Our wedding

Our wedding - May 23, 2021 at RHGC in Kailua, HI

Derek Wong Photography

 A dump of photos from our wedding day (as captured by Derek Wong Photography) with minor commentary from my point of view. We had a scaled down version of our originally envisioned lunchtime event with our families - no officiant at the ceremony and no program at the reception, but that suited us just fine. 

Royal Hawaiian Golf Club - wedding venue review

Derek Wong Photography

tl;dr - the venue is beautiful (despite broken AC on day of), but we had a lot of issues with the venue coordinator - being overcharged by 12%, having difficulty getting a refund months after the event, unfulfilled promises and more. Please read if you are considering having your event at this venue!

Our engagement story & wedding planning

We got engaged in August 2019 and then legally married in November that year! Meanwhile, we had still been planning for a larger November 2020 event until...the pandemic. Check this post for more information about how we selected the vendors and details for the wedding + navigated postponement.

"Engagement" photoshoot with Derek Wong Photography

Since we didn't need 6 hours of wedding photography due to our COVID-scaled-down event, Derek graciously allowed us to split it between an engagement shoot & 4 hours on the wedding day. We were grateful to have the experience to work with Derek and get to know him before day of and love how the beach-side photos turned out!

My wedding dress shopping experience

I tried on almost 50 different dresses from 4 different bridal boutiques on Oahu. See photos from all the try on appointments + whatever stock photos I could find for comparison and let me know if you would have made the same choice I did!

My wedding dress - Pronovias Ariel

A detailed look at the wedding dress I chose from Casablanca Bridal & Formals, possible dress regret?, the alterations process and the accessories I chose to accompany it.

Pronovias Ariel wedding dress in the wild

I dragged my MOH along for a completely frivolous photoshoot wearing my wedding dress along the Ka'au Crater hike before I sent it for cleaning/preservation. Less polished make up and styled with hair down & a haku definitely has a different feel compared to my wedding day! 

Google Photos photobook review (soft and hardcover)

A post reviewing the 7" softcover photobook and 9" hardcover photobook from Google Photos including photo samples from my books. I really like the quality but the customization options are limited. 

Wedding card hexagon keepsake art

I never know what to do with cards - I hate throwing them away but it feels like they'll just collect dust in a drawer otherwise. I was thrilled to find this hexagon punch card idea on Reddit and did a version of it for myself with a shadowbox. 

J. Scheer & Co wedding dress cleaning and preservation review 

This is the only company that the boutique that sold my dress recommended/trusted for cleaning/preservation. It is very costly (quoted at $800 and you have to pay for shipping back and forth on your own via UPS or FedEx), so I definitely wanted to do a review, but the process also takes a long time (12-16 weeks)! . 

Our vendors -

* indicates a vendor I would wholeheartedly recommend for any event

• Venue: Royal Hawaiian Golf Club @royalhawaiiangolfclub
• Day of Coordinator: A Perfect Day Hawaii* @aperfectdayhawaii
• Photographer: Derek Wong Photography* @derekwongphotography
• Florist: Halu Flowers* @haluhawaii
• Hair & Makeup: Face Art Beauty* @faceartbeauty
• Cake: We Heart Cake Company @weheartcakecompany
• Dress: Pronovias Ariel @pronovias purchased from Casablanca Bridal & Formals* @casabridal
• Tux (rental): Black Tie Affair Hawaii