Literally SCREAMING with excitement at my desk to finally start sharing all of the beautiful photos from our Wedding!!! ARE YOU EXCITED?! I can honestly say it was the best, most love filled day of my life. Blake and I knew we wanted to have a beach wedding but were not tied to a certain place. Through my hours of pouring through the internet, I kept finding this one image (photo 13) of a palm tree leaning with a gorgeous blue see behind it. I knew this was where I wanted to get married. As picture perfect as I could have ever imagined with the most incredibly iconic Hawaiian backgrounds. We rented a private house which was super important to me so that no one else would be walking down the beach etc. Blake and I envisioned a modern seaside bash with a polished Hawaiian island twist. We worked with LoveLeigh to create our custom island-inspired invitation suite. The bright and fun yellow color palette felt reminiscent of the Hawaiian landscape while elegant calligraphy and sleek gold foil details gave off the elevated vibe we were going for. I will pour into more details of the day in upcoming posts!!
We arrived at 10 am at the venue and all the ladies went right into hair while the guys sipped local brews, played cards and wandered the property and beach. The guys always have it so easy am I right?! I originally wanted to wear my hair down, but with the dramatic neckline of my dress, I knew I had to put it up to showcase it. Also, Hawaii can be windy so I am glad I (and my bridesmaids!) wore my hair up and didn’t have to worry about it being in my face. I think the biggest goal I had for hair and makeup was to really feel like myself but glammed up. So I went for my signature cat eye and bold red lip. Liz really made me feel like myself and worked hard on that killer precise cat eye. Fun fact: I always apply my own lipstick even when having my makeup done. I was so incredibly calm all day long. Some of the makeup ladies were commenting on how I seemed so relaxed. Honestly, I was just so zen and happy to have finally made it to the day I had been planning for a year. All the ladies and gents were in the same house and we saw each other frequently throughout the day. Loved seeing my soon-to-be hubby all day long! We sipped on champagne and finally it was time to put the dresses on. Rory Beca is a dear friend of mine and custom made dresses for my ladies before her Maids collection became available on her website. I loved the idea of having each girl in a different dress. Then it was time for my dress!! While shopping for wedding dresses, I felt like I was never going to have that magic moment where I just swooned and fell in love with a dress. I found the whole dress process to be very unromantic with the giant clips holding your dress on and walking in shoes two sizes to big to get over to the mirror. Well, that is, until I visited the Vera Wang boutique. I met David and he just GOT me. He actually ended up pulling out this dress from the classics collection. I put it on, and my sister was there, and we both knew, this was the one. No tears, but a lot of champagne was had. Funny story is that I went back into my pinterest account and the dress I ended up buying, is LITERALLY the first dress I ever pinned into my secret wedding board… that dress… was fate.
Blake and I wrote vows for each other and decided that we would want to read them privately before the ceremony. I knew I would just destroy my makeup with tears just running down my face if I tried to get through that in front of a crowd. For something so personal, it was important to me we did it with just the two of us. The last photo in this post, is actually from the moment I was about to lose it during our vows. Thankfully a wedding is about going through these beautiful moments with your partner.
I was also so happy to have my dear friend Alison and her husband in Hawaii to shoot our wedding. I was never a girl that grew up planning what my wedding would be like, but all I knew is that I wanted Alison there to share the day through her lens. I can not thank her enough for the beautiful moments she was able to capture. Can’t wait to share the rest of our wedding with you!!!! Stay tuned.
Ceremony + Reception Location: Olowalu Plantation House / Wedding Planner: Your Aloha Wedding Company / Wedding Stationary: LoveLeigh Invitations / Ceremony Music: Barefoot Minded / Photography: Alison Conklin Photography / Hair + Makeup Stylist: Maui Makeup Artistry / Brides Lip color: NARS Heatwave / Tuxedos: Friar Tux Shop / Wedding Dress: Vera Wang / Veil: Custom from Glady Tamez / Wedding Shoes: Valentino / Earings: borrowed from XIV Karats / Bridesmaid Dresses: Rory Beca / Flower Girl Dresses: J.Crew / Brides Robe: BHLDN / Brides shorts: BHLDN / Brides top: BHLDN / Bridesmaid Robes: BHLDN