Guaranteed You’ve Never Seen a Maui Wedding Like This Before

Erin Lepperd
December 4, 2017
Categories: Real Weddings, Rustic, The Blog

This gem is about to throw all preconceived notions of Hawaiian weddings right out the window. Mixing the bride’s Sicilian roots with the beauty of an olive farm, this celebration is in a category all its own. We’ll call it tropical upcountry without a beach insight. Or gorgeous. That works too. Planned by Belle Destination Weddings & Events, with vibrant florals by Mandy Grace Designs and images by Dmitri & Sandra, get cozy with this pretty olive grove affair.

From the Bride, Anna…Tyler and I met five years ago on a summer evening in Sacramento. We happened to sit by each other at an otherwise empty dive bar on a Friday evening – I was waiting for my friends and he happened to be walking by and decided to stop in. We both felt very unlucky and fed up with the dating pool at the time, but when we struck up a conversation instincts told us we wouldn’t have to look any further for our soulmate. We exchanged numbers and he called and asked me out on a date the very next day. Two years later we moved to Oregon together where we built a home (literally and figuratively – he’s a contractor!) and a year and a half after moving Tyler proposed to me. It was very low key – he simply asked me after I came home one day and took me to a romantic French dinner in Portland. For us, it was perfect.

We had recently been to Maui and I asked Tyler if that is where he’d like to get married because he grew up there. He shot it down at first! He used to make and sell leis at Mama’s Fish House to newlyweds and wedding guests on the beach and thought a Maui wedding could only be that one style. I thought it would be the perfect place though – Maui is gorgeous and it has so much history for him and his family. I found pictures of an upcountry wedding and immediately knew that was what we would do, and when I suggested the upcountry idea to Tyler his whole outlook changed. When our event planner, Lena of Belle Destination Events, shared her personal wedding venue of Calasa Olive Farm in Kula we fell in love. I have Sicilian heritage so it was a perfect representation of the two of us.

Our vision for the day was for it to be outdoor, romantic, and colorful. Sicilian tiles, the color of the venue and the natural beauty of Maui were the big inspirations for me in terms of the colors. I wanted the colors to be saturated to capture the heat of the summer and the lush surroundings. We wanted the furniture materials to be organic – a lot of wood, stone and metal because that’s what Tyler works with everyday. We bought tiles online used them as name settings and coasters. Tyler liked the tiles so much he used them for our invitations, which he designed himself. Mandy from Mandy Grace Designs did a wonderful job of bringing our vision of flowers to life. We were married during Dahlia season and I told her to go wild with the Dahlias – they’re my favorite flower. The deep red flowers are a particular favorite and were the inspiration for the accent color throughout the floral and table arrangements. I was especially enamored with the hanging installation over our dance floor, which was something I wanted from day one.

My dress is Yolan Cris and is two layers of hand made Spanish lace with a silk shell underneath. It is gorgeous and I’m still in awe of it. The train is reminiscent of my grandmother’s dress when she was married in the 1920’s – my sisters remarked that I did pictures “Adele style” when I wrapped my train in front of me. I grew up adoring my grandmother’s wedding dress from their wedding photo so that was a very special feeling for me that day. I had unfortunately sprained my ankle badly a month before my wedding so although I couldn’t wear the high heels I had originally planned, I wore beautiful embroidered sandals instead. My bridesmaids dresses are Show Me Your Mumu. I gave everyone their choice of dress design and the option of a print or solid. Everyone chose the print! I was super excited about that. I love colors and patterns and it was awesome that my girlfriends naturally gravitated towards the pattern.