Saturday, December 16, 2006

All the Beautiful People

I've been meaning to write about a great wedding I participated in. Now every wedding that I attend I am surrounded by so much beauty, but this one was just exceptional. There was something like 600 guests so perhaps it was just the enormous amount of beautiful people around me that made it so overwhelming. Or maybe it was the locations... the ceremony was held at the chapel at Iolani school, I'd never been here before and in case you are wondering it is GORGEOUS, and the reception in the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt in Waikiki. Whatever the case I felt I just had to show off some of the pictures from the beautiful wedding of Ruthie and Kevin.

Ruthie had to hide behind a sheet because the chapel is all windows. It was very cute.












Did I mention that there cake was made of Krispy Cremes?!







Wednesday, December 13, 2006

In the Backyard

Thanksgiving weekend was so much fun because I got to participate in Heather and Sean's "Simple Backyard Wedding". Simple except for that it was the multimillion dollar backyard on Kailua Beach of a close friend of their's! It was a stunning setting for a small and intimate ceremony and reception.

Heather and Sean are friends of my boyfriend, Gabe, and all his diving buddies (Check out http://kaimanadivers.blogspot.com/ to find out more about his scene). So, I was friends with a lot of the guests..an added bonus. The best part of this day was how relaxed everything was...no timelines, everyone was comfortable hanging out in the backyard by the ocean or kicking it in the house, Heather was laughing about how girly she had to be (nailpolish, agh!) while she hid from Sean in a room upstairs.



The ceremony was beautiful with the ocean behind them as they said their vows (tears and laughter from everyone). Afterwards, Heather and Sean and I headed around the corner to an awesome spot for couple pictures--huge waves crashing against lava behind them!


Then back to the house to kick back, eat food, and throw cake at each other! Best cake fight I've seen yet--Way to sneak it in there Heather! But Sean got you back pretty good though.



A good time was had by all...

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Renewal

I have been meaning to write about a very touching ceremony that I got to take part in a few weeks ago. Terri and Russ have been married for 10 years. They had a huge wedding in California. A great time they said, but pretty stressful. In the midst of the chaos Terri said to Russ - we should have just gotten married on a beach in Hawaii, to which Russ replied - Okay, we'll do it! In 10 years.

So on the 11th anniversary of there first date they got (re)married on a beach in Hawaii. Isn't it nice when we fulfill those dreams? Terri and Russ wanted a beautiful and traditional Hawaiian ceremony for their vow renewal and the found Pahia to preside over the special event. Pahia is amazing! The ceremony was the most beautiful thing I have seen to date (well, the footwashing was pretty good too. This was great in it's own way). Pahia's ceremony involved so much Hawaiian tradition and beauty. She brought in the elements with maile and flowers, koa, natural pearls, water, a conch shell blower and above all of that so much love! I can't begin to describe how wonderful the effect was! So much to take pictures of!





Tuesday, October 24, 2006

A Wedding in Kauai

Last week I had the priviledge of photographing the wedding of Dennis and Kristin on Shipwreck beach in Kauai. If anyone out there is looking for the perfect place for an intimate and private wedding ceremony this is the place! I couldn't believe how beautiful it was there!


These two left the family at home so it was just the pastor, the happy couple and me, snapping away. After a quick downpour the crazy kids got hitched.

After that I got a good hour and a half with them all to myself...It was great! We had plenty of giggles, and we even saw a Hawaiian sting ray swimming in the shallow waters along the shore! I have such an awesome job!




Thanks Dennis and Kristin for making me a part of your day (and letting me run you guys all over that beach!)

Thursday, October 12, 2006

My Very First Blog - The Footwashing

Hi There, My name is Michelle Davies and I am a wedding photographer and first time blogger. I've done a couple myspace blogs in my day but never anything serious or important so this feels a bit new and strange! I hope to join the craze of people who love to write endlessly about the exciting moments in life. I do come across penty of amazing moments with my job! So I will start with one of them.... Janelle and Kaleo!


I have been to a whole lot of weddings and sometimes there is one that just sticks out for some reason or another. Janelle and Kaleo's was one of those. They were such a happy couple, so much fun! But it was this moment in the ceremony that had everyone tearing up--including me! What's happening here is a footwashing. If you don't know the signifigance of this here's the basics... At the Last Supper Jesus washed the feet of all of his disciples. In the days of dusty roads and open-toed sandals, feet often became dirty, and it was the job of the lowest servants to wash the guests' feet. This act is meant to show devotion, humbleness and love. To see this as part of a wedding ceremony was incredibly beautiful. Kaleo was humbling himself before Janelle in true love and devotion. It was truly the most moving thing that I have ever experienced in a wedding ceremony so far.

Ah love, what a great job I have!

Thursday, March 23, 2006