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Tim and I fell in love our senior year of college, and have been together ever since, about 7 years now. I am a “local girl”, I was born in Fiji and my parents moved to Honolulu when I was eight months old and have never left! When the time came for me to go to college, I decided to go far away to the East Coast, and have basically been here ever since. Tim was born in New York City and also lived on Long Island. His parents currently live in Connecticut. We moved to Cambridge, MA about 4 ½ years ago when Tim started his PhD at Harvard, while I work for a small documentary film company. We both have a tendency to be homebodies, we love to stay at home, eat a nice meal, drink some nice wine and watch a good movie. Lucky for me, Tim is an amazing cook. What a catch! Coincidentally, both of Tim’s parents are Australian, and my dad is also Australian. Tim’s family often spent time in Hawaii on their trips down under when he was growing up, and of course, I had always dreamed of getting married in my hometown, so Hawaii was the obvious choice for our wedding. It will also make it easier for our many Aussie relatives to get to our wedding, rather than coming out all of the way to the East Coast.
The Bling
Tim and I got engaged in August of 2006, at one of our favorite places, my uncle's house in Maine. We had been talking about getting married all summer, but I was still pretty surprised when Tim pulled a ring out!!! (I had just come back from a run, and was all sweaty in just a sports bra, and half-submerged in lake water--very romantic tee hee.) I absolutely love my ring. It has been in Tim's family for over 100 years. The setting was from a brooch that Tim's great grandparents brought to Australia from Scotland when they emigrated. The story is that they were so poor they couldn't afford an engagement ring so they converted the family heirloom into one. Tim's mother tells me that they were the most in-love couple she's ever known. It makes me unbelievably happy to wear this ring that has known so much love! (Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's beautiful!)
Wedding Location
While in Hawaii for Christmas in 2006, we spent a couple of days looking for the perfect spot to get married. We knew we wanted it to be near/on a beach, not at a hotel/resort, and fun and casual. Since so many of our friends and family would be coming from far locations for the wedding, we pictured not just a wedding day, but a whole week of relaxed fun spending time with our favorite people in the world, many of whom we don't get to see that often. We drove out to the North Shore to visit Ke Iki Beach Bungalows, which I had found through online searching a couple of weeks earlier, and knew instantly that the site was perfect for us. After meeting with Greg we decided on a week in mid-August 2008—18 months in advance!—for the date and booked all of the bungalow for a week.
Pictures I took of the beach where the ceremony will be:
The left side of the patio where the cocktail hour will be:
The right side of the patio where dinner tables will be:
Colors
A couple of weeks after we got engaged, someone asked me if we’d decided on wedding colors yet. "Wedding colors?!? I didn't know I needed wedding colors!!" I said. Shortly after that, I was at watching at work a film my boss made in 1995 on the American Ballet Theatre, called BALLET. (yes, I work for a documentary filmmaker, it’s pretty awesome) And in the film there is a pas de deux in which the woman is wearing the most beautiful costume that is a dark, rich blue with this amazing violet/purple underskirt that you only see when she twirls or extends her legs, or is picked up by her partner. It’s pretty stunning, and I suddenly knew what our wedding colors would be. Here are a couple of really poor quality screen grabs:
I also picked up some paint swatches from our local hardware store to show DH.
He likes the blue more than the purple, and I sort of do too, but it's hard to find tropical flowers that are blue!
The Dress
When we first got engaged, and I bought a bunch of bridal magazines, there was one dress I instantly fell in love with a pictured myself wearing. I didn’t go dress shopping until one year later, and this dress was the last one I tried on that day and I, and all of my friends who were with me, just knew this was “the one”. I ended up buying it from a woman I met online who had worn it for her wedding at almost half off (sounds very sketchy, I know, but I was very, very careful about the whole thing, and got to inspect it in person before handing over the check.) It’s the Nicole Miller hg0013.
I’m thinking I’d like to find a really cool necklace to go with this, as in the picture. Maybe something coral? In blue?
Groom's Attire Probably will be a white/cream/off-white linen suit. This is a picture from a "celebrity" wedding in Hawaii (someone who used to be on ER I think) that we really liked. Of course the suit is Yves St. Laurent, so a little out of our budget, but we'll see if we can get close.
I'm currently trolling on ebay for something similar...
Bridesmaids & MOH attire
My MOH is my best friend from college, Margaret. My three bridesmaids are my two sisters Judy and Erica and Tim’s sister Tania. Between the four of them, they live in Hawaii, NYC, Washington state, and Prague!!! I’m going to do my best to get them all something to wear that they are happy with. When we were last in Hawaii I saw some really beautiful, very beachy, sorta hippie sarong print dresses that I quite liked in a store in Haleiwa. I’m going to go back there this January and check them out. I also found this sarong online that I really loved and fits perfectly with our wedding colors (dark blue and purple). I thought we could buy some nice thick dark blue ribbon to sew on for straps or a halter to make it more secure and dressy.
Groomsmen Attire
Groomsmen will be wearing probably just khakis and in plain collared short sleeve shirts matching the color of whatever the bridesmaids end up wearing. I wanted them to wear aloha shirts but Tim put his foot down and said "NO!" He hates aloha shirts-guess it's a local thing! So we'll compromise on a solid color.
Flowers
I found this in a bridal magazine (which one, I have no idea). I love the vibrant color. Both Tim and my mom loved it too. I've heard that phaleonopsis orchids will probably be hard to get in August, but if they can't get them my florist will substitute something similar. I especially like the cascading ribbon tie.
I also really liked knottie lisakeiko's DIY cymbidium bouquet, but I don't think I'm 10% as talented as her in the self-arranging department, and I got a surprisingly decent quote for my bouquet, so I'm just going to let someone do it for me. :)
However, I did do DIY bouquet attempt, and it was pretty easy, and I liked the way it turned out! So I think I'm going to end up doing this for the bridesmaids & MOHwith dark purple cymbidiums and tuberose, with purple and blue ribbon wrapped around. Here's my sorta half-a**ed DIY attempt:
I did also like is this picture of bridesmaids orchid bouquets with ti leaves from one of
the Knot featured Hawaii weddings:
The Groom will get a maile intertwined with pikake strands. We'll probably do a lei exchange during the ceremony, so Tim will give me a pikake lei.
Tim and I have this thing for kukui nuts (I grew up in an apartment building called Kukui Nut Plaza—it’s in downtown HNL), so we definitely wanted the groomsmen to wear them! We like them intertwined with ti leaves to make them a little more special/formal.
We’ll be getting leis for our parents too, but haven’t quite decided on them yet! Maybe double white orchids for the moms?
in addition to Flower Farm in Kailua, our potential flower vendors are Flo's Min Florist on Lehua Ave in Pearl City and Alluvion in Waialua off Kam Hwy, all family or knottie recs. Alluvion and Flower Farm are both supposed to be good for partial or total DIY brides, flower-wise.
The Ceremony
The ceremony will take place right on the beach in front of the bungalows. We’ll have chairs but probably not enough for everyone coming, but enough so that everyone who really wants to can sit. The ceremony will be pretty short and some of our friends can stand.
We'll probably be using a bamboo archway from Bali that the people at our site just bought. Two options for decorating the archway are: a) maile leis with purple dendrobiums entwined across with maile leis draped down the sides as well or b) two floral bursts in the corners.
Reception
After the ceremony, everyone will simply walk a few feet up the beach to the bungalows. We’ll have a cocktail hour with mai tais, beer and appetizers (we’re thinking sushi platters too) in the space overlooking the beach, and Hawaiian music.
Then around 7ish we'll proceed to the grassy space behind the beachside bungalows for a buffet dinner. We're thinking of having Hawaii-type food, like laulaus, which will look really cool on the buffet and be very special and different for our majority OOT guests.
Centerpiece ideas:
This is our current favorite. We like the look of the ti leaves on the table and the purple dendrobiums in water with a votive on top. And Tim says: “I want pineapples for the banquet tables!” Loose dendrobiums in bulk should be fairly inexpensive, and we could buy the glasses cheaply at walmart or Costco (I wish Hawaii had Target!!!). One thing we'll have to make sure of is that the glasses are not too high. I don't want people to feel they can't see over the table to people on the other side.
I also like the look of these orchids in simple small vases. Maybe we’ll have a couple of tables for the cocktail ceremony and use these.
I also really loved this centerpiece and table setting design from the Flower Farm, Inc. website (one of our possible florist vendors, www.flowerfarmhawaii.com. It has such a distinct and unique Hawaiian feel to it. They have a lot of nice designs.
I also liked this brightly colored centerpiece. Plus, it’s low on the table so people can see over it!
This is from the Floral Inspirations website (Fong Tagawa). I doubt that we could afford these, as centerpieces is one of the places we're trying to DIY and save some $$, but they sure do look cute!
MISC. TABLE IDEAS:
Since we’re having luau/Hawaiian themed food, I’m also sort of obsesses with these monkeypod plates from Accel Rentals. I just think they would look really cool and Hawaiian on the tables. But I think we’re going to be renting all of our tables/chairs/china/glassware etc. just from the site for easiness. Anyway, these were pretty expensive.
I’d also like to have some blue linen on the table. Maybe every other table with a blue tablecloth, or maybe a blue layover, but these might have to be purchased separately—I don’t think the site has any blue linen.
One thing I want to do for the tables is definitely have a disposable camera at every table. Remember the Friends episode where Monica was so let down after the wedding was over and then Chandler cheered her up by reminding her they had all of the disposable camera pictures to look forward to, only to remember that he’d left them behind at the wedding site? That was a good one. I’m also planning on, if I have time, making covers for the cameras (gonna need a template!) and a “scavenger hunt” photo list for every table to do (gonna need ideas!).
Food
Tim is a major foodie. His whole family are major foodies. Their friends are major foodies. My FMIL is probably the best chef I will ever meet—she used to run her own catering business in the Hamptons, and could probably be a famous chef if she wanted to, but of course that is such a stressful lifestyle. So, within an hour of announcing our announcement, out comes “the notebook” with ideas she’s been working on for the wedding menu for probably I would guess the past two years! At first, my FMIL thought she would cook the wedding food herself, and hire some help for the day of. Now, I know she’s a good cook, and knows about preparing food for lots of people, but this is the last thing I would want to do on the day of my one-and-only son’s wedding, in an unfamiliar kitchen, in an unfamiliar place. A year after the engagement, we finally all decided that it would be best to hire a caterer for the reception. One of the best days of the wedding planning process so far! FMIL (who I love, actually) is going to go all out for the rehearsal dinner, and that’s just fine with me. We’re just going to taste some food, hire a caterer, tell them what we want, and that’s that. No extra stress there, please!
I’ve heard that the woman at our catering site, Annie, is an amazing chef, and we’re going to be doing a tasting with her at the end of January, and I can’t wait!
For comparison purposes, we’re also pricing out a menu with:
The Catering Connection
(I’d seen good things about them on the Hawaii boards, and I also like their menu idea of “elegant local”, which is what we are going for with the food).
A Catered Experience
They have a lot of the Hawaiian-type things on their menu that we had been thinking about.
The ir pricing seems good too.
Drink
Well, let’s face it: Tim’s family being Australian, and a large party of my family being Australian, and most of our friends….we’re big drinkers. It was the idea of Greg, who manages Ke Iki Beach, just to go to Costco and buy all the drinks there and hire a bartender or two to serve it. We really like this idea and it’s going to save a bundle on alcohol costs. Plus, we can return any unused alcohol afterwards (hah—like there will be any. ;) )
Tim and I are planning on making a big Costco trip during our January visit and tasting a whole bunch of whites, reds, beers and champagne in our price range. Just for the sake of the wedding, of course…. We are planning on having mai tais during the cocktail hour, and I’d really love to have little coconut cups for them, if I can get them not too expensive. Tropical drink umbrellas too, are a must. We’ll have a selection of guava, lilikoi and other tropical juices too.
Tim and I are planning on making a big Costco trip during our January visit and tasting a whole bunch of whites, reds, beers and champagne in our price range. Just for the sake of the wedding, of course….
We are planning on having mai tais during the cocktail hour, and I’d really love to have little coconut cups for them, if I can get them not too expensive. Tropical drink umbrellas too, are a must. We’ll have a selection of guava, lilikoi and other tropical juices too.
$1.00/each at www.coconutking.com
Save the dates
We sent these out one year in advance (to everyone except local invitees), since Hawaiiis sooo far away for many of our guests. The vintage postcards were Tim’s idea. We selected a variety from www.islandartcards.com, and spent one hot summer afternoon on our deck writing them out by hand with the main details: date, location and our wedding website address for more info. We mailed them as a bunch to my mom in Hawaii who dropped them in a postbox there so they would be postmarked from Hawaii instead of MA. Everyone told us how nice it was to get these little guys in the mail!
Invitations
Not quite sure what we’re doing about these yet! I’d like to DIY as much as possible and save costs on these, but of course I still want them to look nice and contain all of the important, relevant info.
I'm leaning towards these that I saw on MauidJenn's site. I have to pick her brain on how she made these!!!
Here are some of the other knottie ones I've really liked.
The purple pineapple I believe is from knottie dee&ollie, and the “aloha” and palm tree is from a featured knot Hawaii wedding--it was done by Saavy Designs, which is now out of business (they were way out of my budget anyway), but I’m not sure about the green one.
I visited Mary Catherine’s--their prices are very good, and I've heard nothing but good experiences with them from other knotties. Their haupia cake I thought was okay, not great, and I probably would have gone with them but our site manager is friends with a woman on the North Shore who makes wedding cakes, and has done the majority of weddings at our site. Her name is Cyndy Puha-Nichols, and we met with her in Hawaii, and she is the one to do our cake. I believe she works out of Ted's Bakery. She was so sweet, and I am sure it will be great. It will be just two tiers: bottom tier haupia and top tier lilikoi. Yum! Cyndy will bring the cake to our site and we will provide her with fresh flowers to decorate it with.
Ours won't look like these (ours will have cascading blue and white mokara, dendrobium and cymbidium orchids), but these are some pics I collected that I liked before we decided on the cake.
We are also going to try to find a bride, groom & dachshund cake topper! (see "Furbaby" below)!!!
OOT Bags
Since so many of our guests will be coming from so far away (some from absurdly far away), I really want to make them feel welcome. The first thing I knew was that I wanted to give everyone slippers (or “flip-flops” as Tim calls them). I saw some picture of a wedding in Hawaii in a bridal magazine where they had this big tin beer tub filled with white and blue slippers for everyone and I just thought it was the coolest. What can I say? I love slippers. They are my footwear of choice in the summer (and sometimes I even wear them in the snow in the backyard when I’m out with the dog in the morning!)
I thought it might be expensive but Old Navy has basic, good slippers in many different colors for $2.50/each (when you buy two or more). I’m going to check out the Int’l marketplace, Costco and Longs too just to see what they have. I’m thinking we’ll put a little line on the RSVP card asking people their shoe size so we get them right!
I had been thinking we would use lauhala bags but then I saw these bags for A DOLLAR on knottie loridecter’s page. Given my obsession with slippers I think they might be perfect!!
Other things to put in the OOT bags:
Bridal hair and makeup
Man , I waited too long and Dorys Foltin is booked! She sounded perfect for me. L
I’m thinking of trying the spa at Turtle Bay, since it’s so close. I think I’d like to wear my hair down, or ½ up ½ down, with some flowers in it. It’s pretty long. I’ll need a good blow dry.
Here is what I'm going for:
I also liked these:
Mother of the Bride
As a Christmas present to my mom, we’re going shopping when I’m in Hawaii in January and I’m going to buy her something awesome to wear to the wedding. My mom is extremely petite. She had me very late in life so she will be 75 at the time of our wedding but she is still a looker. She looked like Audrey Hepburn when she was younger. I can’t wait to see how gorgeous she will look all dressed up! I’ll post a picture after we go.
Musicians
We’ re looking for a Hawaiian duo or trio to play from the ceremony through dinner until the toasts. (I’ll be iPodding it for dancing afterwards—planning on making several different mixes so we can switch depending on the mood of the crowd!)
I’ve been in touch with the Ebb Tides, who’ve played Ke Iki before, and also Art Kalahiki, who has too.
However I’m really hoping that we’re going to find a family friend or a friend of a friend to do this cheap, but good. My sister and a friend of my mom’s both know tons of Hawaiian musicians so they’re looking into it. I feel pretty confident they’ll find someone great who won’t charge an arm and a leg (although the quotes for Art K. and especially the Ebb Tides are quite reasonable).
Photography
One of our closest friends, hrishikesh, happens to be a semi-professional photographer. He was actually friends with both Tim and I independently before we even knew each other! So we figured he had to do our pics. We tried to offer him a plane ticket (he lives in LA) or accommodation in exchange, but he refused. Hrishi’s going to do black and white film and my sister's friend Sergio, a professional photographer that she works with (she's a magazine writer/editor), who we've met and love, is going to do our color photos (digital). I am incredibly psyched about this as we are getting two awesome pro photographers for FREE!!!!
Favors
Since our wedding is outdoors in August, we are going to jump on the palm fan bandwagon for all of our guests and pass them out as they arrive at the ceremony. This will be their favors. Haven't figured out how we'll decorate them yet.
Our Furbaby!!
This is our darling miniature dachshund, Beatrice.
(At 11.5 lbs, she’s actually I guess a “tweenie”, but she’s still so little to us!)
We got her in May 2007 when she was just a little pup, and now she’s about 10 months old. We just love her to pieces!
We actually thought about going through the whole HI agriculture rigmarole to get her rabies approved for no-quarantine with the new program they have. and bringing her to Hawaii with us for the wedding, (She’s flown across the country with us before to WA state, and is a great traveler! Plus, on ATA you can bring your pet in the cabin to Hawaii! When we went to WA she just went under the seat in front of us in her little bag and slept the whole time.) But then we came to our senses and realized how stressful it might be having her with us with all of the stuff we have to do around that time. But we are really, really going to miss her while we’re in Hawaii. She is totally our little “child” and it makes me so happy to see the way Tim is with her because I know he’s going to be a great, loving dad. So, I think I've seen another Hawaii knottie on here with a mini dachshund—we might have to come and visit b/c we will be missing our Bea!
Here are some more pics:
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