Newbie - August Bora Bora wedding

[ornxoxo]

Originally Posted by FIFAbride 

 

Hi everyone,

My fiance and I live in Texas and are getting married this August in Bora Bora.  When we get home we are having a very small party for our immediate family and very close friends.  

 

Congratulations!!!!  I think Bora Bora is every girl’s dream place for honeymoon.  At least, it is for me.  I’ve never thought of having a wedding there.  It sounds super exciting!

 

If you don’t mind me asking, how expensive is it to have a wedding there?  Do you go through a travel agent?  Is it common that they have a wedding package?

[FIFAbride]

First of all, no one is going with us!  It is not a cheap place to visit.  This was a topic of discussion and if it would be a deal breaker. Kind of bitter sweet, we don't have to plan events for everyone just what we want to do, but they won't be there to see our 30 minute ceremony.   We have chosen to document everything with photos and videos for our family and friends.  We are having a small AHR when we get back for about 50 people.  

 

This will most likely be a once in a lifetime trip for us so we wanted to make sure we did the things we would really enjoy.  So, we are staying in an over the water bungaloo and chosen other activities during our time there that we would really enjoy as individuals and as a couple.  

 

Our ceremony includes: 

priest

musicians

dancers

flower crowns

my bouquet

our chosen arch decoration

2 pareos

2 flower leis

couples massage the morning of

bottle of champagne

cake

dinner on the beach at our choice of times, we chose that night after the ceremony

I will be taken to the beach in a car, they pick up my fiance in a canoe and take him

my hair and make up

 

All of this 1800.00.  There are other packages, cheaper and more expensive, you can choose, this is just the one we liked.

 

We chose to go with an independent photographer.  We got a much better deal and highly qualified photographer.  It might be over kill but we chose a 3 hour package and we get 300 pics for only 600.00.  I was very nervous about this part, but I have seen her work and even corresponded with people who have used her.

 

Hope the info helps.

[ornxoxo]

That sounds awesome! I can picture your wedding to be so beautiful. Wedding and honeymoon on a bungalow over water. Have an amazing time! Thank you for sharing your info.

[AlisonDawn]

Oooh! Congratulations!!! My husband and I went to Bora Bora for our honeymoon just a few months ago! It is so beautiful! You guys are going to have such a wonderful wedding!!

[FIFAbride]

Thank you so much!  That is so awesome that you just vacationed there.  We are really looking forward to it.   Any advice or must do's?

[AlisonDawn]

My best advice is to bring a good camera and make sure you bring enough memory cards for it!  We were there for 2 weeks and took ALOT of pictures (I'm talking 3000 or more! Lol!)  Of course a lot of them were taken just to get the perfect picture of something and experimenting with different camera settings, but it was nice not to have to worry about it and it was super fun taking tons of pics.

 

There are lots of "must do's" there, but I'll share some of our best memories while we were there. 

Most people head to the main island on the water shuttles and then grab a taxi into the main village (Vaitape), but you can rent bikes once you get there and ride there yourself. We were a little nervous at first, since we thought we might overheat, so we went in the morning, and my husband brought a backpack which we filled with lots of water.  It was probably one of the best days we had! It was fantastic to take in the scenery that way, and the people there are so friendly, always waving when we rode by.  We could also stop whenever we wanted to take pictures! haha

Oh and if you DO head to the village, no matter how you plan on getting there, bring a backpack and stock up on snacks because they are EXPENSIVE at the resorts. As is sunscreen... if you need extra, buy it in the village. 

 

I would also recommend doing some scuba diving while you are there. We took a beginners course as we had never done it before and it was so AMAZING.

 

What resort are you staying at? We stayed at Le Meridien, and if you are at all close to that I'd recommend popping over there for a visit to see the turtle sanctuary. I spend a few hours there daily, and there is a glass window looking into the water for some awesome pictures. The best time to go is 30mins before they feed the turtles (10am I think).  The turtles know feeding time is coming, so they are all in one spot waiting, and you can get lots of pictures in before everyone else shows up!

 

If you are into tattoos, once of the best tattoo artists is in Bora Bora. You tell him what you want, where, and what size, and thats all you get to know. They are tribal, so just in black ink, but he freehands every single tattoo.. so he just makes it up as he goes. He is amazing and his tattoos are incredible! His tattoo shop is called Marama tattoo if you are interested. My husband and I both got tattoos there the day before we had to leave

 

I could probably go on and on and on, but this post is long enough! hahaha

[sswed13]

Bora Bora Bottle! Congrats:) I cant wait to see your pics

[MsBrynn]

Congratulations!! I've wanted to go there ever since I saw "Couples Retreat"! LOL
 

[2bmrstremblay]

Wow sounds and looks fantastic. I am sort of envious of the fact that you get to have such a private ceremony...I am sure that your family and friends will love to see the video and pictures from the trip though. 

Also the price sounds quite reasonable for what you are getting...hope you have an amazing time!!!

[FIFAbride]

Thank you everyone.  And thank you Alison for all of the great info.  We planned our trip to make sure we get to do everything that we really want to and included plenty of down time for relaxing and to add anything we want to experience.  So far we are going hiking, photo lagoon cruise, scuba diving, spa the morning after the wedding, snorkeling, rays and sharks.  We are staying at the Hilton.  The best part is that we get our lagoon cruise pics at the end of that trip and we get our wedding pics with in 48 hours.