Amateur Photographer: Weekend Wedding

Here are a few shots from a wedding I helped a friend shoot. None of the pictures are of faces due to the fact that I haven't yet given the pictures over to the Bride & Groom.

Photography has always been a hobby of mine. I often think about going professional (getting paid to do it) but... maybe. maybe not.

I love weddings, especially really romantic weddings where everything is genuine; nothing contrived. Weddings where the sentiments that are expressed are so meaningful and everyone is having a good time and the new family relationships (inlaws) are a match also.

My husband is off to the American continent to visit his folks. I could have gone but I have so much to do back here that it just wasn't the right time. I miss him dearly. The last time we were apart was in 2009 when I attended a conference for work in Oklahoma. Now, he's in Oklahoma visiting his mother, sister, and aunt for the week. I'm glad he could go but I feel so lost without him. I cried all the way home from the airport and thought of how much my dad must miss my mom too. **sigh**

Anyway -- enjoy the pics. I loved editing them! Click on the pic to enlarge it.

The bride was getting ready in a tiny banquet room. There was a ladder left in there from the setup. It was the perfect prop!

I love the shoes. At least everyone matched. The bride opted for some tennis shoes for comfort and so that she wouldn't tower over the groom.

Ringless hand... not yet married. Palms sweaty. Nervous.

The bracelet on the Brides wrist is special to her.

I love the lighting in this.

It's not official until you sign.

Execute the document that merges your two lives.

Mirrors and candle light.

The head table.

Head table ready for the arrival of the wedding party.

Cut the cake.

The cake looked so delicious. I so wanted some but they didn't distribute it to the guests.

Green anthuriums. Nice.

PHOTO SHOOT: Mr. & Mrs. Elison

An old friend came into town. She brought her sister to renew her marriage vows with her husband. It was a cute 15-20 minute ceremony on our wonderful HUKILAU BEACH. I feel like my editing skills are getting better and maybe even my creative eye. Good luck to the lovely couple and their baby girl. Fun!

Day 20: This Month

I started this blog challenge in September so I have failed miserably because here we are in January and I am still attempting to finish this challenge. What can I say about this month?

The only thing I associate January with is my first marriage. Today, January 4th, marked the day I married my ex. That all ended in 2003 -- his choice. I'm glad it all happened. What a wonderful journey my life has been so far even with all the heartache. I have learned so much from all of it.

I remember when I was getting ready to get married the first time. The night before the wedding, my maid of honor (Tasi Fiso), the best man, and me and the groom took off to Wal-Mart at like 1 in the morning. We laughed and laughed and pretended like we didn't have to be up early. **sigh** I think we watched the sun rise and made our way back to Hau'ula. Why was I in such a rush to be married? I don't know.

Then came the wedding. It was scheduled for 3pm. At about 10am that morning it started raining cats and dogs. Uncle Cy Bridges married us and I remember him saying something to the effect that rain signified abundance. Well, the rain kept on until well after the ceremony. The reception was at BYU Ballroom @ 5pm. I don't remember what I ate but the groom and I had been drinking so it didn't really matter... we were feeling good. The entertainment was tooooo much fun. The Fonoimoana's put on a great show.

What I have to say about weddings is that they are so over rated... hindsight, of course. This particular wedding was such a waste. If I could do it over, I would have gone with an intimate ceremony. Small wedding.

Georgia Wedding

Some photo's from the wedding I attended in Georgia. I was one of 2 matron's of honor. I'm so irritated that I didn't get a picture with the best man that I was paired with. He was soooooo funny! He was the brother of the groom. We had some laughs.

The beautiful bride and I... just after cutting the cake.

Dana Bulls - sang the solo at the wedding... and it was soooo beautiful, Myself, Aunt Margaret - she is a TRIP!

Some of the fam... at the end of the evening

Cousins and I... love that yellow, against my stark-blue dress!!

My gorgeous husband and I

Toast #1

Well, my time is a-ticking and I'm needing to put together a toast for the wedding reception. Here's what I came up with for choice #1.

I would like to wish the bride and the groom a wonderful life together. May there be many more joyful celebrations like this, as you build your future together.

And if I may, I'd like to tell the newlyweds to stop being in charge. You can think that you are in control of everything or let go and let God.

You can act as if you control how your life unfurls or you can trust the force that turns embryo's into babies to blaze the path before you.

You can act as if you know all the answers or you can allow the force that fashioned this universe to be the guide in your life and in your marriage.

You can pretend that you know what's best for you or you can let the force that turns a tiny mustard seed into a tree be the dictator in your life and in your marriage.

So I get stuck after that and don't know how to rap it up. Somebody help!!!

**Photo Credit

Wedding Prep

For the last two weeks, I've been thoroughly consumed by preparations for my cousin's wedding, thus TOTALLY ignoring my blog (She and I as children, pictured to the left). Saturday, July 11th is the special day and the festivities will take place in Columbus, Georgia. She selected me to be one of two Matrons of Honor. This is only the third wedding I've been asked to be in. The first was as a flower girl for my aunt (whose marriage dissolved last year). I was 9? Second was for my older brothers wedding. Hated the dress and the hair but I made it through the day. For this wedding, I got to select my dress. I absolutely love how it looks on me. We'll see if the camera will be kind.

The other matron of honor and I have been teasing the bride, BRIDEZILLA. (Bride and I, all grown up, pictured to the right.) She's not that bad but she does have a specific design for the festivities, as any bride does. I'm thoroughly excited for her and have to hastily prepare a "toast". So excuse me, as I use this blog as my drawing board for the toast... then you can be the judge and tell me what sounds good.

How I Followed My Heart

There was no big "to-do", no white dress or tuxedo. There was no romantic music playing in the background or poetry readings to signify the occasion. In fact, it was just me and him, and a judge.

The day was cold, St. Louis cold! That's where I was living, Missouri, when we decided to tie the knot. HE had talked about it for weeks. He had asked me a dozen times to marry him. I blew him off every single time. I didn't know that I'd marry him until the second I said the words. "I Do!"

Up until that point, that very second, all I knew was unrequited love; a longing deep down in my soul to feel true love. Both our lives were full of confusion and yet he knew he wanted to marry me and I knew I didn't want to be unspoken for. Yet the truth is, I wanted to marry him too not just because I didn't want to be alone but because I knew he was a good man. There would be no logic to support my decision to marry him.

I joke that the ink had not quite dried on the final decree of my divorce from my ex-husband and I was marrying again, yet it was the truth. My ex and I signed divorce papers in April. By November of the same year I had already remarried. What would my parents say about the whole thing? What would my family think? Would they think that I had operated as an adulterer for all those years that I was separated from my ex-husband? What a tangled web it was so I decided that our marriage would be a secret. Yet, as Polynesian families go, there are NEVER any secrets!

News spread like wildfire within minutes of our nuptials. I don't even know how my parents found out but my phone began ringing off the hook. I can't begin to imagine what my family thought. Yet the truth is, we met just five days after my ex-husband left me. Spent time for two months. He got shipped off to Fort Riley, Kansas and we had no plans to pursue the romance any further. I moved to St. Louis, feeling so heart-broken in so many ways. He drove out to see me and we felt like we had when we met. Like everything was just so right. We both followed our hearts and we married. We're still married. Sealed together for time and all eternity to love each other in EVERY lifetime!

I don't know if I've ever told the story here; about how we ended up in front of a judge in a small suburb in Illinois; or how I followed my heart, as I always do, and how it has made all the difference today! Babe, thank you for loving me!