Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Our Wedding: The Ceremony



























Photography: O'Malley Photographers
Ceremony location: Private residence on Lanikai Beach, Oahu
Invitations: Me! (Kelsey Malie Calligraphy)
Flower source: Absolutely Protea; Arrangements: My grandmother
Dress: Sweetheart from Charlotte's Weddings
Ben's suit and shoes: Perry Ellis
Bridesmaid dresses: Annabelle by Jenny Yoo
Maile leis: Picket Fence Florist

I wrote yesterday about all of the handmade details in our wedding (see a bunch of them above: flower arrangements, bouquet, my wedding invitations), and left off with a heavy rainstorm.

Despite a few hours of rain coming down in big, tropical drops, at about noon the rain let up and the clouds started to break up over the Mokulua islands right off the shore. The rain, though it was nerve-wracking for our no-back-up-plan outdoor wedding, served to clear away some of the tourists from the beach and leave parking spaces for our wedding guests. A blessing in a sopping wet disguise.

The rain also served another purpose, to introduce an insane humidity in the air. My bridesmaids and I were using ice packs, standing in front of a fan and attempting to drink ice water to keep cool in our layers and layers of tulle. I don't recall having ever sweat from my knee caps, but I did on my wedding day (a first for everything). We were tucked away in a back room at the house waiting for guests to park it so that we could start the wedding and I swear those 15 minutes were the absolute longest of my life. I do recall yelling at my mom that people needed to sit down before I passed out and we needed to get the show on the road. Something I'd recommend to any bride getting married in a humid climate that wants to wear a full, layered tulle dress: don't.

Once the nerves were out of the way and I made my way down the aisle with only minimal heel-sinking-into-lawn moments, our wedding ceremony officially kicked off the best day of my entire life. Our officiant was my maid of honor and best friend. She read a ceremony that we'd customized and our best man and bridesmaid read two readings - an Ernest Hemingway passage and that insanely tender Velveteen Rabbit passage about love. Ben's brother also played my grandfather's guitar and sang our song (Stay With Me by John Legend) in one of the most beautiful moments of the ceremony and I think we cried rather un-photogenically all the way through it. Our ceremony ended with vows we'd written ourselves and though I couldn't remember a word Ben said due to whatever euphoric plane I was on, I got to watch it back on an iPad video my aunt made for us of the ceremony, and was moved again.

When the ceremony ended, we all popped bottles of champagne and ran off to take a billion photos in the mid-afternoon heat. We had a few minutes of down time post-ceremony with no photographers around, just our family and wedding party, and everyone had a beer, kicked off their hot, painful shoes and just looked out across the beautiful Pacific ocean. Perhaps the most serene moment of the whole day as we let it sink in that we were Mr. and Mrs. and everything was flying by.

15 comments

  1. Congratulation for you two! Beautiful pictures, have a nice life together. :)
    xx, Flora
    http://lapapillonnoire.blogspot.com

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  2. What a gorgeous wedding! Congratulations and best wishes to you both!

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  3. oh my gosh! CONGRATS!! soo beautiful!!!!! love these photos!

    xo,
    Sandy
    Sandy a la Mode

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  4. These photos are so beautiful, love the elegance & laid-back vibe of your wedding. Very similar to ours and a definite favourite!! Plus, congrats on the new space! Change is always so nice and sometimes exactly what we need. Excited to follow along here!! xo

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  5. Oh, these photos are absolutely beautiful! And you look radiant and stunning - you can't tell at all how hot and humid it was. What a special wedding.

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  6. Stunning Kelsey!!! I love seeing you so happy. Just beautiful.

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  7. Ramida DusdeevutikulMay 27, 2015 at 11:22 AM

    SO BEAUTIFUL! CONGRATS!


    WWW.BSTYLEVOYAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM

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  8. Everything looks so lovely and romantic and full of love. And I am so coveting the bouquet and the chair flowers.

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  9. Congratulations, everything looks so beautiful.

    Mimi & Chichi

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  10. Congratulations! The ceremony looks so beautiful, and despite the humidity and heat, you looked stunning. I wish you two all the best!


    thesarcasticwasian.blogspot.com

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  11. Geoffrey F. NormanMay 28, 2015 at 12:07 AM

    Looks like it was a gorgeous ceremony. Glad things went (mostly) smoothy, and that no one fainted - bride included.

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  12. These pictures are so breathtaking, and your ceremony looks lovely.

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  13. Sarah @ Will Run for PastaMay 28, 2015 at 9:33 PM

    Stunning! You look beautiful and I am in major love with your bouquet. So many congratulations!!

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