A Hawaiian Affair: Ceremony...take 1

It's been awhile, so let me reset the scene. We're at the temple. Everything is looking gorgeous (if I do say so myself)!

You hear the soft sounds of Hawaiian music playing in the background.
Mr. Mek is patiently waiting.

Our flower girl is ready to make her march down the aisle...

Or so we think...hehe.
Our most adorable flower girl is..um...camera shy. Or more like, she hates people looking at her. Usually she gives her "Why are you looking at me?!" sass. She started down the aisle with no problems...until she looked up and realized she was the center of attention. That's about the time she turned and ran in the other direction and started to cry. She never made it down the aisle.

Flower girl was happy go-lucky at first...then ran off in tears. Photo on left taken by guest.

See how happy she was moments before the ceremony. :o) Here you can get a good look at her ensemble. I never got a chance to talk about it, but I had major issues finding her a dress. Okay, okay, I was being super picky! But do you know how hard it is trying to find a cute red summer dress in Pennsylvania in the winter?! We ended up finding this dress at the Aloha Swap Meet days before the wedding...for $10! Score!

Photos taken by Bestie Bear

I take my dad's arm and we start to trek down the aisle. He had me giggling the whole way down the aisle as he kept mumbling to me under his breath that I'm not his responsibility anymore now that I'm getting married. That he's giving me away to Mr. Mek (aka I'm Mr. Mek's problem now).

::love:: this photo of my dadders. He's so cute. :o)

Then I see my conquest and my smile grows even wider. :o)

We hug.

He shakes Mr. Meks hand and then takes my hand and places it in Mr. Meks. I can't really remember, but it wouldn't surprise me if my dad had made some smart ass comment about getting rid of me at this point. :o)

That's my mommers in the background!

Phew! We made it.

Our officiant, Alice Inoue, gave a beautiful blessing. She spoke from the heart and went on to perform our lei ceremony. She talked about how the leis represent our union (much like how rings do) with a never ending circle of love.

Alice then went on to do a reading of the "The Gift of Your Hands".

The Gift of Your Hands
“These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you that are holding yours today, on your wedding day, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and forever.


These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future.

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch will comfort you like no other.


These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eye, tears of sorrow and tears of joy. These are the hands that may tenderly hold your children one day.

These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one.

These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.


And lastly these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.”

to be continued...

All images courtesy of Frank Amodo unless otherwise noted.
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Previously:
Ceremony Details.
The first look.
Gettin' glammed.
Welcome BBQ

Our fabu "At Home Reception".

I would like to temporarily interrupt this recap "broadcast"....not that I'm really interrupting seeing that I haven't posted in...umm....well, who's counting?! Anyways, I'm interrupting my recaps to post about our "at home reception" (AHR), although I'd like to think of it more as a casual summer BBQ than a reception.

You are cardinally invited!

I didn't talk much about the AHR because I didn't plan it. Nope, my dadders did. Thank goodness! I was (and still am) fried out from planning. Well, I did add a few things, but Daddy Mek did all of logistics; he handled the guest list, rented the tent, tables and chairs, ordered the food. He is wondrous!

The set-up. Rent's backyard. Tent. Food. Coolers. Badminton. Blongo Ball.People came and chowed down! We had pulled pork, veggieburgers, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, baked beans, macaroni salad, chips and salsa, fruit, veggies and cake (of course!).

And lots of drinks...wine in a box and beer included. :o)

Some of my lil' details. I put together a kiddie table. With (homemade!) crayon shaped stars, bubbles, coloring books, stickers and model planes. Wouldn't you know, the kids had such a great time, they didn't even touch the kiddie table. :oP

Although some of the adults did!

I even made centerpieces. Carnations and lollipops, two of my favorite things! Vases are from Ikea (50 cents!).

It was a great time with family and friends.

My dadder (bottom left), his siblings and mom.

Mr. Mek's brother and his wife. They are newlyweds!

Mr. Mek and me.

My cousin, who just happens to be dating one of my good friends.

And quite a reunion, I got to see family and friends I hadn't seen in years and meet the new men and babies in their lives. :o)

My old roomies from college.

Lets not forget the cake! Daddy Mek ordered a sheet cake from the local grocery store.

I also ordered a special cake for Mr. Mek and I, since we never had a wedding cake. The cake topper is actually magnetic salt-n-pepper shakers.
We attempted to play badminton (Lil' B tried to play too).

Lil' B had a blast too, so much that he didn't want to go home...even after everyone left to go home.

We partied till it the sun went down. :o)

Photography by Me! And Mr. Simpson (many mahalos!)

A Hawaiian Affair: Ceremony Details

While we were having our intimate "first look", my bestie (and her fabulous hubby) worked diligently at putting our ceremony site together. I felt a lil' bad having my guests work on our wedding day, but that's what best friends are for, right?! They did a wonderful job and if I hadn't told them before, THANK YOU! mwah!

Bestie Lauren being my wonderful ceremony decorator. :o)

I didn't talked about this, mainly because it was a last minute project and I just never got around to it, I made custom water bottle labels and just placed them over the original water bottle labels. We provided transportation for our guests, so it wasn't like they were able to leave after the ceremony to get a drink; we provided beverages for them. No dehydrated guests on my hands!

It was actually quite cool and cloudy on our wedding day, so our palm fans weren't really needed. But I was glad to have them, just in case.

We had a very flowerless wedding. Our "pew" decorations weren't any different. It's amazing what a paper lantern and ribbon can add to an aisle.

Very simplistic. Very us.

Next up: The Ceremony!

All images courtesy of Frank Amodo.

__________________________________________
Previously:
The first look.
Gettin' glammed.
Welcome BBQ

A Hawaiian Affair: The first look.

In my last post, I briefly mention that we were not only planning on meeting before the ceremony, but that we were also exchanging cards to each other. Only we both forgot to get each other cards. Opps. That morning, while I was looking for the thank you card I had for my H&M stylist, I realized I had 2 extra cards. Perfect! One was rushed over to Mr. Mek.

I actually don't remember much about leaving the hotel or the drive to the ceremony venue. I remember my mom telling me that the shuttle was at the hotel, which meant Mr. Mek was leaving since he was taking the shuttle with the guests to the venue. I remember frantically trying to get all my crap together and then throwing it all in my bestie's car. Then magically I was at the temple.

Our Photographer set up our "first look" meeting. He strategically placed Mr. Mek so that I could sneak up behind him and tap him on the shoulder to turn around.

It went something like this:

Then I was all like, "Mr.Mek, I have a card for you." and he was all like, "What a coinkydink, I have one for you too." Okay so not really, but you get the idea.
Mr. Mek wrote this:

"To my Boopsy:
You make me happy, you make me smile, you make me proud to have you in my life, but most importantly you make be BETTER. No matter where we are or where we end up in our lives just know that we will be there together...forever and ever. As long as we have each other, we have everything.
You are not only my wife, my best friend and my partner...you are also my world.
Yours always,
Mr. Mek."

::sigh:: He's a keeper.

This is me probably telling Mr. Mek how adorable he is. :o)

Of course, writing such sweet thoughts is rewarded with smooches!

and giggles.

It was nice intimate moment between two in love. And the photographer and the tourists who happen to be around. :o)

Mr. Mek putting both cards back in his pocket and next...we're off to the ceremony

All images courtesy of Frank Amodo