Elegant Haiku Mill Wedding
After fourteen years of dating, these lifelong sweethearts wanted a wedding celebration that was worth waiting for. The decision? A sunny romantic Maui destination wedding surrounded by lush Mandy Grace Design greenery, vintage stonewalls, and elegant chandeliers. There's no denying that Haiku Mill is something out of a fairytale, and it's made even more beautiful at the hands of Anna Kim, right here!
From the beautiful Bride... The story of Mark and I begins with our parents, who have been close friends since before we were even born. In fact, our first encounter was probably while we were in the womb. We grew up together, were close friends, and eventually became high school sweethearts. After dating for fourteen years, we wanted to have a wedding celebration that was worth waiting for. Maui was the perfect setting, as it is not only a beautiful location, but has also been one of our favorite places to vacation together. As we began our search for venues, Haiku Mill immediately caught our attention. The more pictures and videos we saw of the Mill’s lush greenery, vintage stonewalls, and elegant chandeliers, the more we fell in love with the venue. But no matter how much we admired the venue as we planned our wedding from home, nothing could compare to how beautiful Haiku Mill is in person.
In high school and college, I took photography classes where I spent hours in the dark room developing pictures. As a result, I have an obsession with black and white; I love how the contrast makes for a sleek, sophisticated base color palette. We decided to compliment black and white with various shades of purple. Our colors made it easy to play with patterns, textures, and pops of color in an ombre effect. We had fun incorporating patterns of stripes, polka dots, chevron and gingham into multiple details, including our invitations, signage, napkins, menus, favors and even the bubble wands. Each groomsmen had a different black and white patterned tie, and received custom shoes with purple accents and a touch of gingham to wear to the reception. The purple bridesmaids dresses and flowers stood out against the black and white patterns perfectly. We choose to DIY the majority of our projects so we could personalize each detail and make our theme cohesive. From the design and construction of the invitations, programs, signage, place cards, and welcome bags, we made every detail perfect during multiple craft nights. We collected pillowcases, picture frames, and even props to use in our photo booth. We also wanted to make sure that our golden retriever, Lovie, was not forgotten, as he could not make the trip to Maui. We included him in many of our small details; the ring bearer carried Lovie’s stunt double with the rings in his collar. He was also on our cake topper, program, and in our photos.
I loved that Mandy Grace used Mark’s proposal as an inspiration for our florals. She incorporated the tulip theme as a nod to our engagement, as Mark proposed to me in a field of tulips while we were vacationing near Seattle. The bar service from Garnish was exceptional, with impeccable presentation, and signature cocktails that had our guests raving long after the night was over. This was also true for our menu, provided by Maui Executive, whose Shiitake encrusted Wagyu Beef garnered the highest compliments from Mark’s parents. Maui Sweet Cakes provided the most delicious coconut, lilikoi and pineapple coconut cupcakes we have ever had. Our photographers, Jessica and Ajja from Anna Kim Photography so sweet and easy to work with, and had the artistic eye to capture some of our most intricate details. Nate, our videographer from Sunlit Films, was genuinely enthusiastic, and so relaxed and fun. The staff at the Mill was so pleasant and accommodating; Lindsay and her assistants were calm, organized and professional. The owner, Sylvia, was so charming. When we first arrived at the Mill, she pointed out that the bricks that made up the floor of the Mill were from our hometown of Chicago. One of the biggest surprises about the property was the abundance of exotic fruit trees, which guests were free to pick from throughout the wedding week. The music theme of the night was 90s hip-hop and R&B, which was perfectly executed by DJ Randy of Ace Beats.
My favorite moment of the night was Mark surprising me with a performance of “Grow Old With You” from The Wedding Singer. It was the perfect song choice, as it was the one song I would have wanted to hear. He later told me that he actually wanted to sing that song to me since our first dates. I’m so lucky that he is the man I will grow old with. His song was a perfect way to end the best day of our lives. We couldn’t have chosen a better venue than Haiku Mill, a beautiful canvas that we were able to make our own for one amazing day.
In high school and college, I took photography classes where I spent hours in the dark room developing pictures. As a result, I have an obsession with black and white; I love how the contrast makes for a sleek, sophisticated base color palette. We decided to compliment black and white with various shades of purple. Our colors made it easy to play with patterns, textures, and pops of color in an ombre effect. We had fun incorporating patterns of stripes, polka dots, chevron and gingham into multiple details, including our invitations, signage, napkins, menus, favors and even the bubble wands. Each groomsmen had a different black and white patterned tie, and received custom shoes with purple accents and a touch of gingham to wear to the reception. The purple bridesmaids dresses and flowers stood out against the black and white patterns perfectly. We choose to DIY the majority of our projects so we could personalize each detail and make our theme cohesive. From the design and construction of the invitations, programs, signage, place cards, and welcome bags, we made every detail perfect during multiple craft nights. We collected pillowcases, picture frames, and even props to use in our photo booth. We also wanted to make sure that our golden retriever, Lovie, was not forgotten, as he could not make the trip to Maui. We included him in many of our small details; the ring bearer carried Lovie’s stunt double with the rings in his collar. He was also on our cake topper, program, and in our photos.
I loved that Mandy Grace used Mark’s proposal as an inspiration for our florals. She incorporated the tulip theme as a nod to our engagement, as Mark proposed to me in a field of tulips while we were vacationing near Seattle. The bar service from Garnish was exceptional, with impeccable presentation, and signature cocktails that had our guests raving long after the night was over. This was also true for our menu, provided by Maui Executive, whose Shiitake encrusted Wagyu Beef garnered the highest compliments from Mark’s parents. Maui Sweet Cakes provided the most delicious coconut, lilikoi and pineapple coconut cupcakes we have ever had. Our photographers, Jessica and Ajja from Anna Kim Photography so sweet and easy to work with, and had the artistic eye to capture some of our most intricate details. Nate, our videographer from Sunlit Films, was genuinely enthusiastic, and so relaxed and fun. The staff at the Mill was so pleasant and accommodating; Lindsay and her assistants were calm, organized and professional. The owner, Sylvia, was so charming. When we first arrived at the Mill, she pointed out that the bricks that made up the floor of the Mill were from our hometown of Chicago. One of the biggest surprises about the property was the abundance of exotic fruit trees, which guests were free to pick from throughout the wedding week. The music theme of the night was 90s hip-hop and R&B, which was perfectly executed by DJ Randy of Ace Beats.
My favorite moment of the night was Mark surprising me with a performance of “Grow Old With You” from The Wedding Singer. It was the perfect song choice, as it was the one song I would have wanted to hear. He later told me that he actually wanted to sing that song to me since our first dates. I’m so lucky that he is the man I will grow old with. His song was a perfect way to end the best day of our lives. We couldn’t have chosen a better venue than Haiku Mill, a beautiful canvas that we were able to make our own for one amazing day.