspirational.

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Ilaitia & Ché

Do I have a wedding to get back into the swing of things with! I found the wedding of Ilaitia & Ché on Instagram and it caught my attention, a stunning Shangri-La Fiji wedding that has all the elements of style and simplicity. Oh! and a whole lotta love!

Captured by destination wedding photographer Melissa Cowan, Ché shares with us the details of their day.

The Hair & Makeup

Mine and my bridesmaids hair was done by Totoka Hair Fiji. They were fantastic, so fun to have around on the day and very thorough. They also did 5 of my bridesmaids makeup. My sister Asher Gibbins of Asher Artistry was responsible for making me feel incredible by bringing to life my vision for my makeup. It lasted all night and I couldn’t be happier with the result. Asher works for MAC cosmetics in Melbourne and used all MAC products.

The Location
We were fortunate enough to have attended a wedding at The Shangri-La 5 years earlier when Ilaitias sister was married there. I had stored that chapel away in my mind for the future. This dominant white building sitting between leafy hedges on top of the perfectly manicured grass. The glass interior gives the feeling of being outside, looking out to the sea and up at the sky. A huge benefit that we had seen the venue before getting married there.

The Dress
I had a very clear image in my head of what I wanted my dress to look like for a very long time. I knew that searching the shops wasn’t going to come up with the goods so I looked online. I found a dress that had a similar skirt to what I wanted so I bought it very cheaply, with the intention of having it adapted to what I wanted. I took it to a dress maker in Spain where she added extra layers of tulle and tutu fabric to make it fuller and bigger. The top and skirt were two separate pieces. The top was custom made by the same dressmaker in Spain and final touch ups and alternations by a dressmaker in New Zealand. The top was all lace, with extra pieces of lace sewn into any gaps, as I didn’t want any skin showing. I then had a separate sweetheart neckline bodice made for later in the evening in case I got too hot. This dress is well traveled! I transported it as my hand luggage, all the way from Spain to New Zealand, and then of course to Fiji.

The Bridesmaids
All my bridesmaids dresses were different. I bought them all online (most through Asos) my intention being finding dresses that I loved and then deciding who I felt suited that particular dress. I didn’t intend on keeping to a particular colour theme but they turned out to go really well together. These women totally stole the show, they looked incredible.

The Highlight

Seeing everyone having such a good time was one of the highlights for me. When you plan a wedding, especially a destination wedding when everyone has spent so much money, taken time away from their lives to be there for you it means everything to have your guests enjoy their experience. And when you put so much effort into making it enjoyable, it’s so rewarding to look around and see everyone loving this experience.

The Advice
We were so lucky to have been to Fiji several times before and were able to check out venues. It can be hard planning a wedding in place you’ve never seen before so if it’s at all possible, I would suggest a little holiday to Fiji before your wedding to scope out the venues!

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Bowen & Samantha

It’s wedding season in Fiji and I am loooooooving seeing all the beautiful weddings happening over the past couple of months. Thank you to all the brides and photographers tagging BB on social and sending through weddings for me to see.

2016 has seen Fiji up it’s game in terms of weddings. Some are super styled in fine tropical form and others still perfectly simple, but couples aren’t shying away for adding their flavour to their day in terms of style.

One of these is the Shangri-La Fiji Wedding of Bowen & Sam. After getting engaged in Hawaii, and Fiji always having a place in Samantha’s heart – a tropical destination for their big day only seemed fitting.

Moments captured by Destination Wedding Photographer Dean Shnushall.

Bride’s Advice

Fiji is an amazing and beautiful place. It has had my heart since I was a little girl and I know I will always return to it. When planning a Fijian wedding, make sure you take a deep breath and go with the flow. Not everything will go exactly as you may have planned but it will be an amazing experience. Looking back on our day, it was perfect and we would not change a thing.