Botanica Weddings

This is lengthy, but I feel it’s important to share our full experience so no other couple goes through what we did. We worked with Lana to plan our wedding at RPM.

Since we weren’t based in Bali, we were assured that the planners would guide us. Lana was warm and accommodating, though she mentioned she’d be handing us to a dedicated planner.

That never happened. Lana remained our planner. 3 months later, we were introduced to Rara, who was an absolute gem: prompt, proactive, and professional. Unfortunately, she left the company, and Lana returned, often unwell and unresponsive. With only a few months left, we still had no clear idea what our wedding would look like.

There was no consolidated plan, no styling board, and no clear vision of the setup. Lana often said she was busy or unwell, and while we empathized, it became clear she didn’t have the structure or support to manage an event of this scale.

Eventually, after raising our concerns, we were reassigned to Peta. She seemed responsive at first but soon repeated the same issues, constantly asking for information we had already shared multiple times.

When issues arose, she repeatedly said she was “just an employee” and that it wasn’t her responsibility. But she was our only point of contact. She also appeared confused about certain items in the company’s Poppy system, which she admitted she didn’t understand.

Rather than guiding us through the process, we constantly found ourselves guiding her.

The night before our wedding, we received a shocking email from Botanica threatening to postpone our wedding over unpaid invoices. This was especially baffling since we had already provided our credit card details, as agreed in the contract, for immediate billing. Peta was unreachable that night, claiming later that she was out at a party. Thankfully, Agoes stepped in to resolve the issue, but the damage was done. I spent that night in tears instead of excitement.

On the day of the wedding, things continued to go wrong.

According to the itinerary, Peta was supposed to escort me to the bridal prep room, but after everything the night before, I told my bridesmaids I didn’t want her there. She ignored that request. The Botanica staff didn’t even recognize my husband and asked for his name to check him off the guest list. The priest was sent to the wrong room, walking in on my undressed bridesmaids. The prep room had no shower, no proper door, and no lighting until we realized no one had inserted the key card. The makeup artist asked what look I wanted, even though I had sent all my inspiration photos months earlier which they never received them from Peta.

The ceremony itself was disorganized. Guests were not seated before we walked in. The key moment when the priest announced the necklace ritual, which was meant to be accompanied by a specific part of the music, was completely missed. My husband’s name was mispronounced throughout the ceremony. The running joke now is that I married some other man.

During the garden party, guests were ushered away to the lobby far too early. They were left waiting for nearly an hour with no direction or information.

When the Kecak dance began, we discovered that everyone had a seat except us, the bride and groom.

The itinerary Brett was following was not the one we had agreed on with Peta. As a result, parts of the event were rushed and poorly timed.

Our reception entrance was botched, one door was locked, forcing us to enter one by one instead of as a couple. The groom’s performance was moved to a poorly lit corner without informing us, and several fans we paid for weren’t plugged in or switched on until we personally asked the staff to do it.

Through all of this, it was only thanks to Brett, Agoes, and Jodi that the event didn’t completely fall apart.

Our wedding day, a day that should have been filled with joy, became one of stress, disappointment, and frustration. I honestly feel cheated.

Please don’t make promises you can’t keep. No couple deserves to have their wedding experience ruined like this.