Alila Ubud was drawn as a village. The architect Kerry Hill laid out the resort in the central foothills of Gianyar as a Balinese hillside settlement, with its own community centre and pedestrian lanes, rather than as one building with wings. That plan shapes a wedding here more than any single view does. The day moves between gardens, terraces and pavilions, and guests walk from one to the next along paths designed to be walked.
Couples can marry here in a blessing for two, in a garden ceremony of up to 100 guests, or take the whole village for a weekend. Each option has its own corner of the hillside, and each looks out over the valley of the Ayung River.
A village drawn by Kerry Hill
Kerry Hill was an Australian architect whose practice influenced resort design across Southeast Asia for around four decades. At Alila Ubud his team set modern geometry against Balinese references, in a design meant to blend into its setting rather than stand apart from it. The rooms and villas look out over the valley from the slope, in a layout designed to resemble a Balinese village.
The Terrace Tree Villas show the approach most clearly. They were built from natural local materials, including recycled teak, with four poster beds, lantern lighting and balconies over the valley, each placed to feel open yet private from its neighbours. Today the resort has 56 rooms and 18 villas, 74 in all. The lower floor rooms have garden terraces, the higher floors balconies with jungle views, and the largest accommodation, the Two Bedroom Villa, has its own pool, outdoor tubs and a separate dining area.
The range of accommodation matters for a wedding party. The rooms come as Superior and Deluxe, and the villas as Valley, Pool, Forest Edge and Terrace Tree types, so a group can be placed by size and by how much privacy each household wants. Families can have a villa to themselves, while friends travelling together can take rooms on the same terraces. Because the whole resort follows the village plan, none of these is a separate wing: every kind of stay shares the same lanes and the same view.
Above the Ayung valley
The village sits on the edge of the Ayung River valley, in the Payangan district about fifteen minutes from Ubud town. Below it the land falls away into jungle and terraced paddy, and the river runs through the bottom of the view. The Sculpture Garden looks out over layered greenery, and the resort speaks of soft breezes and the distant sound of the river.
This is working country as well as scenery. The resort has rice fields of its own, and guests are taught how the Subak irrigation system waters them, a method of sharing water between fields that Balinese farmers have used for centuries. Visitors who join the farming day plant rice with a local guide and are invited to plant a tree, a gesture that supports the preservation of the fields. The village of Payangan has a market, stocked with spices and fresh fruit, which the resort’s cycling journey visits, and the kitchen at Plantation Restaurant buys from local farmers as well as its organic garden. The landscape reaches the table as well as the view, and a wedding party staying for a few days is staying in a place that still farms.
The infinity pool belongs to the same view. Its long rectangle ends where the terraced hillside begins.
How a wedding moves through the village
The wedding offer follows the shape of the village, with a garden for each size of party. The smallest is Simply for Two at Bale Bengong, an open air Balinese pavilion where the couple have a blessing ceremony followed by a private five course dinner, an arrangement the resort designed around romance and privacy, entirely to themselves.
From there the ceremonies widen in steps. The Pool Garden holds up to 20 guests, and Sculpture Garden II up to 50, with a three course dinner afterwards, floral décor and the soft sound of Rindik, the bamboo instrument of Bali. Sculpture Garden I takes up to 100. After the ceremony guests walk to dinner at Cabana Terrace or Plantation Terrace, and a party in Sculpture Garden I can also dine beside the pool. The dinners are personalised, with floral details, curated entertainment and attentive service,.
The settings are offered as commitment ceremonies and blessings, and couples who need a legally recognised marriage should ask how that is arranged when they enquire.
Dinner under the thatch
Plantation Restaurant is the centre of the village at dinner. It is a wantilan style pavilion with tall coconut pillars and a traditional alang-alang thatched roof, open to the valley. The menu moves through the Indonesian archipelago, from a rijsttafel to dishes such as Thai green curry, and the kitchen says it draws on local farmers and its own organic garden. The resort’s dining pages promise authentic Balinese cooking alongside Western farm to table tasting menus, served among the coconut trees, so a wedding party with mixed tastes has both to choose from.
Cabana Lounge is the evening alternative. A two storey wall of Karangasem terracotta brick is lit for cocktails made with cold pressed juices and local infusions. On Mondays the resort stages a Barong Dance Night between 7 and 9 pm, which gives a wedding party staying midweek an evening out without leaving the grounds.
The whole village, for a weekend
For parties of up to 150 guests the Exclusive Jungle Wedding Buyout reserves the entire resort. It covers accommodation with daily breakfast, full access to the venues and facilities, a one time lunch and dinner for up to 150 guests, wellness activities and Spa Alila vouchers. With no other guests staying, the lanes, gardens and terraces are the wedding party’s alone.
Smaller weddings come with offers attached to each setting. Hyatt lists complimentary room upgrades on selected rooms, late check out, parking or valet service, a personalised welcome amenity, Wi-Fi in the event space and a complimentary or discounted wellbeing experience, with the exact terms agreed at booking. For a couple who also want a honeymoon, the resort presents the same hillside for a romantic stay after the ceremony, and Spa Alila treatments are part of the buyout package. World of Hyatt members who hold a wedding at a participating Hyatt hotel can also earn bonus points towards free nights through a honeymoon offer, with terms that apply.
Around the wedding
The resort’s Alila Moments give a wedding weekend its quieter hours, and the most fitting for a couple is the journey of purification and prayer. It takes guests to the compound of a Balinese high priest in Ubud for the Puja Mantra ritual and the Melukat blessing, in which blessed water is poured over the guest, followed by a guided meditation. Each guest receives a Tri Datu bracelet, woven in red, white and black as a symbol of protection, and the morning ends at the temple of Pura Gunung Kawi Sebatu, a Hindu temple in Sebatu village arranged around pools and ponds and dedicated to Vishnu. The resort notes that the visit has conditions for taking part, so it is worth asking when booking.
For the rest of a party there are gentler options. A cycling journey rides through the rice terraces to the Payangan market and a family compound, where guests share Balinese coffee and handmade snacks. A silversmith workshop lets a guest make a silver ring to take home, and Spa Alila offers treatments for those staying on. None of these is a wedding service as such, but each gives a group staying for a few days a reason to see the country around the resort.
Planning your wedding
The drive from Ngurah Rai International Airport takes about 75 minutes, longer at busy times, and the resort keeps a 24 hour front desk, with check in from 2 pm and check out at noon. Wedding pricing is given on request: Hyatt’s wedding page invites couples to ask for a proposal through the resort’s events team. Most of the wedding settings are outdoors, and Bali’s wet season generally runs from November to March, so couples marrying then should ask how each garden is covered in rain. The capacities above are taken from Hyatt’s wedding page, and larger parties should confirm numbers when they enquire.
A village for a wedding
Alila Ubud suits couples who would rather marry in a garden than a ballroom, and who like the idea of guests walking together through a place planned as a village. The plan, a settlement of lanes and gardens rather than a single building, is the reason to choose it. It is strongest for small and mid sized parties, where the four settings give clear choices, and for those who want a whole hillside to themselves.
See the Alila Ubud profile, read the Alila Ubud issue of the magazine or browse wedding venues in Indonesia. When you are ready, Check your date.
