Jun 17, 2016 | Real Weddings
As Featured on “Style Me Pretty” June 17, 2016
By Michelle Hoover
Style: Al Fresco / Setting: Historical Venue & Outdoor Wedding / Season: Fall
What’s better than a destination wedding in Hawaii? How about a destination wedding in Hawaii straight from the talented lens of photographer Mirelle Carmichael. Graced with a crazy elegant seaside ceremony, lush landscaping, and of course a few tropical details (hello pineapple!). Sounds dreamy, right? Well you’re in luck because we’ve got all that and more waiting for you to favorite in The Vault!
From The Bride…On paper, a destination wedding would probably be the last thing that Gareth would ever choose to do to celebrate a marriage, much less a destination wedding in a place that he had never been to until 8 months before the actual wedding. Gareth is someone who very much likes his routines — he is the guy, according to his best man, who will “go into an ice cream shop with 31 flavors and come out with a double scoop of chocolate ice cream.” He is the simple, steady one in our relationship and doesn’t venture out of the norm very often.
And yet, as fate would have it, Gareth found himself miles from home on the beautiful island of Maui to celebrate one of the biggest days of his life. A destination wedding ended up to be perfectly fitting for Gareth & I. Gareth…born in Australia, raised in Singapore, and now living in the SF Bay Area…has spent countless hours traveling back and forth between Asia, Australia and the US… usually to attend weddings, visit family and catch up with old friends. So while he does prefer the homebody life, he also loves taking trips to visit family and friends. Maui seemed like a logical choice for Gareth because he thought many of his family and friends abroad would love to have an excuse to visit paradise. As for me, I grew up going on summer vacations to Maui with my family, and I know this definitely helped me develop a love for traveling that grew as I got older. Maui was an easy choice for us… for me, it was sentimental and reflected my love for travel…and for Gareth, it was a perfect intersection for his 3 different worlds.
My vision for the wedding was for it to be simple, sweet and romantic. I hope I achieved this, as most people know how you can get caught up in details, especially considering how easy it is to spend an entire evening pinning every little thing on Pinterest. Olowalu was amazing, and provided a perfect setting for our guests to watch a beautiful Hawaiian sunset while enjoying some cocktails. We loved the privacy of the estate too; it was like we were in our own little paradise wedding world! Our main colors were soft blues and greens with some pink and peach mixed in to add a little feminine touch. The table decorations consisted of white linens with a simple but elegant silk dupioni table runner. The centerpieces were made of white and pink roses with seashells and starfish throughout to give a subtle beach feel; they were nothing short of amazing and really added to the sweet and romantic feel I was hoping for.
Despite the endless months of planning and emails leading up to the wedding, Gareth and I look back on our wedding day with the fondest of memories. Of all of them, I would have to say my favorite memory would probably be during dinner…I remember looking out at our guests at their tables – friends and family from all parts of our lives, and thinking how they had set aside so much to be with us…I was truly touched. Both Gareth and I really wanted the wedding to reflect how grateful we were for everything in our lives. While we were excited to celebrate our marriage with our dearest friends and family, we also wanted the wedding to be our gift back to those who have supported us along the way, and who had traveled so far to be with us. Maui really ended up being the perfect place for Gareth & I and our guests. The general nature of weddings can often bring about feelings of chaos and stress, but there is just something different about the islands. During the ceremony, our dear officiant, Reverend Pia, reminded us of the spirit of aloha and that on the islands, love is reflected in all the beauty surrounding us. What a wonderful and true reminder that is!
Vendors:
Photography: Mirelle Carmichael Photography
Cinematography: Wonderfilm Studios
Coordination: The Perfect Wedding Maui
Floral Design: Sunya’s Flowers
Wedding Dress: Marisa Bridals
Cake: Cake Fanatics
Rings: Classic Rock San Jose
Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Donna Morgan
Catering: Cafe O’Lei
Hair + Makeup: Kalani Style
DJ: DJ Boomshot
Groom’s Attire: Men’s Wearhouse
Officiant: Reverend Pia Aluli
Ceremony Music: David Wolf
Venue: Olowalu Plantation House
Oct 31, 2013 | Real Weddings
As Featured on “Style Me Pretty” October 31, 2013
By Dawn Strong
Setting: Destination & Outdoor Wedding / Season: Summer
A destination wedding in Maui is in and of itself pretty spectacular, but when you throw in a dream team of vendors that includes Laura Hooper Calligraphy, The Perfect Wedding Maui and Anna Kim Photography to make it all happen, it becomes a destination wedding that dreams are made of. Case in point? This beyond gorgeous day set against the beautiful Olowalu Plantation House. It’s fab paper goods meets mesmerizing stylings meets all kinds of pretty.
From Cherise of The Perfect Wedding… It was a classic white wedding from the flowers to the groom’s shoes! An intimate gathering of family and friends joined Crystal & Joseph on this destination wedding. I had the pleasure of meeting this sweet couple about a year before the wedding when they came to Maui to view sites and meet potential vendors. We hit it off and began planning their day right away. While many things changed along the way, the romantic vision remained throughout. I loved the elegant details like the crystal chandeliers in the dining canopy and floating over the dance floor, the lavender and crystal accented pillows on the lounge seating, the silver beaded glass charger plates that held the classic white dinner plates, etc. Everywhere you looked there was some little bit of Crystal evident in the decor. As Crystal made her way across a bed of white orchids on her wedding aisle, Joseph was waiting with the most beautiful look of love oh his face. From their first look to their exit through a pathway of sparklers, this was a day to remember and I for one am honored to have played a part in the day.
Vendors:
Wedding Planner: Cherise Shulman of The Perfect Wedding Maui
Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka
Catering: Food For the Soul Maui
Hair & Makeup: Maui MiRa
Officiant: Rev. Laki Pomaikai Ka’ahumanu
Transportation: Executive Transportation
Venue: Olowalu Plantation House
Cake & Desserts: Cake Fanatics
Ceremony Musician: Marvin Tevaga
Bride’s Dress: Mikaella by Paloma Blanca
Wedding Ring: Tacori
Oct 1, 2013 | Real Weddings
As Featured on “Style Me Pretty” October 1, 2013 By Abby Capalbo
Setting: Destination & Outdoor Weddings / Season: Summer
Destination weddings aren’t for the faint of heart – it takes a special duo to say I do miles away from their comfort zone. But when a destination is pulled off, it’s nothing short of magical. Take this Maui wedding for instance, it’s as pretty as they come and filled with seriously steal-worthy details captured beautifully by Megan Ann Photography – making this gallery one lovely place to be today. See it all here!
From the Bride… I first fell in love with Maui when attending the wedding of my then boyfriend’s (Brandon) best friends several years ago. Not only did you immediately feel relaxed the moment you stepped off the plane, the island is wildly beautiful, and the wedding we attended was an intimate, low-key affair that sold me on the idea of a Maui wedding in my future.
So it was no surprise that Brandon and I settled on Maui for our locale when we were planning our own wedding. We did most of our scouting via the internet, and fell in love with the Olowalu Plantation house the moment we set eyes on it. We wanted to create a wedding day that captured our laid-back style. The big lawns, monkey pod trees and adirondack chairs of this venue fit the bill to a tee. I chose bright colors and big lanterns strewn across the top of the reception/dance floor to help set the tone for a backyard barbeque feel, and had lots of help in adding accents to make the event our own, such as hand-sewn bean bags for our cornhole set (made by one of the bridesmaids mothers), home-made fabric flowers to decorate drinking straws and tables (made by brides friend) and hand-picked signature cocktails that our friends had a little too much fun deciding on! Our coordinator, Cherise, and caterer, Food for the Soul, also helped add details to give our wedding a backyard flavor from start to finish.
The day of our wedding, my biggest goal was to have fun and enjoy every moment with Brandon, and we still look back on that day as the best of our lives. Something that really made the day special was having the person who introduced us (thank you Megan!) be there as our photographer and capturing the great moments of the day. I’ll never forget dancing under the lanterns and trees to our first dance with the sun setting behind us and our loved ones all around us. If I could do it over again, I wouldn’t change a thing!
Vendors:
Photography: Megan Ann Photography
Event Design, Floral Design: Dellables
Coordinator: The Perfect Maui Wedding – Cherise Shulman
Invitations: Serendipity Beyond Design
Shoes, Hair: Pierre Darre
Cateringz: Food for the Soul
Makeup: Jessica Waite Makeup Artistry
