To have a wedding in Maui, Hawai’i is a dream of many, and for Kelly and Matt it was a dream come true. Their May wedding at the Haiku Mill was nothing short of magical. The courtyard where their ceremony was held is a mix of old-world elegance and an air of aloha. I, for one, am in love with this venue. The green botanicals at the Haiku Mill provided a lush backdrop for the buzz of energetic orange and passionate pink floral design. There are literally orange roses everywhere you look! Take a look at the beautiful shots, captured by Amelia of Bound By. Read below for destination wedding planning details from Kelly!

Before the Ring:
They met the old fashioned way; at a local bar. Initially, the bride wasn’t interested, going so far as to give the groom a fake name and promptly leaving. Matt is a clever guy and Kelly is a bad liar – and he was not fooled. As fate would have it, they only lived a few blocks away from each other and were lucky enough that their paths crossed again. Matt teased Kelly about her fake name and after a good laugh, she reluctantly met him at the same bar for a beer and game of shuffleboard. They’ve been inseparable ever since. 

From the Bride:

Why Hawai’i?
We both had a long-time love affair with Hawaii, me from my childhood vacations, he from his love of travel and surfing. There wasn’t much conversation between the two of us about the location – from the minute we started thinking we were going to tie the knot – we both knew we wanted it to be in Hawaii. We both loved Maui for different reasons and took a trip to the island to scope out potential venues and meet with vendors. We had seen the Haiku Mill online and thought it looked magical but weren’t sold because we were picturing a beach wedding. After a long day driving around the island looking at different locations – we ended up at the Haiku Mill. We took two steps onto the site and knew, without question, that this was the place for us.

Destination Planning:
Planning a wedding on an island, with limited stores and vendors, proved to be quite the challenge. We knew what we wanted and weren’t willing to compromise. In the end, a lot of the items we were looking for weren’t available locally and we ended up shipping TONS of crates and boxes over. Fortunately, I have family that lives in Maui and they were kind enough to open their garage to us as our personal storage space! We ended up taking numerous trips to Maui during the planning process to meet with vendors and plan.

The Ceremony:
We aren’t religious people and wanted our ceremony to be something that was meaningful to both of us. We decided to do a non-denominational ceremony that incorporated elements of a traditional Hawaiian wedding to honor where we were – a portion of the vows were read in the native language and the bridal party walked down the aisle to a very romantic Hawaiian song (maunaleo). We also wanted to keep it short and sweet – the whole ceremony was done in less than 15 minutes.

Memorable Moment:
We had the perfect day – there are so many favorite moments. But the one that will always be with is will be the first moment we saw each other down the aisle. 

Kelly’s Advice to Engaged Couples:
Planning a wedding can feel entirely overwhelming at times and when it does it stops being fun. We had to constantly remind ourselves to take a deep breath and remember that we were really just planning a big party. We were supposed to be having fun. I am so glad that we spent the time we did planning the little details to make this wedding ours. The small details were what stuck with the guests – from the ‘W’ embroidered on the napkins at the dinner table to the custom labels on the water bottles – these little details did not go unnoticed.

Photographer: Bound By / Wedding Planner: Onsite Planner at the Haiku Mill / Venue: Haiku Mill / Gown Designer: Jim Hjelm; custom made sash / Florist: Teresa Sena / Grooms Clothing Designer: Burberry / Bridesmaid dresses: JS Boutique / Catering: From Soup to Nuts / Bar Service: Garnish Events / Ceremony Musician: Jamie Lawrence / DJ: DJ Dan / Hair and Make-up: Dan Sanchez and Jessica Waite