Hawaiian Island Wedding

Any wedding captured by Pat Furey is going to be something pretty special, but when that wedding is in Hawaii? I die. Zeny and Sean kept their big day simple yet playful, colorful, and full of fun details like lion dancers, flower crowns, and marquee letters.

From the bride, Zeny: The style and feel I decided on was simple, playful, colorful, young and clean. Sean and I had a modest budget to work with so simple and clean felt practical and matched our laid back personalities. We wanted the day to be fun and joyous, to be about family and friends and the beauty of our Hawaiian surroundings.

My wedding was colorful, fun and clean. I choose to make white my base color because it would contrast with the lush green backdrop of our venue Sunset Ranch and match my vision for a clean and simple wedding. I accented the white with fun, playful colors like silver and shades of pink and yellow. All the decorations and flowers at my wedding was arranged or made by myself, friends and family. I went into my wedding expecting a lot of DIY-ing because I wanted the decorations to feel personal and to save money. Since Sean and I met at a carnival, my talented brother Zack made these 4-foot wooden, light-up carnival-inspired “Z” and “S” letters that we used during our ceremony. My mom and aunt arranged all the flowers, from my floral crown to the bouquets and the table arrangements. My close high school friend baked my two-tier ombre pink wedding cake. My grandma made my veil. The day of and the days leading up to my wedding was an effort of love by my husband and I, our families and our friends. The day felt magical because everything came together beautifully and I couldn’t be more grateful to be surrounded by so much love.

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? In some ways, Sean and my lack of knowledge about weddings was a blessing because we truly created a wedding based on our personalities and what we felt was important. We did not do things like a grooms cake, champagne toast or day of gifts to each other because 1) we didn’t know those things existed until later, and 2) it didn’t fit within our budget. However, we did want to include our family in the celebration and had a lei ceremony for our parents and grandparents, my cousin played the piano for our procession and my younger brother performed a traditional Chinese lion dance. Wedding planning can be overwhelming when you are doing it yourself and I think the best advice for couples planning now is to have a clear vision of your priorities and what’s the thing you want to enjoy most at your wedding. Once you’ve figured out what’s important it makes it easy to say “no” to things that aren’t at the top of the list. For Sean and me, the most important thing was the company of each other and our friends and family and we chose a venue and activities to keep the pace of the day manageable for socializing and an open bar to keep the energy high.

See Also

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Wedding Music:
Processional: “Falling Slowly,” Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova; instrumental played on the piano by Zeny’s cousin Stanley Huang
Recessional: “Something Good Can Work,” Two Door Cinema Club
First Dance: “The Idea of Growing Old,” The Features

Wedding Location: Haleiwa, HI / Photographer: Pat Furey / Event Design: Bride / Florist: Bride’s Mother and Aunt / Wedding Venue: Sunset Ranch / Wedding Dress: White by Vera Wang via David’s Bridal / Wedding Veil: Handmade by Bride’s Mother / Wedding Shoes: Zara / Floral Crown: Bride’s Aunt / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Various retailers that include Nordstrom, Top Shop, Shop Bop / Groom’s Suit: Hugo Boss / Wedding Caterer: Chef Elmer Guzman’s Island Cuisine / Wedding Cake: Jennifer Louie / DJ: ND Mixx / Lion Dance: Gee Yung / Rentals: Pacific Party Rentals / Marquee Letters: LTTR by Zack / Transportation: Royal Star