They say the best memories are made when things don’t go according to plan. Our Pre-Wedding Shoot (PWS) in Bali and Labuan Bajo was proof of that.
The Original Itinerary
We had everything mapped out with military precision:
🟣Day 1: Fly to Bali, connect straight to Labuan Bajo. Rest, relax, settle in.
🟡Day 2: Two dream locations: Pink Beach (after a one-hour speedboat ride) and a sunset hike up the iconic Padar Island peak.
🟢Day 3: Fly back to Bali for a restful day.
🔴Day 4: Sunrise shoot at Pinggan Hill, then Hutan Pinus Lestari, followed by a break before sunset at Mengening Beach.
🔵Day 5: A breathtaking finale, sunrise at Lake Tamblingan and a shoot at Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfall. Then fly back to Singapore.
Seven locations, multiple outfits, and a storybook sequence that we thought was bulletproof.
Our dream team was set too:
✔️Darren, our head photographer
✔️Xinyi, assistant photographer and drone operator
✔️Our Bali-based MUA, Yuka
✔️And us: the couple, wide-eyed and ready for adventure
The Twist at Denpasar
Reality, however, had its own script. Our Scoot flight landed in Bali an hour late. That single delay caused us to miss our connecting domestic flight to Labuan Bajo. 🌝
So there we were, standing at the baggage carousel at Denpasar International, waiting for the team’s luggage… while our MUA was already at the domestic terminal, boarding pass in hand, ready to fly off to Labuan Bajo.
I had two choices in that moment:
1️ Stick stubbornly to the original plan: fork out $300+ per pax (we were four people in total) for the next available flight, on top of losing hours of daylight and energy.
2️ Call it, pivot, and reimagine the shoot entirely.
The practical side of me knew the answer. It just didn’t make sense to bleed our budget dry when flexibility was possible.
The Call
I told the team: “We’re staying in Denpasar.”
That meant reworking the entire itinerary on the spot: new accommodation, new shoot locations, and a total shuffle of our expectations. The moment that sealed it? Sending a last-minute message to our MUA just as she was about to board the Labuan Bajo flight.
Imagine explaining to airport staff that you’re not boarding your flight anymore, not because you missed it, but because your clients just changed plans. She bailed at the gate, met us at an A&W in the domestic terminal, and that’s how our ‘new plan’ officially began.
It was chaotic, and honestly? A little hilarious. 😂
The Airport War Room
That A&W table turned into our command centre. Darren whipped out his laptop to start reworking the schedule with me, while my fiancé went off to buy me food (hero). Our MUA gave valuable input on travel distances, where to stay, and how to sequence locations so the flow made sense.
In the end, we made a bold decision:
☀️Don’t waste the clear skies we had that very day.
☀️Book an Airbnb villa on the spot, check in, start makeup immediately, and rush to Mengening Beach for a sunset shoot.
Yes... straight from a missed flight into full makeup and gowns. Madddd. 🦚
Sunset Chaos at Mengening Beach
Because everything was so last-minute (and I was running on two hours of sleep from the night before), we didn’t even bring along a change of clothes. I went straight into the shoot with my red gown.
By the end of it, I was covered in Mengening’s famous magnetic black sand. Picture me at a public toilet, scrubbing it off and wringing out my wet, heavy gown before heading.. of all places... to an Italian restaurant for dinner. 🫣
Desperate times, desperate measures.
And yet… that dinner was unforgettable. The food was exquisite, and the staff didn’t bat an eye at me dragging sand and seawater across their floors. Instead, they politely cleaned up after us. I could have cried from the kindness (and the pasta). Riviera Cafe - if anyone's asking.
The Grind Continues
After all that, you’d think I finally got to crash and sleep. Nope.
Back at the villa, I managed to knock out at 10:30pm. But by 1:30am, I was back in the makeup chair. At 3:30am sharp, we left for the next sunrise location.
That means… I had three hours of sleep. Total.
How did I survive? Honestly, I think adrenaline (and sheer stubbornness) carried me through. The show must go on, right? 😆
Why I’m Sharing This with You
What most people don’t see behind the highlight reels is the inner tug-of-war that happens in moments of chaos.
When our Scoot flight landed late and we were still sitting on the plane, knowing we had just 1 hour and 15 minutes to clear immigration, collect our baggage, and transfer to the domestic terminal, my fiancé was determined to try. I understood why.. he didn’t want to spend “unnecessary” money when this PWS was already a huge expense, on top of the mountain of costs from our renovation season. The practical stress was real.
But my rational mind had already done the math. Check-in counters close 45–60 minutes before departure. Immigration and baggage alone take a minimum of 30 minutes. There was no way. And instead of panicking, I found myself calm, not because I’m naturally chill, but because years of inner work, meditation, and mindset shifts have rewired how I meet moments like this.
I thought to myself: “Maybe we weren’t meant to go to Labuan Bajo.”
And then, at the baggage carousel, when we regrouped with Darren and Xinyi to discuss our next steps, Darren mentioned something that made me pause. We hadn’t managed to get the drone permit approved for Labuan Bajo. And strangely, there was also no firm confirmation for the speedboat to take us to Padar Island. This, despite the fact that they’ve shot there for years and usually handle these arrangements without a hitch. For some reason, the usual processes just didn’t go through.. like the universe was throwing up quiet roadblocks all along.
Here’s the kicker: back in February 2025, we had already booked all our direct flights and accommodations to Labuan Bajo. Then in June, Jetstar CLOSED DOWN and with it, our direct flight got wiped out. We had to rebook two separate tickets via Bali just to make this trip happen. Scoot was the only option. Looking back, it almost feels like the universe was nudging us all along.
So why share this with you, my Crysto.light readers? Because crystals, tarot, astrology (all of it) don’t erase life’s messiness. They don’t stop flight delays, cancellations, or chaotic reroutes. What they do is help us build the inner compass to navigate them.
It wasn’t smoky quartz or rose quartz that kept me grounded in that moment. It was the years of sitting with my fears, facing heartbreaks, moving through depression, and healing my scarcity mindset. It was the very difficult seasons of my life that forced me to grow resilience, patience, and faith. Those years became the training ground for how I now navigate life when things don’t go as planned.
And maybe that’s the deeper story behind these PWS photos. Not just pretty gowns and epic sunsets, but the quiet proof that when plans collapse, the real beauty lies in how we choose to meet life in the in-between; with grace, adaptability, and a kind of strength that only comes from having walked through the fire before.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of my PWS adventure..
because the story didn’t stop at missed flights and black sand gowns. There were MORE curveballs, more lessons, and some downright hilarious moments. And in the middle of it all, I learned that trusting the universe (and myself) doesn’t just “work out”… it can turn chaos into magic, and make things unfold even better than planned. ✨
Some sneak previews of the shots we got from Mengening Beach..
