We’ve got lots of wedding stories and pictures to share with you in this issue. Let’s start with the tales of two weddings that recently took place on Maui which really showcase what our island has to offer:
Rock & Roll Wedding
Jessica Mandelin and Jedediah Mclin
South Maui
May 10, 2012
With a ring in his pocket and a secret on his lips, Jedidiah McLin packed a Thermos of coffee and drove his girlfriend to the Haleakala summit to watch the sunrise. As the sun rose over the iconic volcano, a stranger asked Jedediah if he’d take a picture of her and her husband. “Yes, if you return the favor,” Jedediah said. She was game and after he handed her his camera, Jedediah walked over and got down on one knee next to Jessica Mandelin, his girlfriend. There he proposed as the woman neither of them knew snapped shots of him slipping the ring on her finger.
The next day they set a date: on May 10, they’d have a South Maui Rock & Roll wedding. Their first date had been on May 10, and Rock & Roll embodied their mutual love for music, a topic that Jedediah says got his foot in the door.
“We were talking about an Alice and Chains CD and I said she would love Mad Season,” says Jedediah. “I asked her address and said I would drop it off to her.”
“When he got there I met him in the driveway,” says Jessica. “In my mind I was just going to grab the CD and send him on his way. But my heart decided otherwise and somehow I invited him in. Two years later we are married.”
Island Pinups and Tamiz photography captured their ecstatic engagement with a styled make-up and hair photo shoot (done pin-up style) that Jessica and Jedidiah used to announce their big day. They had their wedding ceremony at Keolahou Church in North Kihei and the reception in Wailea at Gannon’s. A friend made their cake, and a co-worker at Joe’s did their flowers.
“We kept it easy and tried to follow our own style,” says Jessica. “We agreed on everything from the decor to the clothes and colors. The groom wore black and white, I wore white, and the wedding party was in black and red, with my bridesmaids in fishnets. Our friends did the set-up at Gannon’s, and we both work at Joe’s Bar and Grill.”
After the ceremony, there was a surprise waiting for the couple in the parking lot.
“I drive a ‘53 Chevy Bel Air, and my friends attached cans to the bumper for the drive to the reception,” says Jedidiah. “Everyone was cheering and whistling as we drove down South Kihei Road. That was such an amazing feeling with my bride in my car.”
*****
Orchid Beach Wedding
Katie Elledge and Casey Porter
Kapalua
May 20, 2012
Katie Elledge and Casey Porter took a big chance trading their Arizona lives for one-way tickets to Maui. Neither of them had jobs or housing set up when they landed at Kahului airport on Jan. 11 of this year. That night they slept in a tent in Olowalu. Soon they followed their dreams to Lahaina, where they found work: Katie as a hostess at Lahaina Grill, Casey at Lahaina Cruise Company at Lahaina Harbor.
Not long after, Casey proposed to his sweetheart of more than five years at a waterfall where they were picnicking for the day. Katie said yes and they tied the knot at an intimate wedding with immediate family in Kapalua.
“I had an idea in my head for the dress and it took me days to find it online on a site a coworker suggested,” says Katie. “It was all satin with no train. I didn’t really have a theme except to keep things simple. The white orchids tied it all together. We had a lei ceremony and all the immediate family had matching orchid leis boutonnieres. I didn’t even try on my dress until the day of my wedding, but it all came together beautifully.”
Kahu Kamuela married the two on a sunny day–exactly six years after they started dating–at Kapalua Bay in an intimate ceremony with just family and close friends that ended with a rainbow. Casey said that they burned a unity candle for Katie’s late mother as a unique touch that was very special to her.
“When Casey and I had our first dance as husband and wife, that was the best moment,” says Katie. “The toasts downstairs led by my in laws and family was great too. But my favorite was our own toasts to each other.”
Plush Salon did her hair and makeup, and the flowers were from A Special Touch. Hower Wedding Media did the ceremony photos. The reception was held on the Maui Princess where they had a party of 35 reserved top deck in front of the live music, with a private room downstairs with their own full service bar where they did the cake ceremony and toasts. They had prime rib, chicken and macadamia nut-crusted mahi mahi served on board and their two-tier, lilikoi-filled cake was done by The Bakery.
“It was the best day of my life,” says Katie. “I couldn’t wait for Casey to see me when I was all dolled up in my dress. To this day I still get choked up when I think about that moment.”
*****
For a comprehensive list of wedding service providers, from cakes to caterers to photographers to who knows what else, check out http://www.mauifeed.com/maui-wedding-guide-2012
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