If you’re looking for a small and intimate wedding venue in the UAE, then this could be just for you. Let me tell you about Banyan Tree in Ras Al Khaimah. It’s about a 50minute drive from Dubai to the desert resort, and just over an hour to the beach resort. Before the summer hit the UAE I made the drive to visit the luxury resort to check out it’s potential wedding venues.
I drove to the beach resort first and was blown away by it’s beauty. It was probably the best meeting I’d ever been to. I arrived and found myself wondering around looking for the entrance. I had no idea I had to take a boat to the resort. It was very cool, apart from I was wearing brogues and felt I didn’t quite fit it with the relaxed holiday atmosphere. I guess I was there for business, not pleasure! After a 5 minute boat ride I was greeted by Janytte and Jelena, who then gave me a grand tour of the beach resort. I felt like I had left the UAE and arrived in The Maldives. It was stunning.
The beach resort was a quick stop before heading back to the desert resort. I’d been to the Banyan Tree once before and feel it in love with it, so I knew what to expect when I arrived at our 2nd location.
The Banyan Tree offers nothing but luxury… having your own private pool in every room is what I’d called luxury. Anyway, my next tour soon began and our first stop was the falcon deck. As we drove up to the green falcon deck, I got butterflies, and an overwhelming feel ‘this would be an amazing venue for a wedding ceremony’. I suddenly had floods of ideas and started making notes in my head. I also snapped away with my iphone and left with a big smile of my face.
After roaming around the resort I was taken for lunch by the girls and Albert, the sales director. I’d met Albert before in Dubai. I love a free lunch… what’s better than a free lunch at a 5* star resort… hmmm nothing? 🙂 But seriously we talked about weddings for nearly 2 hours and I fell in love with the concept of a small romantic desert wedding.
The Banyan Tree team are currently working on a new wedding package but I thought I’d share my thoughts with you now.. (I just can’t wait any longer)
- It’s private, quiet and very relaxing
- It’s very unlikely you’ll see a tourist snapping away while you walk down the aisle. (This is one of my pet hates for beach side weddings in Dubai)
- It’s the perfect location for a smaller wedding.
- It’s less than 1 hour from Dubai
- If you’re having a small wedding, why not go all out and rent rooms for the family.
I’ll be back after there summer with a full low down of their wedding packages… and loads more photos too. But if you want to know more about Banyan Tree then I suggest you have a little browse of their website.
Back tomorrow my lovelies…
Joelle x
