I know, I know… I haven’t updated in over a month. Can you blame me? It was a whirlwind leading up to the wedding and a big sigh of relief once the wedding was over. Then heading off to Hawaii for our honeymoon and back a week later, straight into work mode.
I’ll share with you all some highlights from the wedding and honeymoon.
Wedding Highlights:
- Morning of: I arrived at the venue with my hair stylist at around 9:15 a.m. the day of the wedding and started preparing everything. I was smart enough to pack a majority of the decorations into a suitcase, allowing for easy transport and unloading. Between 9:30 and 10 a.m. my mom, aunt, cousin’s girlfriend, and my bridesmaids arrived at the venue. I had started getting things ready and my girls – one by one – started with their hair. My makeup artist from Fresh Face Makeup, based out of San Francisco, arrived at around 10:30 and started the makeup process. While all the girls were getting their hair or makeup done, my mom, aunt and I were setting up place cards, signs, straws, the selfie photo booth, and everything else.
- Afternoon of: My wedding photographer, Vinh Nguyen, showed up with his fantastic team at around 2:30 p.m., as did the great cinematographers from Major Diamond Productions. They filmed me getting my hair and makeup done, and part of the putting-on-the-dress process. I started in the women’s locker room (where we were all getting ready prior to the wedding) and ended finishing getting ready in the ballroom, where our reception would be held. Here are some photos by Vinh Nguyen Photography to show the process:
- First Look/Ceremony: I was so nervous leading up to the first look. I barely ate anything or drank any water… But once I saw Max, I was instantly relaxed. During our first look, we participated in a Ketubah (Jewish marriage agreement) signing prior to taking photos before the ceremony. Once we were together for photos, etc, I was fine. It wasn’t until right before the ceremony did I really have a panic attack. I thought the song I would walk down the aisle to wouldn’t play – but that was solved. Then I got golf carted to the location where we hid before the ceremony and as people were walking, I broke down, wishing my dad were there to walk me down the aisle. He has been gone for almost eight years and it’s still tough. Leading up to the wedding I didn’t think much about it because I was so consumed in what I was preparing. A couple of weeks before the wedding, I felt my dad’s presence more than I ever had, knowing he was looking down on his daughter on her big day. My mom and my uncle walked me down the aisle.
- Reception: This was a BLAST! After the ceremony, there was cocktail hour and then Max and I were taken away for sunset hour photos… But then we went back and heard beautiful speeches that made us cry, danced till we couldn’t anymore, and mingled with all our wonderful guests. I don’t have reception photos, but I’ll update this post when I get those in.
- Selfie Booth: i thought this would be a hit or miss kind of thing. Max and I decided we didn’t want to pay upwards of $1,000 for a photo booth, so I came up with the idea of a selfie booth! I’m obsessed with taking selfies – ask anyone – and I figured this would capture my personality a lot. We ordered props galore from Amazon and it turned out everyone had a blast with it. I uploaded the photos to Facebook asking people to tag themselves. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad I came up with that idea.
Honeymoon highlights:
- Oahu, Hawaii: This was AMAZING. I hadn’t been to Hawaii since high school graduation eight years ago, so it was a blast to head to a beautiful place with my husband for our week-long honeymoon. Mimi Towle of Hawaii Islander planned every excursion and made all our dinner reservations. We were truly spoiled during our honeymoon.
- U.S.S Missouri, Aviation Museum, Pearl Harbor, U.S.S Bowfin Submarine: This was a fun day trip. Plus, our tour guide looked like Walter White/Heisenberg. All you Breaking Bad fans know what I’m talking about. We spent the whole day touring historic Waikiki. From touring the U.S.S. Missouri (which played an integral part during WWII), to checking out cool planes at the aviation museum and then finally heading to Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S. Arizona to pay respects to those who lost their lives, and finally ending at the U.S.S. Bowfin to tour this very claustrophobic submarine. I honestly don’t know how people can live on a submarine. Walking through all the passageways, I was so afraid the thing was gonna break off the pier and take us under! Luckily, that did not happen. That was a lot of fun. One of our favorite things we did on the honeymoon.
Heisenberg?
- SKY Waikiki: This is all I have to say. DO NOT MISS THIS PLACE. A hip, cool, nightclub/lounge with great food, live music and more, you don’t want to skip out on this place if you’re ever in Waikiki. Attire is dressy-casual and be sure to make a reservation.
- Morimoto Waikiki: Nothing beats Chef Morimoto’s restaurant. You may remember him from Iron Chef and Iron Chef America on the Food Network. Luckily for us, we got to experience his cuisine first hand. I ventured out and tried some sushi, granted it was just kappa maki, but truly enjoyed my chicken ramen. Bonus: We saw Samuel L. Jackson while we were leaving the restaurant!
- Royal Hawaiian Aha Aina Luau: Per the recommendation of Mimi from Hawaii Islander, she told us the luau at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki had the best luau during the week. We booked the luau, which is only held on Mondays (take note), and had a blast. From great live performances to delicious food, free drinks and a kukui nut lei, it was a great evening spent with cool people. We met another honeymooning couple who sat across from us.
- Outrigger Reef Beach Resort: While Hawaii Islander planned our excursions and dinner reservations, we found a great deal for flight and hotel on hotels.com for the Outrigger Reef. Great pool. right on the beach, Shorebird and Ocean House restaurants past the lobby, and great pool-side restaurant. We wanted to relax a lot during our honeymoon and spent a majority of the time on the beach and by the pool. Also, they have Holokai Catamaran snorkeling right next door to our hotel. We did that and saw some great big sea turtles and fish.
Our wedding and honeymoon were fantastic. We are still getting messages and comments about how much fun people had at the wedding and Max and I really want to go back to Hawaii sometime soon. While this post is long, I hope you enjoyed my highlights.
xoxo,
Leigh
Live. Laugh. Love. And Lipstick 