A Hawaiian Affair: Picture time, picture time!

Our guests then went off to tour the temple while Frank went all paparazzi on our arses. We had about a lil' over an hour to do photos before we had to load onto the shuttle make our way to the "reception". Not having a wedding par-tay meant that whole hour was dedicated to us. That's a whole lot of photos, yo.

For being a "small" temple, there were lots of scenery for photos.
We had our green mossy, woodsy area:

Got your bridge with koi pond? Check.

Pavilion? Check.

Massive Bamboo...got it!

And lets not forget the temple itself.

Now what you don't see are all the photos the photographer got of me smacking Mr. Mek in head or him swatting my arms to keep the mosquito's away. The day we went to view our site (before wedding day), it was a cool and rainy day; ie. no bugs. But on our wedding day it was nice and warm out and everyone was eaten alive. I kid you not, I had about 30 mosquito bits by the time the day was said and done (I'll post proof soon!). If you're having an outdoor wedding, bring bug spray!!

Hottie Alert!

Some of you had asked before how much of my tattoo would show with my dress on:

It started to get a bit chilly so I put on my polka doted cardigan... and off we went to the "reception".

All images courtesy of Frank Amodo unless otherwise noted.

__________________________________________
Previously:

My Ohana
Ceremony - Take 2

Ceremony - Take 1
Ceremony Details.
The first look.
Gettin' glammed.
Welcome BBQ

A Hawaiian Affair: My Ohana

Immediately after the ceremony and congrats we did the usual (usually boring), but necessary group portraits. Let me formally introduce you to my family. :o)

My mommers, dadders, moi, Mr. Mek, and my lil' brother (who really isn't all that little anymore).

Mr. Mek and his mom. Look how he towers over her!

My new, complete family (minus Mr. Mek's brother, who couldn't make it to Hawaii since he was planning his own wedding): My two, oldest besties. We each live in a different state now, but will always be my close (non-biological) family. Mwah! I love how they color coordinated. hehe.

One of wedding regrets (by fault of no one but my own) is not taking more group shots. By normal wedding standards, I had an extremely tiny wedding (19 peeps). I really wish I would have had our photographer take a quick photo of every individual couple or family. I mean, seriously, it would have only been about 7 extra shots (well..you figure more than one shot per couple, but you get my drift). Ehh...what can you do now. I did however get a group shot of everyone.

::love::

All images courtesy of Frank Amodo.
__________________________________________

Previously:
Ceremony - Take 2
Ceremony - Take 1
Ceremony Details.
The first look.
Gettin' glammed.
Welcome BBQ

A Hawaiian Affair: Ceremony...take 2

We had the option of writing our own vows, but, to be honest, I'm not much of a writer. Instead we chose one of Alice's vow suggestions.

Declaration of Intent:
______________, do you pledge to love ______________ and throughout your years together to be honest, faithful and kind to her/him. Do you pledge to give to her/him the same happiness she/he gives to you, and to respect her/him for who she/he is?


Ring Vows:
______________, take this ring as a sign of my love and respect. I vow to share my life with you from this day forward. With this ring, I marry you.

Some of our guests were more interested in the photographers. :o)

My mommers, brother and dadders.

MIL Sushi, love the way she's wearing her lei. :o)

Wedding Vows:
I come here today,______________, to join my life to yours...I pledge to be true to you...to respect you...and to grow with you throughout the years. Time may pass, fortune may smile, trials may come...no matter what we may encounter together, I vow here that this love will be my only love. I will make my home in your heart from this day forward.

We had some tears.
We kissed.

We were congratulated.

You can always count on your best friend to be the first to run up and congrat you. :o)

And I was off...to change into more comfortable shoes for picture time. :o)

All images courtesy of Frank Amodo unless otherwise noted.
__________________________________________
Previously:

Ceremony - Take 1

Ceremony Details.
The first look.
Gettin' glammed.
Welcome BBQ

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.
__________________________________________
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!)