Relaxation and Wedding Planning (Can you say that in the same sentence?!)

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We flew into Phuket and made our way to good old Deevana Plaza hotel in Patong. I have stayed here previously and after getting a good deal we decided to split our time with 3 nights here and then head to Rawai Beach for the last 3 nights and a bit more chill time!



During our three days at Deevana, we spent some time wandering around Patong, swimming, lazing and eating at local restaurants. We had come to do some research for our upcoming wedding in January wanting to research various options. Todd’s Mum was coming to the wedding in a wheelchair so our main focus was to make sure everything we did was wheelchair friendly. Sadly Jenny passed away from cancer this April and was too sick to make it to the wedding… so we had a separate wedding in our hometown before going especially for her (another blog). At the time she had not been diagnosed so everything had to be wheelchair friendly. To be honest Phuket was the last place I wanted to get married in, but upon researching all our South East Asian options we quickly realised that Phuket was the only guaranteed wheelchair friendly location.



We met one day with Gina Smith, the photographer I had picked from all my prior research. She was wonderful and sent a driver to come get us (John) who took us to meet her at a venue we were considering (Gina is also a wedding planner so if you are looking for a photographer and/or wedding planner in Phuket she is definitely highly recommended).



We met at Kang Eng @ Pier to discuss the photography side of things and other options. She then got her driver John to take us around a few different options all over the island so we could get a feel for different places. There were so many amazing options!



We also had an appointment at Katathani Resort at Kata Beach, where we eventually ended up getting married, meeting with the wedding coordinator there for a look around and discussion.



The following day we hired John to drive us around sightseeing. We visited the Kok Chang Elephant camp near Kata to feed the elephants, Wat Chalong, the Big Buddha and also got him to take us to the wharf where you can catch free long tails across to the floating seafood restaurants. We went to Bang Mud seafood and picked out our fresh fish… which was lovely at the time, but our tummy’s did feel a little dodgy later that night (not 100% if it was too blame but we were quick to get the azithromycin in our bellys just in case)!!



After all our wedding prep had been done, we moved hotels down to the amazing Navatara at Rawai Beach for three blissful days. We were in a pool access room and had the amazing Phuket Fit Gym across the road where we did a few workouts. There was also a cool café next door that served protein shakes and healthy meals. Another restaurant we went to a couple of times was just up from Navatara on the same side of the road which I don’t know the name of but was a cheap local family restaurant (near the Family Mart walking away from Rawai Beach).



The day we checked out of Deevana Plaza we were picked up to go on a tour with Captain Mark of Phuket Sail Tours. I have done a few of Mark’s tours and he is someone I consider a dear friend.



We took all our luggage with us and they stored it at the Office while we set out on the sailboat. We were lucky enough to have Captain Mark with us on our trip. It was a wonderful day relaxing tanning and eating… when we got back to the office panic set in when we realised that our luggage had accidentally gone with another couple heading for the airport lol. A quick phone call to the driver and it was all sorted meeting him on the road back from the airport on our way to the hotel.



One night we decided to go to Kang Eng @ Pier for sunset and dinner to suss out the vibe for our wedding. We hired a motorbike from our resort and set off for a cruise. We looked like dumb and dumber cruising down the highway at 40km a hour!!



It was awesome. We were sitting under a large tree right alongside the beach. We started getting rained on while sitting there… we at least thought it was rain as it was only little sprinkles and were slightly confused as we were under a tree and no one else seemed bothered. Eventually we mentioned it to the waitress who giggled and told us we were actually being pissed on by the cicadas in the trees… true story – google Cicadas ‘weeing’!



As cute as it was, we asked to move away from the tree before our meal arrived as the vision of Cicada pee on our meal didn’t really appeal.



The next day we went for a cruise on the motorbike feeling all badass risking our lives on the road! We did some general sightseeing then called it a day eating a final meal at our hotel before packing our bags for the journey home the following day.



It all went too quickly but was a successful trip for Todd’s first “Reety adventure”.



Todd loved Cambodia beyond measure. We often talk about our time there and are heading back for 9 wonderful nights on our honeymoon this October staying a few nights at the wonderful Navutu Resort as a splurge before going to LaDear for the final 6. He was not impressed with Thailand and stated that if it wasn’t for our wedding he would not have bothered going back… but hey that was the risk going to Cambodia first then Thailand second.



Next blog: Our Thailand Wedding

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