Bentota Travel Forum

Hi all,
This is my first time here, just been reading other people's questions about bentota, very interesting, my partner and I are getting married there in june 06 and would be very gratful of any tips you could give us, my partner would like me to get married in a sari (but i'm not so sure) any help would be much appreciated. Am very confused about the weather there in june, different web sites say different things, help!!! Also can anyone tell me if there is a decent hairdresser to get my hair done?
Thanks
Jackie & Andy

Hi Jackie & Andy
First thing, STOP panicking ok!, the weather should fine ok, with occassional showers, but mostly sunny, and VERY HOT, although, like everywhere else in the world weather patterns are changing, so anyone trying to give an accuarate forecast this far out will surely get it wrong.
Why are you not sure about marrying in a Sari, i think it is a wonderful idea, and be most comfortable for you too(not that i would know personally of course)
I have seen lots of weddings in Sri Lanka where the bride wears a Sari, and they always look so beautiful, anyway, you know how the saying goes don't you,"When in Rome, do what the Romans do", so i say go for it.
You don't say what hotel you are getting married in, but i am guessing that it will one of the better class ones in Bentota,( Taj or Bentota Beach maybe) so, hairdressing will not be a problem, as all good ones will have a resident one for you to get all prettied up for you big day.
Again, all good hotels, will have a resident wedding co-ordinator, they will see that your big day goes without a hitch, so the best advice i can give to you right now is, RELAX, everything will be fine, and you will have a day to remember for years to come.
Treshi, one for you to follow up on here i guess?
Regards
Dave
AKA "Sri Lanka foreigner"

Thanks for your help, getting married at bentota beach hotel, we are looking forward to it, think i'm out numbered with the sari so will probably go for it, ta. Do you know if we can get wedding rings there or would we be better off taking them with us?
Regards
Jackie & Andy

hi

would you like to wear Kandyan Saree or normal white saree. We have 2 styles and Kandyan type is bit colorful and bit expensive. Because of lots of works and groom must have special dress too

Please check my pages and try to understand the different

I can try to help you and you dont need to worry about anything as Dave said above

We have 24 Carot gold and as I know lots of western countries have 14 Caarot. You can buy rings from Sri Lanka and its upto you

If you need anything else, please dont hesitate to contact me and I will try my best to help you

Thanks

Oscar

Hi Oscar,
Thanks for taking the time to help us, think I would like the kandyan saree, but my partner not keen to dress up!!
Can you give me an idea on colours and cost of a saree, I have red hair so need to be careful on what colours I can wear.
could you also give us a rough idea of how much a 24 carat, plain wedding ring would cost?
Regards
Jackie & Andy

Hi

As We said, we have 2 kind of styles, Groom can have simple whote national dress or something special (as a king)you can see some dresses on sri lankan wedding pics.

Actually I cant give exact prices write now and be in touch. I will give all the info.

You can email me any time and these days I'm out of Country. but I c

..... Cont,

But, I can give all the info as you wants.

ts better if you can find some pictures and decide what do you need.

You can have service from the hotel and you have to pay extra for that

I will catch some one who can dress you up and ask for the rates for you

Thanks

Oscar

Jackie & Andy
Yes, you can get your rings out in Sri Lanka, and they will of excellent quality too,probably better and quite a lote cheaper than here in UK i may add!!
I will let you into a little secret here, i too... am planning to get married sometime this year.. to a Sri Lankan girl, and i know that she will know where to get quality rings from, and NOT the touristy ones either, also, when my good friend Treshi sees this posting, she will tell you where, after all, arn't the ladies expert at these things more than us guys??
Hey, why not try a white Sari??
Regards
Dave

Don't really fancy the white as i've been married before!
Partner def doesn't fancy getting married in a dress!!!lol
Are you getting married in sri lanka or the uk?
I must admit, the more info i'm finding out here the more excited i'm getting.
Thanks for all your help
Regards
Jackie & Andy

Hi Oscar,
Thanks for all your help, would be great if you could find out some prices, look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
Jackie & Andy

Jackie, Andy
We are actually having 2 weddings!!, first one in Sri Lanka, then one back here in UK for all those who cannot make the trip to SL, that seems to be the best all round solution for us.
She being a Sri Lankan girl, will of course be wearing a lovley sari, me?, undecided yet, but she may!! persuade to to go traditional too.
Fortunately, she is the expert on the ground there, so i do not have the same worries that you thought you may have had, but don't worry ok, Sri Lankan people are expert at organising weddings for others, so sit back, and relax ok, and let them do what they are really good at, all you need to do, is get yourselves there on time!!
When you get to Bentota, have a word at earliest opportunity with the wedding co-ordinator, she, will put your minds at ease.
Dave

Thanks for all the information, good luck with your wedding.
Jackie & Andy

Hey Treshi....

GOD BLESS YOU !!!

beware from Dave

huh huh haaaaaaa

Hi Jackie & Andy,

Sorry to have entered this topic late but never too late I guess.

Ok you two, as Dave says, dont panic as things can be very well sorted out here and I'm sure you can have a wonderful wedding here at the Benthota Beach hotel which is an excellent choice of a hotel.

I would advise you to get in touch with the wedding co-ordintor at the hotel as they will advise you on your requirements very well and they are experts in handling this kind of events. They may even e-mail you on attires (sarees) of your choice if you let them know the style, colour ect... Kandian saree is mostly worn for weddings here by the Sri Lankan traditional brides and even the indian saree is very commonly used for this occasion. The colour, actually you can decide on your own colour may it be white or any other colour. Usually they use white colour for weddings but its not a must. You can chose any colour of your choice for this event. The prices also varies from quality and fashion. There is also a facility to rent out these attires from the hotel if you wish to use it only for your wedding which we mostly do. If you opt for the kandian attire, the assorted jewellery for this saree will anyway have to be hired/rent as there are so many involved and there is no point in buying them as they cannot be worn very often afterwards. This is just an option for you but if you wish to purchase your saree either for Kandian or indian styles, you can purchase them in Colombo as there are so many choices available.

The hair dresser, ok the hotel will have a saloon as most other hotels where you can get your self done up for the wedding. But you can also hire them from colombo where there are plenty of good beauticians available. They would come to the hotel to dress you up at a cost and they can be consulted in advance to keep the date free as June is a heavy month for beauticians as everyone here dreams of becoming a june bride which is a very famous here.

Wedding Rings, this too will be very easily available to buy in Colombo and I stongly suggest you to get it done in Colombo for its quality and style. Colombo has the facility to provide good white/yellow gold rings as well as platinum if you require. I can give you all these details if you wish and I'm sure Dave will help you out with this too as he will be engaged soon here in Sri Lanka.

Weather, can be quite unprdictalbe as the weather patterns have changed here very much..but dont worry, everything will be just fine for the occasion.

Thanks Dave for mentioning my name in the topic and hay oscar, dont worry, Dave is my good friend.

Regards.

Treshi, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Hay Dave,

Why dont you get into the traditional kandian wedding attire which will look good on you...you will look a real Nilame (ask AK what this is) and I'm sure the photographers will have a day to cover...

Treshi...

Hi Treshi,
Thanks for all your help, still haven't decided what to wear, will let you all know when I do.
It's nice to know that there are people who will take the time to answer our questions.
will keep in touch.
Thanks again
Jackie & Andy

Hi there,
I have stayed at Bentota Beach Hotel in June for the past two years, and the weather has been good each time. Possibile short heavy showers may occur, but then the sun comes out again. Always very hot. The hotel is really great. If you want any info on it let me know. I also have some photos. Your idea of marrying in a sari seems good. Last year there was a wedding party from the UK dressed in gowns and tuxedos, and they did not look at all comfortable in the tropical heat!!!! Good luck and congrats for your wedding day. PS....I plan on being at the hotel from June 17 to July 3, 2006

Hi and thanks,
Would love to see some pics, can you tell us what the beach is like there?
How come you haven't filled your profile in, don't know if your male, female etc...
Many thanks

Jackie & Andy

Hiya,

We gat married at the Bentota Beach last August - everything went wonderfully well.
**********Please check*************
Sorry to put a dampner on things - we have just been told by Keells group that the Bentota Beach is to be shut for refurbishments from April until the end of November!
Sorry to be the bringer of bad tidings - we were booked for our 1st anniversary and we are now waiting for Kuoni to sort it out.

Ian & Venetia

Hi Ian & Venetia
I am amazed that you have ONLY just been told about the closure og The Bentota Beach hotel, i was in Sri Lanka late January/early February and i was told then about it's closure for renovations.
I actually posted it on here, and another well known travel forum (Trip Advisor) website 2 weeks ago!
I think someone has some explaining to do here don't you, the tour companies should not be taking bookings, but i just checked kuoini's website, and sure enough, the hotel is still showing it is available, when clearly it is not.
Hope you find a good alternative.
Regards
Dave

Hi David,

I think it was your posting that we saw on trip advisor that made us ring kuoni, they said they didnt know anything so we emailed Keells and they confirmed the closure. We rang Kuoni again and they said they'd just heard about it and were in the process of moving 300 bookings and would get around to us eventually.
We emailed and said that we wanted to stay in the Bentota area as we were married there and also had friends that we visited there so we wanted to stay at Club Bentota if possible.

They have confirmed today that we will be staying there - we just hope its all up and running ok as it was still a real mess there last September - but the kuoni guy said he had no reference of any building work in progress!

Ian & Venetia

Hi again Ian & Venetia
Glad you managed to get into another Bentota hotel, and i can indeed confirm to you that Club Bentota is open and functioning as usual.
I can't get over Kuoni's response to you, as it was one of THIER reps who told me about Bentota Beach closure!!
Anyway, enjoy yourself when you go.
Dave

Hi, thanks for letting us know, we have been away for a few days, only arrived home today to find a letter from kuoni telling us that the hotel will be closed in june, they have offered us a better deal as far as we can see at the eden hotel, if anyone has any other info on this hotel we would be very grateful to hear from them.

Regards
Jackie & Andy

Hi Dave, we were a little surprised that they had left it so late to inform people, do you know anything about the eden hotel?
They have told us it will be A/I even though they don't do A/I, do you see this being a problem at all?
Do you know if they have a hairdressers at this hotel?
Oh, by the way I decided to go for english wedding dress after all.

Regards

Jackie & Andy

Hi Jackie & Andy
Glad you have a better deal from Kuoni, i think they have acted very poorly in not letting people know earlier what i knew back in early February.
Sadly i cannot comment on the Eden Hotel as i know nothing about it, maybe someone like Treshi could answer that one.
But there should not be a problem with the all inclusive, i would imagine that Kuoni would just pay your bill for you, well i would hope so anyway, maybe an idea to get this in writing though, just in case!
Hope all goes well for you, i am going back to SL in May, this time staying at The Triton, a fab 6 star hotel in Ahungalla, well that is of course if it is open!!, supposed to be on May 1st! according to Kuoni!!
Regards
Dave

HI Jackie & Andy,

I ve been to the Eden Hotel last year and liked the hotel very much. They have a beautiful pool with a pool bar and the room layout is also quite well kept. The hotel is very spacious and the beach is wonderful too. I think all in all this is a good alternative for Benthota Beach but nothing to beat the hotel that Dave has mentioned as I hear a lot of good comments about the Triton lately.

But I m sure you will enjoy the facilities of the Eden hotel very much as its a good hotel.

Hope you will enjoy every moment spent in my country and good Luck!

Treshi, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Hi Dave & Treshi,

Thanks for all your help, will make sure we get everything in writing, i'm sure we will have a wonderful time in your country Treshi.
Will let you know how things go.

Regards

Jackie & Andy

Hi Jackie & Andy,

Please keep us posted on your wonderful trip to my motherland and I'm looking forward to hearing from both of you. Hope you will have a great time here and enjoy everything about this country..

Good Luck!!

Treshi, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Sorry to hear that your plans were scuppered at the Bentota Beach Hotel. I don't think that it was only Kuoni that did not know about the closure of the hotel. I have heard that other tour operators were in the dark too.
However, you should enjoy the Eden Hotel which was always more expensive to stay at than the Bentota Beach Hotel. I have met holiday makers in Sri Lanka on my previous trips who have stayed at the Eden and they said that it was tremendous!!
I was planning another trip to Bentota Beach Hotel in either June or July, but found it to be unavailable, then available, then unavailable and so on. In the end I got fed up and I am off to Malaysia in May instead.
Hope you guys have an excellent time in SL, and all the best for your wedding day.
David