High school sweethearts Autumn & Joel met when they were just teenagers back in 2005. Fifteen years later they celebrated their relationship in the most exotic and intimate of ways; marrying each other in a romantic waterfall setting in Ubud on the 25th February 2020.
It was a joyous day shared with family and friends all the way from the U.S.A, that was full of laughter, happy tears and dancing.
The meticulously chosen colour palette of soft natural pastels with contemporary floral choices complemented the natural tropical beauty and architectural textures at the Royal Pita Maha perfectly.
Fall in love with Autumn & Joel as we did, read on to find out all about their love story and wedding day….
Photography by JIWA
Tell us, how did you both meet?
“We were freshman in high school. We went to different schools. Our friends started to date and introduced us. We started flirting on myspace and finally went on an in person date at the movie theaters. The date was pretty awkward until Joel screamed in the movie theater to scare Autumn while watching a scary movie. That won Autumn over. We have been together ever since. ”
Tell us a little about yourselves…
“Joel is a real estate agent and Autumn works with his real estate team as the transaction manager. We are from the Pasadena area. We not only live together, we work together. We are with each other all day long and we wouldn’t have it any other way. ”
The ceremony location at the Waterfall at The Royal Pita Maha in Ubud
How did you know you had met ‘The One’?
“ Joel instantly thought Autumn was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. His heart dropped at first sight. Autumn thought Joel was extremely handsome with a great sense of humor.”
Tell us about your proposal
“A while back, we had planned a Japan trip this past November. Joel thought it would be the perfect time to propose. Hearing so many stressful proposal stories, Joel wanted to go off of pure feeling, energy and spontaneousness. The day was beautiful and the sky was blue. The Osaka castle was surrounded by trees that were perfectly colored because of the time of year. It was the "Autumn" season. On brick walls of Osaka Castel Joel dropped on one knee and ask for Autumn's hand in marriage. We stood in that stop for an hour just staring at each other which an incredible high intensity of love and emotion.”
What was the inspiration behind your wedding?
“ The inspiration was to really capture the natural beauty of Bali. We really wanted to make sure we incorporated the beauty of the land and the spirit.“
Why did you choose Bali as the location for your destination wedding?
“ Joel and Autumn love to travel the world. The wedding in Bali was planned before the actual proposal. We love living our life to our own drum. We live it uniquely. We were going to Bali for Joel’s 30th birthday and in celebration the most important people in our lives were able to attend. Since we had so many people close to us already going to Bali, Joel thought we might as well get married. We then converted our trip to a 30th bday celebration for Joel which is Feb 24th and our wedding celebration on the 25th.”
Why did you choose The Royal Pita Maha as your wedding venue?
“The Royal Pita Maha by far was the most beautiful place we had seen for wedding venues in Ubud. We really wanted to capture the essence of how beautiful Ubud is and how beautiful the nature is. The moment we saw The Royal Pita Maha and the waterfall in the background we knew it was meant to be. It exceeded our expectations.”
What was your favourite part of the day?
“ The whole day was so unique and beautiful in its own way. It is really hard to say which part was our favorite because every moment was amazing.”
How did you find the perfect dress?
“I looked for the perfect dress for sometime. I was able to find it with my cousin at the spot I did not plan on finding my dream dress. Everything happens for a reason. ”
What were your favourite details that you chose for your day?
“The favorite details were the color schemes. We were very adamant of having pastels and tropical vibes.”
What were the most memorable moments for you?
“Moments we will never forget it the DJ and how much people danced. The moment the music started no one went back to their seat. Everyone just partied the night away. We also loved the Balinese Dancers. They really brought the Balinese culture to our wedding and everyone was blown away by their performance.”
Speeches
The First Dance
Where did you splurge and where did you save?
“We definitely splurged on the Photographer/Videographer & the DJ. Those two were the most important for us and they both did amazing. We saved on the decorations for the wedding. Bali and The Royal Pita Maha is so beautiful within it self that a lot for decor was not needed.”
Was there anything that Botanica Weddings could have done better for you?
“NO WAY! Botanica is amazing! I try to convince all of my friends who are getting married to get married in Bali so they can experience this amazing wedding planning team. We cannot say enough great things about them.”
Any words of advice for future brides and grooms-to-be?
“ I would say just be present for your wedding. The wedding day goes by in a blink of an eye, so it was really important for Joel and I to be truly present and not stress about the little things.”
Is there a #1 top relationship tip you have for anyone getting married?
“Communication. Communication is key in a relationship. It has brought so much ease to our relationship because we have learned how to communicate properly with each other.”
And finally, where did you honeymoon?
“ Since we were in Bali after the wedding we took that as our honeymoon as well. We also were able to visit Vietnam as well. “
All of the beautiful images were captured by JIWA
Wedding Planning by Botanica Weddings
Furniture Hire & Florals by Kreatif by Design
Venue location The Royal Pita Maha
Hair & Makeup by Fikri Halim
The bride’s shoes are by Steve Madden
The groom was dressed by Men’s Warehouse
Watch their wedding video here:
The Wedding Video of Autumn & Joel