halekulani oahu wedding photographer / aya + pa'a

Amazing vendors: venue: halekulani, oahu // wedding coordinator: michelle fujii // videographer: makaha studios // florist: jadore floral // dj: jimmy taco // makeup Dayna Okuma // hair: Shaina Nakahara // hawaiian shirts: roberta oaks hawaii

What an honor it was to shoot Aya and Pa'a's wedding in Oahu, my favorite place in the world. I met Aya back in college through a mutual friend. We kept in touch and I was over-joyed to get the news that she wanted to hire me as her wedding photographer.

Aya is a Los Angeles girl like me and Pa'a is from Hawaii. They met when they were working at Roys Hawaii Kai. She moved to Oahu and still works for Roy putting on all of his wine and food festivals. When I arrived to Hawaii, they treated everyone to Roy's for their rehearsal dinner. The food and service was superb. Aya looked stunning for her wedding, losing 27 lbs doing crossfit. My camera loved her. =)

Aya and Pa'a are completely opposite (This was mentioned many times during the wedding). Aya is definitely a perfectionist and Pa'a is a laid back coors light kinda guy. They somehow are the perfect fit and madly in love with each other. They both love food. At the wedding they had 5 food stations: a poke station, pho station, prime rib station, pork belly bun station and dessert station. I have to say, it was the best wedding food I have ever had.

A touching moment: The groom's father sang to a song called "walk through paradise" before he passed away a couple years back. Aya hula danced to this recording, not a dry eye in the room.

I was so happy to be back in Hawaii and I can't wait to be back for another wedding in November.

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