bio

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Party Time!

After dinner, we listened to touching toasts from our nearest and dearest, cut the cake, opened up the dessert buffet, and had a champagne toast honoring all of our guests for coming to our wedding. For our first dance, DH and I danced to IZ's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and it was sweet and wonderful. Then it was time to party!

The DJ announced the Father-Daughter dance, indicating that we had selected a traditional number, and waltz music began as we stood together in a formal waltz starting position. Then the DJ scratched the needle across the record and went into "Hey Ya" by Outkast. My Dad, who can totally shake it, swung me around the dance floor through a couple of verses and the chorus. Then we motioned for everyone to join us on the dance floor. My favorite part was watching everyone shake it like a Polaroid picture. The dance floor was hopping the whole night from that moment on!

Our last song was "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. We specifically chose that song because we love cheesy 80's anthems and all of our friends love it. All of our guests formed a huge circle in the middle of the dance floor as we sang along to the music at the top of our lungs with our arms around each other. It was the perfect way to end the evening and it makes me all giddy just thinking about it.

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DIY Wedding Details

Although we began wedding planning without a theme, a theme soon emerged: palm trees and pugs. Most of the DIY projects below are described in more detail in my planning bio. Even now after the wedding, I keep thinking of other DIY projects I would love to do. Shown below is: Bella Lugosi, Pugmistress of Destruction and a destroyed invitation (don't let this happen to you!); our message in a bottle Save the Dates; our invitations; our pre-departure boarding passes sent to attending guests; our welcome goodie bags (including welcome message and wedding day timeline); our golf tournament goodie bags; our pug table numbers; our cocktail and dinner menus; our programs; our palm fans; and our favors.

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Wedding Week Events

In addition to the wedding itself, we scheduled various events in the days leading up to the wedding. Two days prior to the wedding we hosted a scramble-style golf tournament that was crazy fun. (In a scramble, each player on a team of four hits the ball, then the entire team moves up to the best shot to play their next shot from that spot. We intentionally divided up teams so that each team had at least one or two "real" golfers on it, which kept the teams competitive. I was delighted by the enthusiasm and joy with which my non-golfer friends hacked and squealed their way through the tournament -- exactly as I had hoped. It was a huge success.

After the tournament, we hosted a Welcome BBQ at our spacious oceanfront townhouse in Puamana, just south of Lahaina. We presented each guest with a welcome bag (including a welcome letter and wedding day timeline) and had a little awards ceremony for the winners of the golf tournament.

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Honeymoon

Two days after the wedding, DH and I headed to Kauai for our honeymoon. After one week of craziness and non-stop family and friends action on Maui, it was exactly what we needed to relax and unwind. We stayed in a condo right next to the Princeville Resort and purchased resort passes that allowed us to use Princeville's facilities. It was the best of all worlds -- Princeville amenities without paying $800 per night for a room.

The highlight of the trip was flying around the island in a helicopter without doors. If you go to Kaua'i, you MUST take a helicopter ride. It is unbelievable! We relied heavily on Kaua'i Revealed: the Ultimate Kaua'i Guidebook and it never let us down.

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At Home Reception

Two months after the wedding, we hosted an "informal BBQ celebration." The idea was to celebrate our marriage at home with those who were unable to join us in Maui, as well as those who were not invited. Although the plan was to keep things low-key and low-stress, to me it felt like planning an entire second wedding reception, except this time in less than two months, with a substantitally smaller budget for a much larger crowd, and without the help of a wedding coordinator.

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Vendor Reviews

Right after the wedding I was so tempted to give each and every vendor an A++++++++++++++ and call it good. Doing so truly would reflect how we felt about our wedding and the vendors that made it possible. That said, I want to try to pass on information that will be helpful to other Knotties. Although I wrote initial vendor reviews immediately after the wedding, they suffered from serious grade inflation.

I have tried to avoid that here by doing away with the A to F grading system and letting the euphoric glow from the wedding wear off before revising my reviews. Rather than giving a grade, I simply relayed my experience with each vendor here and provided editorial comments.

Venue: Olowalu Plantation Highly Recommended	I couldn't be happier with this location. It was right on the water, totally private, allowed us to play amplified music, bring in our own caterer and bartender, and was gorgeous even with only minimal decorations. In addition to loving the look and feel of Olowalu, we also loved the convenience of getting ready and having the ceremony and reception all at the same location. I have two caveats, however. First, if you are looking for a super fancy perfectly manicured place, you'd probably be better off someplace else. Olowalu Plantation, while elegant, definitely has a laid-back "earthy" feel. Second, the costs at Olowalu definitely add up. You have to rent tables, chairs, linens, and lighting, and have your caterer and bartender bring plates, utensils, glasses, and related items. Make sure to budget accordingly if you are renting a private estate like Olowalu. Although we could have saved money by having our reception at a restaurant (where most of those costs are included), we were able to make cuts elsewhere in the budget to accommodate the rentals. At the end of the day, it was 100% worth it for us to go with Olowalu.
Coordinator: Lori Lawrence, Tropical Maui Weddings Highly Recommended	In the weeks leading up to the wedding, Lori was fantastic. She was responsive and even prompted me to make decisions when I was lollygagging. She was even better when we made it to Maui. She went out of her way to make sure we had all of our questions answered and needs met. She was super sweet and friendly (almost to the point of being too sweet – but that's probably just me). The day of the wedding she did nearly everything. She coordinated the lighting, the officiant, the caterer, the bartender (even though I paid the bartender directly), the chairs and tables, the linens, the bamboo ceremony arch, the orchids for the aisle, picked up my bouquet, and set up all of the decor. She would have done the rest of the flowers and the cakes too, but I wanted to get those myself through Costco to save some money. She set up some things differently at the reception than I would have (for example, the river rocks and votive candles – I would have put them in clusters rather than have them spaced evenly), but that was my fault because I never provided detailed instructions about how I wanted things. Lori gets all the credit for selecting fabulous vendors for the linens, tables, chairs, and lighting because I had nothing to do with their selection and they were all great. All of that said, months before the wedding, she was less responsive by email than I wanted her to be. I was often frustrated with her less-than-complete email responses and occasionally felt like she was steering me toward vendors because they were her friends, not necessarily because she thought they were the best fit for me. All of that said, however, I would hire Lori again in a second. My wedding was nearly stress-free largely because of her, and on the day of the wedding she was worth her weight in gold.
Hair: Dan Sanchez Recommended	I loved my hair. It was exactly how I wanted it -- long curls half up with orchids, out of my face, but still soft and flowy. Really, I couldn't have been more delighted with my hair. It also held up pretty well despite the wind, constant hair-smooshing hugs, and dancing. I still thought it looked great at the end of the night (albeit less curly and far more wind-blown). Dan was also very sweet and funny to work with. However, I wasn't necessarily all that impressed with my girls' hair. He set each of their hair in curlers, then just ran his fingers through their curls, gave them a little hairspray, and called it good. I thought they looked great, but given how pricey he is and the fact that I was paying for everyone, I was expecting to see something a bit more dramatic. Also, Dan was 30 minutes late. As someone who worked in a client-driven industry for years, that's a peeve of mine – you know there will be traffic, so leave early. As it was, I wouldn't hesitate to use him again, especially for a half-up hairstyle like I had – I was absolutely delighted with it.
Make-Up: Jessica Waite Recommended	Jessica was also 30 minutes late, even though I had contacted her two days in advance to tell her that I would need her to be early for airbrushing because my spray tan (which I had done days earlier) had gotten a bit splotchy on my chest and arms. She was super sweet and chatty as she was doing my make-up. In the end I was very happy with my make-up, although my face was a shade or two lighter than the color she sprayed on my chest and arms. Given that she used airbrush makeup on my face as well, I would have expected that they would match. Ultimately it didn't matter though because you can barely notice in a couple of the photos, and I think that I looked great.
Officiant: Pastor Ken Highly Recommended	We had booked Pastor Vance to perform the ceremony. Two days before the wedding, Lori told me that Pastor Vance was ill and that his brother Tino was booked that day, but that both Kimo and Pastor Ken were available. We told Lori that we wanted someone big, jolly, and funny who would perform the same ceremony as Pastor Vance -- we really loved his Hawaiian non-religious script. Lori said that Ken would be a great choice. Honestly, I was pretty nervous about something as important as the officiant being changed so late in the game. I was also nervous because I couldn't necessarily remember any other Knotties' reviews of Ken. As it was, it turned out perfectly. Ken was warm, funny, and wonderful, and he fit in my and DH's own vows seamlessly. At the end he nearly forgot that our friends were going to perform a song before the pronouncement, but Lori stopped him and reminded him about the song, and Ken covered well and made everyone laugh. He showed up early and stayed around well after the ceremony (although he declined our invitation to stay for dinner, which didn't bother us at all). I defintely would recommend him.
Caterer: Cafe o Lei Recommended	I think Cafe o Lei is the victim of over-hype. We went with the buffet. I had such high expectations for them after reading other Knotties' reviews that I was disappointed that it wasn't the BEST food I'd ever had. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a bit of a food snob though. The prime rib was cooked more or less medium to medium-well, which was disappointing to my dad who likes it rare, but he said that it was still good. Also, I was annoyed that I ordered the macadamia nut-crusted mahi mahi (and printed that on the menu cards) but they served mahi mahi with ginger mango relish. That said, the food was still delicious, and other people seemed very impressed with it. I was particularly fond of the garlic mashed potatoes and the coconut crusted shrimp. They also scored points for their very sweet servers, and extra points for putting together a special tray of all the appetizers for DH and me (complete with wasabi and soy sauce for the sushi) because we had missed the apps when we were out on the pier taking photos. Also, they set up and provided plates and silverware for the dessert buffet, even though I bought all of the desserts (including our "wedding cake") through Costco instead of through them. Overall, a very pleasant vendor who provided delicious food.
Bartender: Bars Are Us (Stacey) Highly Recommended	Stacey is the sweetest thing ever. She was there on time to set up, put together a great bar area and pre-ceremony drink station, provided great servers, and then was on her way. The staff and the drinks were great. Per our request, they served Mai Tais, Coronas, Iced Tea, and water before the ceremony -- best decision we made, I think. It surprised people and put them in a festive mood from the outset, which is exactly what we wanted. We opened up the (mostly) full bar following the ceremony. I loved that every drink came with a fruit and an umbrella and/or orchid garnish -- very cute and festive.
Ceremony Musician: Jamie Lawrence Recommended	I hate to admit it, but I don't remember much about Jamie's music. I couldn't hear him when I was in the house, but he did a great job with Maunaleo as I walked down the aisle. Then I was so distracted after the ceremony I wasn't paying attention to the music, then we went out to the pier to take photos where we couldn't hear him with the waves crashing. That said, I heard many compliments during the reception about our "wonderful" musician.
DJ: Ron Tolbert Recommended	I totally missed the boat and never gave Ron a song list. All I told him was that DH and I were dancing to IZ's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," followed by Outkast's "Hey Ya" with my Dad, and that we wanted Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" for our last song. Other than that, we said we wanted lots of fun 80s dance music, no cheesy wedding songs (e.g. Electric Slide, Macarena, Chicken Dance, etc.) and little to no country. With that vague guidance, Ron pulled together a great playlist and mixed in song requests on demand. He even made my bridesmaids come check with me before he would play the Electric Slide (I was outvoted -- it turned out to be a huge hit). Ron did a fabulous job with hardly any direction. He kept the dance floor jumping all night, and I was very happy. That said, we got lucky. If music is important to you, definitely make a playlist. Although I was very pleased with Ron's DJing, I should say that I had virtually no direct interaction with him. FWIW, I've heard some scuttlebutt about Ron being difficult to work with from a vendor perspective. You may want to check with your wedding coordinator and other Knotties for their thoughts before booking him.
Photographer: Ka'ua Photography Highly Recommended	I loooove our photos. I really did agonize over whether I made the right decision when I selected Ka'ua (especially after seeing so much of Shawn Starr and Frank Amodo's work on this Board -- I started to have photographer envy). In the end, Ka'ua was perfect for us. After introducing himself at the beginning, he was nearly invisible until after the ceremony. Then he appeared out of nowhere and ably (in his sweet, calm, surfer-boy way) directed family and friends this way and that for various posed photos. Then we had a ball with him out at the pier for wedding party photos, then he was invisible again, then he reappeared for sunset photos (and had by then established a great rapport with DH, which is key for making him feel comfortable in front of the camera), and then he became like one of the guests. He then sent us an amazing slideshow of 242 photos less than one week after our wedding. I really, really love Ka'ua's style. I didn't make a "must take photo" list, and in retrospect I definitely should have. Once again, however, I got lucky with our photos despite not quite having my act together. I would use Ka'ua again in a heartbeat.
Bouquet: Maui Blooms Recommended	I requested a bouquet of white mini callas and green orchids, with bear grass loops and a tei leaf wrap. It occurred to me the day before the wedding that I forgot to specify that I wanted green cymbidium orchids, not dendrobiums. The woman from Maui Blooms (who was super sweet) told me that it was too late -- they had already started making my bouquet and, in any event, they didn't have any green cyms available. I was a little pouty after that phone call because I had always pictured myself with green cyms in my bouquet, and I found it hard to believe that a florist on Maui wouldn't have any green cyms on hand. That said, I loved my bouquet -- just gorgeous! It actually worked out for the best because all of our flowers coordinated -- the green orchids matched the bridal party's green orchid leis, and the white orchids in my hair matched my mom's white orchid lei and the white orchids in DH's maile lei. The only knock on the bouquet (other than the $200 price tag, which seemed a little steep for a small-ish bouquet) is that the tei leaf wrap wasn't secured very well. It was already coming undone as I walked down the aisle. And the bear grass loops kept popping out, so I had to hold it together myself. In the end, I was very happy with my bouquet, but had I not liked the way it looked without the cyms, I would have been pissed.
Centerpieces and Leis: Maui Floral (through Costco) Recommended	I ordered our centerpieces, purple orchid leis for our guests, green orchid leis for the wedding party, a double white orchid lei for my mom, and a maile lei for DH through Maui Floral. Their unbelievably cute tropical flower baskets were only $25. I was thrilled! That said, I had a bit of an issue over email with a woman named Daneen when I tried to place my order. I was quoted the $8.99 price for two purple orchid leis several times, but when I ordered Daneen said that they "might" raise the lei price to $8.99 PER LEI. I pushed back and said that I wouldn't pay that price because I had been quoted the previous price for my June 5 date and if they wouldn't honor it then I would just forget the lei order altogether. (A bit draconian, perhaps, but I was pissed -- you can't place an order for something if the selling party refuses to tell you what the price is going to be. Given that we were ordering 60 leis, the cost difference was substantial). In any event, after no response from them for 3 weeks followed by a snotty email from me, Maureen (the owner) stepped in and was super sweet. I got the leis at the price they initially quoted me and those super cute centerpieces for a screaming deal. They even let me specify what colors and flowers I wanted. (I asked for some mini-pins, some orchids, and other assorted tropicals in red, orange, and purple. That's exactly what they gave me). Picking them up at Costco was crazy crowded, but well worth the ordeal.
Nails: ProfessioNAIL at Lahaina Cannery Mall NOT Recommended	My Mom and I went in for mani/pedis together the day before the wedding. I ended up with two bleeding cuticles on my fingers and my Mom said her pedi was quite painful. Then we both tried to change polish color for our fingernails after seeing how it looked on one nail and both manicurists were very reluctant. They insisted that the initial colors were "very pretty, very pretty." I barked at my Mom's manicurist to make sure that she got the color she wanted. But then I gave up on arguing with my manicurist and ended up with a color that I didn't like. My bridesmaids took off my polish the day of the wedding and MOH was going to repaint them a different color for me, but then we simply ran out of time -- so I didn't have my nails done for my big day. Nothing to cry about, certainly, but annoying because I specifically went out of my way to have them done the day before the wedding and I didn't like the way they turned out. Meh? Oh well. I was reasonably happy with my french-tipped pedicure (although I've certainly had better), and Mom's nails did look good once they were painted the right color. That said, I definitely would not recommend this place.
Maui Accommodations: Puamana Resort Highly Recommended	Puamana Resort is approximately 5 - 10 minutes north of Olowalu Plantation and it was perfect for us. It's not really a "resort," it's just a gated community of townhomes and condos with common pools and play areas. It is reasonably close to the action of Lahaina town (about a 20 minute walk, 10 minute bike ride, or 5 minute drive), yet far enough from the hustle and bustle to still feel relaxed. Lots of our guests stayed in Puamana as well, which made for a great communal hanging out experience during our wedding week. We spent nearly every night sitting on the lawn under the stars listening to the waves crashing. It was also nice to have my BMs so close by to help with all of my last minute DIY silliness. My "highly recommended" designation comes with a few caveats. We stayed in unit 31-1, an oceanfront corner unit near the middle of the complex. Each unit is owned individually, so the condition and decor of the units vary widely -- some units are tragically outdated while others have been tastefully remodeled. For example, although our unit was recently remodeled and we loved it, some of our friends stayed in outdated units that were downright...well, gross. Speaking of gross, I should also mention that a few of our guests saw some unsightly critters running around (e.g. little mice and big bugs), but I think that you'd probably see critters at any oceanfront place (unless you're in an upper floor of a fancy hotel). We rented through vacation-maui.com and had a very good experience with them.
Kaua'i Accommodations: Pua Poa Recommended	Pua Poa is located on Kauai's north shore next door to the Princeville Resort. Our unit, number 307, was crazy gorgeous and we loved it. That said, the rest of Pua Poa is...well, there's really just not much else to it. The pool area is pretty disappointing, but there was no reason to hang out at the pool when you're perched above a gorgeous Kauai beach and right next door to a five star resort (where you can buy resort passes to let you use their amenities). All in all, it worked out great for our honeymoon.

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Random Thoughts

I am so glad that...

...I wore sunscreen. 15 days of glorious sun, sand, and surf, and not a single sunburn. I reapplied regularly throughout the day while my friends made fun of me, but then I was the one laughing after they all burned to a crisp and I remained pleasantly pale under my spray tan.

...I did tons of DIY projects. I hadn't really taken much time to do crafts before I started with all of the wedding stuff. After spending a few months drooling over Knottie bios, I jumped head first into the land of DIY and never looked back. I love love love crafts! And making so much DIY wedding stuff really made everything that much more personal and meaningful for our guests. They were all so impressed.

...we hosted a Golf Tournament and Welcome BBQ. We debated whether these events would be more trouble than they were worth, but we delegated set-up and coordination tasks to our wedding party as appropriate, and everything turned out great! A major run to Costco took care of all of the BBQ goodies, and my friends were super sports about the golf tournament. Both events were a great opporunity for our friends and family to mix and mingle prior to the big day.

...we had 7 hours of photography. Initially we were going to go with 5 hours, but at the last minute I decided that I wanted all of the dancing shots at the end of the night and I am so glad we got them. Ka'ua was very accommodating. We fed Ka'ua and encouraged him to take breaks to keep him from getting too worn out.

...we had a videographer. We hired Hawaii Video Memories for two hours. As everyone always says, the wedding day seemed to go so fast and I am so glad we will be able to watch our video of the ceremony for years to come.

...our townhouse was party central during our wedding week. We had an open door policy for folks to come and go and it was so great to spend that extra time in Paradise with our nearest and dearest.

...we snuck off on our own the night before the wedding. Although it was great fun hosting wedding party central every night, DH and I both hit the wall at the exact same time the night before the wedding. We ended up leaving our own townhouse and walked along the beach together, found a nice quiet spot to settle in, and then just decompressed a bit as the party continued on at our place.

...we left the island two days after our wedding to be alone and chill out. After one week of wedding craziness, we were both ready to finally spend some alone time together. Kaua'i was the perfect place to do that.

...we prioritized well and did away with stuff that wasn't important to us so that we could budget for the things that really were. $800 wedding cake? Not so much. Ours was a $13.99 cheesecake from Costco. $3000 live band? Would have loved it, but a DJ worked just fine. Thousands of dollars on flowers? Nope. Our centerpieces were $25 each. Accommodating all of the extra rentals to have our wedding at a private estate? That was really worth it to us so we did it.

...I communicated my vision, expectations, and needs clearly and warmly to DH, my family, and my friends throughout the process. I always asked for help when I needed it and I am so grateful for the support I received.

...we were flexible and just rolled with things as they came. Stuff came up. We rolled with it.

If I could do it over...

...I would wear bug spray. Although I was great with the sunscreen, it didn't really occur to me that there would be so many mosquitoes on muggy evenings next to the ocean. I got eaten alive.

...I would give myself more time to do the DIY projects. The DIY projects were so rewarding in so many ways, but because I always vastly underestimated how long it would take to do various projects, I ended up with a whole bunch of stuff left to do at the last minute. Literally. I was up half the night before we left designing and printing our programs. I printed our day-of timelines and welcome letters moments before the cab arrived to take us to the airport. I assembled our programs and favors in Maui with the help of my BMs. And I put together our guest book the morning of the wedding as DH and I were lying in bed drinking our morning coffee. Although it was all fun, it would have been nice to get these things done in advance.

...we wouldn't have an AHR. There were two major issues with the AHR. Well, three, actually. First, as I mentioned above, planning the AHR was more stressful than planning the wedding. I ordered, coordinated, and set-up everything myself with occassional help from DH (who wasn't at all worried about anything because, in his mind, it was "just" a casual BBQ). I kept thinking "wedding reception," however, and set my expectations too high. Second, there was some drama from random family members who were (*GASP! SIGH!*) SOOOOOO offended that they weren't invited to our wedding in Maui. Those offended family members seemed to accept our previous explanation that we were inviting "immediate family only" to the wedding, but then became visibly pissed when they saw the wedding photos showing that, in addition to our immediate families, we also happened to bring along another 42 of our closest friends. If I had to do it all over again, I would simply invite all of those people to Maui -- most of them wouldn't have come anyway, and I would have gotten to avoid the drama. The third issue with the AHR is that -- after the catering and the bartender and the alcohol and the tables, chairs, and linen rentals -- it cost way more than we planned for. I think we would have come out ahead by inviting the extra people to Maui rather than hosting an AHR.

...we would have done a TTD shoot. It came down to a budget issue. Wish we could have squished it in somewhere. I drool all over the screen when I see other Knotties' TTD shoots.

...we would have a friend record things on video once the videographer left. It never occurred to us to ask someone to bring a video recorder. I really, really wish we had the toasts and dances on video. I am so glad, at the very least, we have Ka'ua's images!

...I would have made more lists with detailed instructions for my vendors. As mentioned above, Lori set up some of the decor differently than I would have at our ceremony and reception. In the end it was certainly no big deal, but I've become such a DIY junkie that it bugs me to look at photos of my stuff set up differently than I had envisioned. In addition to that list, I would have made a must-take photo list (more pro photos of my pug table numbers, damn it!), and a more specific music play list.