Tropical Maui Wedding Fueled By Sunshine, Pineapples and Love
Fair warning, this post is sure to induce summertime nostalgia. It's all sunshine and pineapples, glowing Bride and a head over heals Groom and the most charming of backdrops. To have a family property in Maui is like winning the wedding venue jackpot after all. Wendy Laurel captured all the Maui beauty and you can take a little tropical vacay courtesy of the vault right here.
It's not everyday a real Maui wedding happens. This wedding was between a girl (Olena) who grew up on Maui and her fiance (Billy) she met while at graduate school in New York City. It was held on her family's land in the Iao Valley with all their family and friends. Her family owns and runs the Iao Valley Inn. The amazing backstory is that 2 months before the wedding date, there was a major storm on Maui and the Iao stream flooded Iao Valley causing major damage. Neighbors had to be rescued and the stream overflow caused alot of damage to her family's land. Her brother and Dad pulled together with all the neighbors and friends to help everyone in the valley and got the land back into a place where the wedding could still be held there. Olena's brother officiated the emotional ceremony which included a Hawaiian chant and prayer, lei exchange, special readings by friends and handwritten vows. Olena choose vintage hawaii aloha fabrics and prints for her wedding. The bridesmaids all had mismatching floral patterns and dresses which looked fabulous together. Instead of a bridal bouquet, the girls wore floral hakus made by the bride and her friends the day before the wedding using locally sourced flowers. The cake was topped with two small pineapples and the table decor was all locally sourced with pineapples, ti leaves, palm leaves and local flowers. Olena and Billy's wedding will be featured on the local television channel here in Hawaii on Hot Hawaiian Weddings.