How to Elope in Bali: Elopement Packages for Two (2026–27)

In Bali, eloping means a small ceremony, usually for two and sometimes for up to 10 guests, led by a celebrant, recorded by a photographer and often followed by a private dinner. Planners also sell it as a wedding for two, an intimate wedding or a vow renewal. With no reception to organise, you can marry in places a full wedding could never fit, such as a waterfall or a rice-terrace path.

A symbolic elopement has no legal force. A celebrant leads the vows you have written and you sign a commemorative certificate; the legal marriage happens at home, before or after the trip. Nearly all Bali elopement packages are symbolic, and celebrants from Australia and other countries can only lead symbolic ceremonies here.

A legal elopement is possible, but only through the full Indonesian process: you both declare the same recognised religion, hold a religious ceremony, bring a certificate of no impediment (or your embassy's equivalent letter) with sworn translations, and register with the civil registry in front of two adult witnesses. You give notice about 10 working days before the date. Bali Wedding Butler sells a legal elopement at a pool villa or a sunset beach venue for IDR 20,300,000 net, paperwork included.

See our guide to getting legally married in Bali. Rules change, so confirm the current document list with your embassy and the civil registry before you book.

An elopement in Bali costs from about IDR 18 million for the essentials to more than IDR 140 million for a multi-day trip with a destination photographer. The difference comes down to what is included.

What's included, and what isn't

Most packages cover the celebrant, set-up, flowers, a coordinator and a certificate. Planner packages usually include photography; resort packages rarely do. Two hours of photography covers the ceremony and portraits in one spot; four hours adds getting ready or a second location. Hair and makeup, transport, site and private-hire fees, dinner, video, and tax and service usually cost extra ("++" adds 21%).

Add-ons and their usual prices

• Bridal bouquet: about IDR 2.7 million
• Hair and makeup for the bride: about IDR 3–5.5 million
• Ceremony arch upgrade: about IDR 6.4 million
• Video: from about IDR 3 million as a photography add-on
• Acoustic duo: from about IDR 5 million

For a fixed, all-in price, Amora Bali Weddings sells elopements by setting from about IDR 32 million net, with venue, flowers, photography, hair and makeup, celebrant and coordination included. Work out your own figures in the wedding budget planner, or see our Bali wedding cost guide if the guest list grows.

The limestone cliffs around Uluwatu give the classic Bali elopement picture: vows above the Indian Ocean as the sun goes down. The best spots are on private land, so packages include a reservation or landowner fee. Near Candidasa on the east coast, the grassy hills of Bukit Asah are far quieter.

Alila Villas Uluwatu builds its elopement packages around the Cliff-Edge Cabana, a timber pavilion over the ocean. The Ungasan Clifftop Resort offers an elopement in a clifftop villa or on its South Lawn. The Edge's Intimate Wedding takes up to 10 guests and includes a villa night. Strong winds blow in July and August, so pin veils and ask for a weighted arch.

Rice terraces give you soft morning light and layers of green. Tegallalang, north of Ubud, is the best known but gets busy from mid-morning. Jatiluwih in Tabanan is a wide UNESCO-listed landscape with quiet paths, and Sidemen in the east adds views of Mount Agung. Sites charge a small entry fee, and your planner pays any shoot fee.

Terraces follow the planting cycle, so a field may be freshly harvested or flooded on your date; ask your photographer to check the week before. Paths are narrow and muddy, which rules out long trains. Capella Ubud can hold its couple-only ceremony at its bale in a rice field north of Ubud, with a celebrant, rindik music and dinner; a two-night tent stay is required.

Waterfall elopements are held in the morning, before day-trippers arrive and while the light still sits in the gorge. Tibumana, east of Ubud, is the easiest: a short walk to a single fall that drops into a pool. Planners can reserve the falls privately for about two hours.

Tukad Cepung, a fall inside a narrow canyon in Bangli, is reached by steep steps and wet rocks, so it suits portraits more than a ceremony. Sekumpul and Banyumala in the north mean a long drive and many steps; stay nearby the night before. After heavy rain, falls run brown and some pools close, so keep a flexible date in the wet season.

Bali's beaches are public, so pick a quiet stretch or a resort frontage. Nyang Nyang, below the Uluwatu cliffs, is long and nearly empty because of the walk down. Melasti has white cliffs but draws crowds at sunset. Sanur and Nusa Dua face the sunrise over calm, reef-sheltered water, and Jimbaran pairs a sunset ceremony with seafood on the sand. Some beaches charge an entrance fee for the couple and the photo crew.

Happy Bali Wedding prices its commitment ceremony for two separately from the beach venue. Hyatt Regency Bali in Sanur has a couple's package with décor, a bouquet, dinner for two and a massage; the celebrant and rooms are extra, and a two-night stay is required. Conrad Bali in Nusa Dua holds ceremonies for two in its glass chapel facing the sea. At COMO Canggu, the Skyline Wedding is a ceremony for two in the rooftop penthouse above Echo Beach, with three nights included.

The river valleys around Ubud hold most of Bali's elopement-ready resorts, and a resort solves two problems of public sites: crowds and the lack of rain cover. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan hosts vows for two at its rooftop Lotus Pond, with flowers, a frangipani aisle and Balinese umbrellas. Samsara Ubud's elopement includes a celebrant, two pool-villa nights and a five-course dinner, and Capella Ubud's riverside camp is the priciest of the three.

Bambu Indah, also in Ubud, offers its bamboo Tree House for elopements, with a plated dinner and a night there, and Aksari Resort Ubud's Bronze Blessing for two includes two forest-suite nights and a candlelit dinner. Maya Ubud also sells an elopement with a celebrant and two nights' stay. A private villa is the budget route, but check the event fee and any community (banjar) fee first.

Nusa Penida's cliffs, from Kelingking to Diamond Beach, are the most dramatic backdrop near Bali. The catch: you cross by fast boat from Sanur, island roads are slow, and boats can be cancelled in rough seas. Spend the night on the island, marry the next morning, and leave a spare day before your flight home.

Since 1 September 2026, the island has charged a "One Gate One Destination" levy: a fixed fee at the port plus tickets for participating sites, including Kelingking, bought in advance by QR code. Check the current amount before you travel. At Kelingking, keep the ceremony at the viewpoint, well back from the edge, and skip the descent in wedding clothes; falls here have been fatal. Nusa Lembongan, closer and calmer, is the easier option.

For cool air and mist, head for the highlands. Lake Tamblingan, above Munduk, has a lakeside temple, forest all round and dugout canoes on the shore; it is best at dawn. Kintamani, on the rim of the Batur caldera, gives wide volcano views and, on clear mornings, a sunrise above the clouds. Both are two to three hours from south Bali, so stay the night before. Hold the ceremony near a temple rather than inside it, and pack a jacket for the cold mornings.

There is no national wedding permit for a symbolic ceremony, but small fees add up. Every foreign visitor pays the Bali tourist levy of IDR 150,000 per trip. Beaches, waterfalls and rice terraces charge a small entry fee. Some beaches, waterfalls and private clifftops also charge for ceremonies, private time or photo crews, so check which fees your package covers. Drones need the landowner's permission, and many sites ban them. Temples are not wedding venues for visitors; for a photo stop, wear a sarong and sash.

Sunrise in Bali falls between about 5:48 AM (November) and 6:35 AM (July), and sunset between about 6:06 PM (late May) and 6:47 PM (late January). Sunrise gives empty locations, cool air and soft light, at the cost of a 3 AM or 4 AM start for hair and makeup. Sunset brings golden light on the cliffs, but busier viewpoints.

Waterfalls, rice terraces and the east coast suit the morning; Uluwatu, Jimbaran and Canggu suit sunset. Start a sunset ceremony 60–90 minutes before the sun goes down to leave time for portraits. Our month-by-month guide covers seasons and holidays.

Your photographer often guides the whole day. Ask how many hours and edited images you get, when they arrive, whether travel outside south Bali costs extra, and who pays site fees. Iwan Photography covers elopements with two photographers from IDR 7,900,000, and Agra Photo & Film's four-hour Intimate Affair starts at IDR 8,500,000. Dedot Photography shoots in a candid, documentary style from IDR 13,000,000. For a clifftop elopement, Veli Photography knows the venues around Uluwatu well. Compare more Bali wedding photographers.

A symbolic celebrant writes the ceremony with you, leads it and signs the certificate. Bali Moon Wedding has English- and German-speaking celebrants from IDR 4,000,000, and Tina Boné leads elopements for two and helps you draft your vows. For a Balinese touch, a pemangku (temple priest) can bless you with offerings and a flower shower: Happy Bali Wedding's blessing for two costs IDR 11,000,000, and Lily Wedding Services pairs a symbolic ceremony with a blessing. Read about the Balinese wedding ceremony or browse celebrants.

Dress for heat and terrain. Silk, chiffon, crepe or linen stays comfortable; heavy satin and long trains suit neither wet rocks nor sand. For waterfalls and rice terraces, choose a hem you can lift, and bring flat sandals or reef shoes. On a beach, go barefoot or wear flats; heels sink. On clifftops, pin veils and hair against the wind. A pale linen suit works for the groom. For a blessing or temple stop, cover shoulders and knees and wear a sarong and sash. Balinese outfits, with hair and makeup for both of you, cost about IDR 5.5 million.

The rainy season runs roughly from November to March. The 2026–27 season is expected to start late, in December across most of Bali, and to peak in February 2027. Rain usually comes in short, heavy bursts in the afternoon or at night, so mornings are often clear.

• Book a morning ceremony in the wet season.
• Choose a setting with a covered back-up, such as a villa, a bale or Samsara Ubud's indoor yoga room.
• Ask whether a marquee is required: Capella Ubud makes one compulsory in the rainy season, at extra cost.
• Agree a back-up time or second date for outdoor portraits with your planner and photographer.
• Pack two clear umbrellas; they photograph well.

A sunset clifftop elopement in the dry season might run like this:

• 1 PM: hair and makeup at your villa.
• 3 PM: getting-ready photos of the rings, flowers and written vows.
• 3:45 PM: drive to the clifftop.
• 4:30 PM: first look and portraits.
• 5 PM: a 20–30-minute ceremony, then a toast.
• 5:30–6:20 PM: golden-hour portraits until sunset.
• 7 PM: private dinner.

For a waterfall or rice terrace, flip it: hair and makeup from 4 AM, the ceremony around 7 AM, portraits until 9 AM, then a long breakfast. When you are ready, browse the Bali wedding venues in our directory that host ceremonies for two.