Christine & Bradley — A Beachfront Wedding at Amari Phuket

Christine (Cookie) and Bradley booked Amari Phuket in late October 2022 for a beachfront wedding at the year's close. Over two months of quiet planning we shaped a small, close-family ceremony for twelve — a lilac, lavender and white palette, a semi-circle ceremony on the beachfront lawn, a Thai set-menu dinner, and Paul as celebrant. On 29 December 2022 we held it together from the arch to the last frame.

Initial coordination — October to November 2022

Christine and Bradley reached us in late October 2022 for a wedding at the year's close. Once availability was confirmed at Amari Phuket, we set the working framework the way we set every one of these files: a shared Google Doc for design and vows, a schedule the couple could see the shape of, and a single point of contact through Paul and the team. From the first exchange the palette was theirs — lilac, lavender and white — and the couple wrote back with specific, considered notes on what they wanted and what they did not.

A restrained design — lilac, lavender and white

Through the shared document Christine personalised the design with unusual discipline. Rather than layer lilac into the setting itself she asked us to hold the ceremony clean — no lilac drapes, no coloured petals — and to concentrate the palette on the details that mattered to her: the bouquets, the table styling, and the wedding cake. The cake was drawn together with the pastry team as a two-tier vanilla and chocolate, dressed in lace and lilac accents. It is a good example of the kind of restraint we like: colour where it earns its place, and a ceremony arch that lets the beach be the beach.

Logistics and refinements — December 2022

As the wedding approached, the file shifted from design to logistics. The dinner format was moved from the resort's standard wedding buffet to a Thai set menu, and the guest count was finalised at twelve — a small, close family celebration. Christine asked for the ceremony seating to be arranged in a semi-circle (a U-shape) rather than the more common two-sided aisle: the intent was that no one would sit behind the couple, and that the ceremony would feel inclusive of every guest. Hair and makeup for six additional guests was added to the day-of run sheet, and we booked a pre-wedding meeting for 28 December so the couple could sit with Paul, walk the beach, and finalise the ceremony in person.

Crafting the ceremony with Paul

Paul, as celebrant, worked closely with Christine and Bradley to draft the vows and set the music. Their aisle walk was set to Yiruma's River Flows in You — a piece the couple asked for by name — and the rest of the ceremony script was tightened until it read the way they wanted it read. This is the part of the file we treat most carefully: the words spoken at the arch belong entirely to the couple, and our job is to make sure the celebrant delivers them in the way they were written.

The evening — 29 December 2022

After the ceremony the party moved into dinner — the Thai set menu the couple had chosen with the resort's F&B team, in a setting that carried the same lilac accents from the ceremony forward without over-styling the room. Christine and Bradley's own words after the day were the ones we finished the file on: a wonderful experience, a memorable evening.

Post-wedding wrap-up — January 2023

The file closed in early January 2023 with the last administrative pieces: settling the balances for the added hair and makeup, and delivering the photographs and the wedding film with private links and passwords so Christine and Bradley could share them with family and friends at their own pace. Their feedback was quiet and generous — they were pleased with the music choices in the film and the way the team had held the day — and Paul invited them to record a short video testimonial for the archive.