Our Hawaiian Wedding |Love Miss Walker

Aloha!

Those of you that know me, know that I am recently married. My Hubby and I had a a very short engagement and decided to do things slightly different to the 'traditional' wedding. Hubby and I have always had an open communication line about our wedding, even before we were engaged. I have never been a big 'wedding' girl, and although I love attending weddings and celebrating love, I had never fantasised about 'my day' and all that comes with it, I just dreamed of actually being married.

After many, many talks, run throughs of several different scenarios, we decided on what we felt was perfect for us, and like to call a 'Backwards Wedding'. The ceremony part of our wedding was done in private (just the two of us) on the Island of Oahu, Hawaii. So in essence, yes we eloped. Prior to our departure to Hawaii, we had what the majority of our guests thought was our 'Engagement Party' (one in Western Australia and one in Victoria to cater for all of our loved ones), and we surprised everyone with our wedding news on the night. As you would imagine, we were faced with a room of many stunned and shocked faces, tears, laughs and cheers. Our engagement - turned - wedding celebrations were some of the best nights of our lives, and we wouldn't change a thing for the world.

When the news broke, many of my girlfriends had the same questions. Are you wearing a wedding dress? Do you have a photographer? Are you getting married on the beach?!!? You are SO not a beach girl... Do you have a minister? What about your hair?? Makeup?! How did you organise it? and the most frequent of course was: Why??! When you hear the word 'Elope', many minds turn straight to a runaway bride, Vegas, bad photographs and unhappy families. Before sharing some of our beautiful photos (which in themselves manage to diminish all preconceived ideas on eloping) I thought I would answer these questions and explain how eloping doesn't have to involve some guy dressed as Elvis.

Did you wear a wedding dress?

Yes. I am not a Princess dress type gal, and was always going to choose something sleek and classic. I turned straight to one of my favourite Australian Designers, LOVER and fell in love with the Marianne Dress. I ordered it in a heartbeat and luckily it fit like a glove and was perfect. Yes - this is a very 'simple' dress in terms of a wedding dress - but it is 'me'.

Did you have a photographer?

UMMMM... Yes. Photos are very important to me (my iPhoto catalogue could easily tell you that) and I pretty much like to document everything. Many people don't know this, but we changed our wedding date to suit our photographer. I am the type of person that researches everything to the absolute core. Planning a Disney vacation? I became a Disney expert. Buying a bed? I became a bed expert. Getting married in Hawaii? I became a Hawaiian Wedding Photographer expert. Many, many hours were spent researching and stalking other people's Hawaiian weddings, and guys, I found the Holy Grail. Ashley Goodwin is beyond amazing, and if you know anyone planning on getting married in Hawaii, recommend her one thousand times over.

Did you get married on the beach?

That would be a no. Not that there is anything wrong with getting married on the beach - I think it is beautiful! But as my friends pointed out, I am not the quintessential beach girl by any means. I am pale, don't really like the sun with out a hat and love heels. Again, I researched quite possible every wedding location on every Hawaiian Island. And settled on the amazingness that is Kualoa Ranch (and I promise it's not just because Jurassic Park was filmed there...). Photos do not do this place justice at all. We were absolutely dwarfed by the landscape and our breath was literally taken away. There are several venues to choose from on the ranch, and we decided on Hale Moli'i. For those movie fans reading along - it is the location of Kate Hudson's wedding in You, Me and Dupree. Anyway. It can be quite tricky finalising the details of your wedding via the www, and Heather at Kualoa Ranch was more than helpful and patient when I was deliberating between two different locations.

Did you have a minister?

Yes, our Wedding Planner (which I will get to in a moment) matched us with the most perfect Wedding Celebrant. Kahu Bruce gave us a truly spiritual, meaningful and personal ceremony, with elements of Hawaiian culture and tradition tied in. I couldn't recommend him more.

Did you have your hair and makeup done?

Of course! It was my wedding day and I wanted to look my best. I found Leslie Fair after (surprisingly...) extensive research and knew she was the gal for me. Leslie is the sweetest and really listened to what I wanted in terms of my look, and I also trusted her input and suggestions.

How did you organise it?

If you haven't guessed by now, I am a Type-A personality and like to have everything organised and researched to the tee. There were some things with a Destination Wedding that I wasn't 100% comfortable in organising myself, so enlisted the help of the amazing Kibby from Oahu Wedding. This was seriously the best money we spent in regards to our wedding, and having Kibby there to help us prior to and on our day was amazing. She organised flowers, Kahu Bruce, coordinated our vendors, transport, wedding licence meeting and also supplied us with a time line of events for our day. She was such a darling and could not recommend her and the rest of the girls at Oahu Wedding more.

Why??

This is a very personal question with a very personal answer, but in a nutshell, it is what we felt was right for us. It had nothing to do with our families not getting along or disapproving of our marriage, it is quite the opposite in fact. If eloping is something you and your Fiance are considering, the best advice I have for you is to block out all outside noise and decide what is important to you as a couple, and to do it for the right reasons.

Now! Time for the photos. As mentioned earlier - all photos were taken by Ashley Goodwin. Enjoy!!