What’s more romantic than Paris? A Paris themed wedding in Hawaii? Correct! Prepare yourselves for this one, readers. Jasmine Star Photography was there to capture this gorgeous ceremony in Oahu. While the couple is based there, we think the elegant details (matched to the perfectly pink venue), manages to nod at both influences flawlessly. See what we mean below.
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From the bride…
Theme: Jeremy proposed to me in Paris, where we first fell in love five years before. We briefly toyed with the ideas of having a destination wedding in Paris, but our ultimate goal was to throw an unforgettable party celebrating both our love for each other and for our closest friends and family, too. Since we couldn’t afford to send all 200 guests to France for the weekend, this meant trying to bring a little Parisian romance and glamour to our island home.
Venue: My middle name, Hime, means “princess” in Japanese. So naturally, the Royal Hawaiian (nicknamed the “Pink Palace of the Pacific”) was the only place I could imagine for our celebration. We held the ceremony and cocktail hour on the lawn fronting Waikiki beach and moved indoors into the ballroom for the reception. It was perfection.
Colors: Our wedding colors were blush and gold. I picked blush pink because it is pretty and romantic and gold because it is glamorous and fun. Luckily, we found a stationer (Bella Figura) that was capable of doing shiny gold foil stamping with pink letterpress for our invitations. We picked a design that looked like confetti and champagne bubbles that really set the tone for our celebration.
Flowers: I wanted our flowers to be romantic and whimsical. We chose four types of vintage garden roses, pink hydrangeas, ivory and pink astilbe, ranunculus, and white veronica. Although most ballroom weddings nowadays seem to have big, tall centerpieces, I think they make it a little difficult for guests to converse. Our talented florist, Michelle Maeda of Flowergirls Hawaii, proposed a great solution: half the tables would have round, cakestand centerpieces and half would have mason jars. They turned out so beautiful, and they weren’t so obtrusive that they got in the way of socializing!
DIY: We had lots of DIY elements. My mom handmade our lovely little ring pillow and helped me make our gold and pink escort cards. I handmade all the balloon streamers and the bar signs decorating the cocktail hour space, the table numbers (using gold glitter paper on pink stock in white Ikea frames), the display frame for the photo booth pictures, and the flower crowns for our five adorable nieces/flower girls. Jeremy and I dined on beautiful heirloom china from his Grandma Bessie. After planning and creating for two years, it was magical to see everything come together on our wedding day. Lauren of L4Love was instrumental in making our dreams become reality: Lauren and her team set up and executed everything flawlessly.
Bridesmaids: I had ten gorgeous bridesmaids and picking out their dresses was one of the most fun parts of the planning process. I wanted a mixture of hues and textures, so I worked with my bridesmaids so that everyone would look great together. Whenever I found a dress that I thought would be a good match, I would email all the girls (or pin it on a pinboard) and see if anyone wanted me to order it for them. It really worked out well: they got dresses that they loved and felt comfortable in, and they looked stunning both individually and as a group. Some people were incredulous that I had ten bridesmaids, but I was so happy to be able to spend that quiet time on the morning of the wedding surrounded by my best friends.
Advice for Future Brides:
Relax, breathe, smile, sip on some champagne… enjoy your day! What really helps is to hire good vendors that you like and trust. On that note, pick a photographer who does beautiful work and whose company you enjoy. We picked Jasmine Star both because of her timeless, ethereal photographs and because she is just so easy and fun to be around: I knew we would be able to relax and be ourselves in front of the camera with her behind the lens. Our coordinator, Lauren was also amazing: organized, efficient, and dependable. And hire a videographer! My husband was skeptical, but he really is so grateful that we hired Fisheye. The day you have been planning for months or years really does go by so quickly, and you will want as many memories captured on film as possible.
Favorite Moment: I truly loved each moment of the day, but my favorite part had to be the ceremony. Listening to my sister Kelike sing “At Last” with the string quartet; seeing all our friends’ and family members’ faces radiating with love as my mom, brother, and I walked down the aisle; listening to my favorite person in the world saying the vows we wrote together… all of it just makes my heart fill with joy.
Photography: Jasmine Star | Cinematography: Fisheye Studio | Coordination: L-4-Love | Floral Design: Flowergirls | Wedding Dress: JLM Couture, Inc | Invitations: Bella Figura | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Hair And Makeup: Flaunt | DJ: Soundscape Hawaii | Wedding Venue: Royal Hawaiian Hotel | Bridal Belt: Augusta Jones | Bridal Hairpiece: BHLDN | Cake Topper: Lollipop Workshop | Confetti: BHLDN | Linens: Les Saisons | Mochi Truffles: Choco Lea | Photo Booth: ShutterBooth | Robes: Plum Pretty Sugar
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