Weddingbee boards

I hope they're sized ok. This is my first post (and I'm doing it after i'm married :)) but this board was really helpful with wedding planning and inspiration so I wanted to contribute. We eloped to Kaua'i, just the two of us and it was perfect! Here are some pics of the ceremony & small photo shoot afterwards.

ugh sorry for some crazy huge pics.. can't figure out how to fix that!

Thanks guys! I just found our officiant and everything online. It was a package that included officiant, photographer (70ish images on a CD), leis, beach permits, and a coordinator for approx $1000. I added the bouquet cuz I wanted one :). I also had someone come and do my hair and make up... there were a few things I didn't want to give up even though it was just the two of us :). If I had it to do over the only thing I would have done is seen if I could upgrade or change the photographer that came with the package. I think these images are good but we did a trash the dress shoot (those pics aren't back yet) and those photographers really put us at ease more (especially my husband since he's a little more shy about being photographed). But there was really no way I could have known that from a distance. Maybe because there were tons of good reviews for the second photogs and very few (tho not bad) reviews for the first? I would say that's def an indicator if you're trying to plan a wedding from afar.

We live in Colorado so we basically planned it for December because we wanted to take a tropical vacation in the middle of the winter :). We also liked the 12-12 date. We picked Hawaii because we wanted to go somewhere tropical where US law applied (DH is in the military so we wanted our wedding cert asap and didn't want to do a double courthouse wedding).

My family was surprisingly ok with it. I knew my mom would be (she's not much of a wedding person). My dad was a little nostalgic once or twice, I think he would've liked to be there, but in the end he didn't seem to bothered. My husbands family was only told a couple weeks before. His dad's first reaction was "you shouldve given us more time so we could plan a trip" so then I understood why DH had been waiting so long to tell them :). Other then that they just seemed happy for us. No one tried to convince us to have a wedding at home or anything. Our family's are all spread out throughout the country and a few overseas so that's one of the reasons we didn't want to have a wedding here... everyone would have had to travel and it would've meant even more planning stress (DH swears he would've helped me plan, but I know his idea of detail is def not the same as mine! lol).

We plan to make up wedding announcements to send to people we wouldve invited. Any suggestions on which pic to use? DH wants to use the black and white. I am leaning toward the last one (the sunset one). I love the one where I am hold my bouquet and looking at him but I don't want to use it because you can only see his profile and I think that would disappoint his family.

Congrats! your flowers were beautiful

I love ALL the pictures. You, your smile and the photos are all gorgeous. I personally like either the 3rd, 4th, or 5th best. I am planning a vow renewal on Kauai. Can you please tell me who you used as your first photographer and who you used for your trash the dress shoot. Unfortunately, Kauai does not have a ton of great wedding photographers like Maui does. I have been lurking on the Kauai Island Wedding site that has some nice photos. I personally love the J. Gorissen Photography website too. I am waiting for both of them to contact me. Also, do you know which beach were you on? It looks like it is somewhere near Hanelei maybe with the mountains in the background. Also, who did you use for your hair and makeup. Any Kauai info would be much appreciated. PLEASE post those trash the dress photos when you get them.

thanks

@mrsmomo:  The KISS!!!!

Thanks ladies!!We ended up using the sunset pic for the big 5x7 pic on the front of our announcement, then we put a smaller one very similar to pic #5 on the back (it was in sepia and horizontal, the orientation and the color seemed to fit better for the vintage-y look of the announcement). I think they turned out really well, and we've gotten really good feedback from the friends and family we sent them out to. I ordered them from minted.com. It was kind of pricey but totally worth it (especially since we hadn't spent money on a huge wedding or reception we wanted to send something nice out to people we would have invited had we had a wedding).

Aw very cute, you both look so happy :)

thanks all!! it really was perfect, and such a wonderful trip too. i have so many awesome memories.

@MademoiselleL You will love it!! I don't know if you've been there before, but I would definitely recommend a boat trip up the Na'pali coast. We went on the catamaran trip with Captain Andy's tours and loved it. Also, Wai'mea canyon was beautiful!! Then of course there's all the beaches... it is all so beautiful. If you're staying on the north shore and want to go out for a nice dinner I'd recommend Bar Acuda. That's where we went for dinner after are wedding- super yummy food and a nice atmosphere. Sorry you probably have done a bunch of research and know all this already -- I just have so many good memories I couldn't help but share!