Lauren and Brian’s Magical Hawaiian Wedding with a Moroccan Twist by Ruth Anne Photography

Today is the last wedding in our International week, as tomorrow we are in London town! So far we have seen weddings in Ibiza, Italy, Canada and today we are in Beautiful Hawaii. This wedding is just stunning, the scenery, the view, the light, the most beautiful bride, the bridesmaids dresses………..it is all perfect. Oh how it would be so amazing to have light like this in England, how our wedding photographers would rejoice! I just love everything about this wonderful day, I hope you do to. Massive thanks to Ruth Anne Photography for the stunning images.

‘Our wedding day was like a fairytale coming to life. Every minute was magical.’

The lovely couple are Lauren and Brian who were married on 29th September. Both the ceremony and reception took place at Turtle Point at Hapuna Prince Resort on Big Island, Hawaii. ‘Brian, being from the Big Island and having Hawaiian roots was a big reason why we had it there. We had the pleasure of living there for a while too, and just fell in love with everything Hawaii. We had 120 guests and the planning took 16 months, it was so fun planning!’

How they met
We met at a reggae concert in San Francisco, and since that day we have been together…..it has been 4 years!

The proposal
While we were both living in the San Francisco bay area, Brian had a job in the city. One, really unusually warm day for San Francisco, he asked me to meet him in the city for lunch. So I did, and after we ate we decided to play tourist and walk up to the famous Coit Tower. We took the elevator to the very top and I was in a complete zone, snapping picture after picture…As I was snapping a photo of the Golden Gate, my back was turned to Brian and all of a sudden I hear “Lauren Simpson, will you make me the happiest man in the world?” I turn around to find my soon to be fiancé down on one knee, surrounded by people… and then he says “will you marry me?” I, without hesitation screamed, “YES!!!” …and then I heard applause from the tourists that were surrounding us. It was without a doubt an amazing day!

Why did you choose your photographer?
Ruth Anne is a friend of our coordinator/ florist, Annie Sundseth of Bliss in Bloom…We are so pleased with her work, she is Fabulous!!

The Dress
My dress was made in Italy by the designer, Le Spose De Gio. I wore Island jewels…my earrings were made by a Big Island local jewellery designer, Lauren Pfaff of Lola Florence and my Tahitian pearl bangles were also made by a Big Island Local jewelry designer, Jada Van Mols of Kailuxejewelry. My bejewelled flats were the one and only Sam Edeleman.

The suit and bridesmaids
Brian wore relaxed khaki linen pants and a white collard linen shirt with rainbow flip flops (or as the islanders call them, slippa’s) , same for the groomsmen. My ladies wore long maxi halter dresses by Winter Kate.

Theme or colour scheme
I didn’t actually plan for a colour scheme or theme…I just went with what I loved, and it turned out to have a Moroccan feel…very warm and vibrant colours!

Flowers
My bouquet was a whimsical assortment of ivory and fuschia roses with hints of succulents and yellow craspedia’s. At the reception I wore a tuberose and pearl head wreath. My ladies bouquet’s were ivory roses with assorted succulents. Brian wore a traditional Hawaiian Maile lei and his groomsmen wore the Hawaiian tealeaf lei’s. On the tables were an assortment of vibrant coloured roses, dahlia’s and more succulents!

Decoration
The décor had a Moroccan feel with a Hawaiian twist. Vibrant colours, café lights, vintage lassi vases, Hawaiian Lei’s, a Buddha statue as well as an elephant statue, which is supposed to bring good luck!

Personal / DIY touches
One of my favourite things that we did for our wedding was on the welcome table. Instead of name tags with your table number on them we did actual hand held compasses shipped from China with your name and the table number attached to a sting of twine. In honour of our destination wedding, we thought it was a perfect idea!

Food
We had a mix of Asian and Hawaiian Infusion. A buffet of island style ahi poke, seaweed salad, mixed upcountry greens with toppings and assorted dressings, sauteed fresh fish with lemongrass ginger and Chinese parsley, teriyaki new york steakettes, grilled chicken breast with sautéed mushrooms and garlic, fresh island vegetables, a variety of pastries and pies and of course coconut/vanilla with raspberry filling wedding cake!

Entertainment
We had the usual DJ who was outstanding, but we also had the pleasure of having our friends, reggae/rock band, REBELUTION play at the reception. They are long time friends of Brian’s from college in Santa Barbara. It was an amazing gift to have them play for us!

Special moments
Brian’s vows were so heartfelt and magical…my special moment was looking into his eyes while he said those beautiful words that I will never forget….Also, dancing our first dance to our song, one of Rebelution’s classic’s, “Moonlight”. At that time, it was like we were the only two people in the world.

Advice
Just have fun with the planning! Do not get too stressed, just remember your day will be beautiful no matter what because you are marrying the love of your life! And for the day itself: Soak in every single moment, because before you know it, the day will be over.

Biggest surprise
No surprises! Just an amazing day with all of our closest friends and family. We cherish them all deeply, and having them there was a blessing!

Supplier Shout Outs

• Coordinator: Annie Sundseth http://blissinbloom.com
• Flowers: Annie Sundseth http://blissinbloom.com
• Photographer: Ruth Powell www.ruthannephotography.com
• Videographer: Ali [email protected]
• DJ: Ed Geer [email protected]
• Wedding website: The Knot

For more information on Ruth Anne’s work go to

www.ruthannephotography.com
www.ruthannephotography.com/blog
[email protected]