Bali Expat Forum - Bali Travel Forum

We (Balinese wife & bule) are married abroad and we live abroad. We now would like to have a Balinese wedding during our forthcoming holidays in Bali to satisfy relatives and Gods. We are less interested to satisfy the local bureacracy and thus like to avoid a local civil marriage which does not come with any advantages but just could spoil our holidays because of bureaucratic hassles. In other words: just a nice ceremony in the banjar and no change of religion, lawyers, documents, etc. Can it be done? Thanks for any input.

Sure this can be done. Your wife should discuss this with her father as head of her family. He in turn will consult with the head of his banjar and the high priest that normally “handles” the private religious ceremonies in your village…such as marriages, otons, tooth filing, etc. The high priest will normally be the one to select the “good days” for this to happen, so you may want to know these dates before you plan to travel over here to Bali.

Normally this is a two day event, but it can be condensed into one full day…one VERY long and full day!

One thing that you will need to do is to convert to Hindu prior to the ceremony. This can be done at the office of religion. Each regency has one, and again, your in-laws can help with all of that. Cheers and good luck!

PS, Jungle Run Productions here in Ubud made an hour long film of our wedding ten years ago, and I must say, there are quite a number of very funny moments. My only advice is to “go with the flow” and don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself. It is most definitely worth doing this, as it will mean a GREAT deal to both your wife, and her entire family. Selamat!

Sounds Fun! a wedding with no legal recorse,im game for my next one! hahaha When My uncle apologized for missing my last one, I told him he can come to my next one....

Want me to "fix you up" with Kablut froggy? She's still single!

If she didnt have a unibrow and legs like a horse, although She must be a goddess, a fine mixture of a cyclops and a centaur... Will you throw in a flea collar with her? Just think how Robin would feel if Kablut was raising Molly! hahaha Mabey you are onto something there Roy...