Bali is a truly magical place and visitors from around the world continue to arrive on this tropical island paradise in ever increasing numbers. Recent statistics from the Bali Government Tourism Office show an increase of foreign visitor arrivals by 25.17% on last year (spearheaded by the Chinese) with domestic numbers running close behind at almost 21%.

This is great news for those invested in the island's tourism industry, especially those who offer services to the booming business of wedding events.

At a glance:

• Celebrities such as Jerry Hall and Mick Jagger, and Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis are said to have married in Bali
• Increased Chinese tourism has drawn attention to the beauty of the area, perfect for weddings
• Yang Mi and Hawick Lau, Liu Shishi and Nicky Wu, and Ruby Lin and Wallace Huo’s weddings in Bali have increased the exposure of the wedding market in Bali
• Now, a growing number of middle-class Chinese couples are choosing Bali as their dream wedding destination
• Hotels in Bali are 70 to 80% full due to weddings, and that's not in peak season
• Villas are becoming popular wedding venues as they have fewer restrictions and are more private than hotels

From A-list celebrities to middle-class couples, everyone it seems, wants to tie the knot in paradise. Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall did it in 1990, even though Mick's lawyers contest a 'legal' wedding never took place. Rumour even has it that Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis shared their "I do's" here.

And now a growing number of Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kongers are following in the footsteps of Yang Mi and her Hong Kong husband Hawick Lau who married in Bali in 2014, which gained a lot of attention.

Shanghai actress Liu Shishi followed suit a year later with her wedding to Taiwanese actor Nicky Wu. But it was when the superstar couple of Ruby Lin and Wallace Huo tied the knot at the Bulgari Resort, with China's highest paid actress in attendance, that things went viral across social media.

It's not just high profile superstars who are choosing to marry in Bali. A growing number of middle-class couples are doing the same. 

Celine Ge from the South China Morning Post recently reported that improving household incomes is a significant reason why Chinese couples are fast becoming the biggest single group of foreign tourists by nationality in Bali. According to the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs twelve million Mainland Chinese couples got married last year at an average cost of almost USD 30,000. Both figures will continue to rise over the next five years.

Many of Bali's top hotel resorts such as Bulgari, The Four Seasons, Conrad, The Mulia, Ayana and the Nusa Dua Beach Resort all have dedicated wedding venues and they're busy almost every day, regardless of the time of year.

Lily Dawis, daughter of Southeast Asian property-to-consumer mogul Didi Dawis, and one of Indonesia's richest families, says the most expensive hotels in Bali are 70 to 80% full due to weddings and that's not in peak season.

But there are also dedicated wedding chapels such as Tirtha Bali and a growing number of private villas from Ubud to Uluwatu who offer unique experiences for that very special day.

Sonya Yeung, Founder of Bliss Creations, a Hong Kong-based destination wedding specialist says that villas don't have the same limitations as resorts, especially when it comes to late-night partying and couples can get more creative with how they make the space their own.

Private villas also come with private chefs and private swimming pools and for the right kinds of prices, spectacular locations all add up to create very special events for very special occasions.

Sources: South China Morning Post, The Guardian, Trip Canvas, Bali Government Tourism Office

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