Did you do any DIY Projects or create any handmade items for your wedding?
I created a lot of items for our wedding. I love crafting and creating, so it was really fun to design and then see my visions come to life! My favorite DIY projects have to be our seating place cards and our guest “book” which was actually a personalized skateboard deck.
I found that by experimenting with different ideas I could create exactly what I wanted rather than settling for “well it’s in our budget,” or “it’s close enough to what I want”. I also found it was a lot easier to create these things, though it was very time consuming and required a lot of patience.
The bulk of my DIY details were created using a Cricut Explore Air 2 and Canva. If you have the patience, I definitely suggest creating what you can. It was extremely rewarding and also left room in our budget for the items we really wanted but couldn’t make ourselves. One easy DIY that anyone can do is by creating your own invitations, itineraries, menus and signage. You can use Canva to design them and then get them printed at a copy store on cardstock! They’re more affordable, will look exactly how you want them to, and if changes have to be made last minute – it’s an easy fix!
What creative or personal aspects did you include in your wedding?
We had always dreamed of getting married in Hawaii, as we vacation there most summers with Taylor’s family. Because of this, Hawaii was our main inspiration! We wanted to embrace the colors and beauty of the island and let that shine through. We knew we wanted it to be intimate, relaxed and beautiful. We went with a color palette of pink, red, fuschia and orange and leaned heavily on natural green foliage as an accent. We drew inspiration directly from the island, fully embracing its natural beauty. Our theme was vibrant, tropical and relaxed. I pulled a lot of inspiration from the brand Tommy Bahama – which I view as an elevated style yet comfortably casual; while being fun and vibrant, but also classic.
What is the most memorable moment of your day?
A few of our other favorite moments from that day would have to include singing the lyrics to Tiny Dancer by Elton John with our guests during our first dance, sunset photos which felt extremely intimate and relaxed, and tearing up the dance floor with our guests all night. There are honestly too many wonderful moments to name!
What was the biggest thing you did to save money?
There were quite a few! For floral, we only had bridesmaids bouquets and no flowers for groomsmen. We booked a photographer for a slightly shorter package (6 hours rather than 8). We also booked a partial planning package rather than full!
I purchased my own candles and napkins and had them shipped. The ceremony package included the officiant and musician which really helped.
Finally, there was no alter – we used ground florals instead, and all were repurposed to the reception.
What were your favorite details?
The entire day was absolutely stunning! The tablescape was romantic, and full of color and texture. The ceremony space was natural and embraced the beauty of the land. The bamboo chairs were a last minute change, and they really made our ceremony design pop – especially since we opted for no alters
The bridesmaid dresses were stressful to plan, but turned out so perfect! The greenery only bouquets were also a very unique touch that I absolutely love that I decided on. It further proved that literally everything that grows in Hawaii is gorgeous – not just the flowers! My bouquet was everything I dreamed of. Honestly, all of the florals were beyond perfect!
What’s the best advice you have for planning your wedding now that you’re on the other side?
Enjoy the process and stay organized! The best advice I recieved and now give to everyone I know getting married is to create a wedding email and use that for everything! It will then house all of your wedding emails and details, and you can also use Google Drive to house spreadsheets, vision boards (I used Google Slides) and other documents.
It’s one day in hopefully many days yet to come, so get creative and have fun with it! Do what you love, not necessarily what is trendy, because looking back you don’t want to regret any of your choices. We didn’t care about cake, so we didn’t do a wedding cake. Taylor wore flip flops to be comfortable! Bridesmaids didn’t have flowers, only greenery to save money and so their dresses would pop. We opted for no alter and instead aisle caps to save money and so we could easily move and reuse the florals in our reception space. We also wanted to sit with our guests at dinner so we did one long table and no sweetheart table. At the end of the day, this is your wedding. Who cares what anyone else thinks, make the choices for you and trust your gut.
Share any additional details you’d like us to know about your event:
We asked our wonderful officiant – Kahu Tom – to incorporate Hawaiian traditions into our ceremony. This included conch shell blowings and blessings before the ceremony started and blessing our wedding bands in a Koa bowl of salt water from the ocean. Kahu Tom also talked a lot about the significance of Keauhou Bay which directly translates to mean “the new era”. All of the Hawaiian traditions he incorporated made our ceremony so special, and truly meaningful for not just us, but also for our guests. You could really feel the Aloha spirit throughout our ceremony, and the rest of the evening.
