Thankfully for many of these weddings, we have our ‘Visual Guestbook’ on hand to capture the range of personalities ‘on film’.

Since it is the end of our wedding season, we wanted to bring homage to the incredible diversity of humanity that we have recorded in pictures.

Here is a compilation of a few of our favorite ‘Visual Guestbook’ images for your viewing pleasure…  You may even see yourself in some of these!

A few ‘Action Shots’ of our set up…

After multiple days of pre-parties and preparation, the wedding day arrived.  All of the details had been sorted and perfectly placed.  Kelly was beautiful and so were all of her adorable bridesmaids!  Steve had his best man present Kelly with a gift just prior to her getting ready…  An exquisite Picchiotti diamond necklace, bracelet and earrings!  All of the girls had gathered around as it was presented and their reaction (and the jewelry) was priceless.  They spared no expense on this wedding.  In fact, they had crated and shipped out their 1934 Duesenberg (which was once owned by Mae West) as their mode of transportation for the wedding.  Kelly also had arranged for a ‘curtain’ of orchids to be created as the entryway to the home, which was so impressive and colorful.  The conch shell sounded at the beginning and end of their ceremony to commemorate their new life together and everyone was in great Aloha spirit.  As the night progressed, Steve had yet another surprise for Kelly…  As they cut their four tiered fondant wedding cake, a spectacular fireworks display resounded for about 10 minutes.  The guests oohed and aahed (as did we) and then the guests kicked up their heels.  The celebration continued late into the evening with more dancing, traditional bouquet toss and our lively ‘Visual Guestbook’.  At the end of the night, we presented Kelly and Steve with an iPod Touch full of our favorite images from the week (including images from their wedding day!) and bid our parting Alohas.  We were 3 photographers, 5 cameras and 4 days of photography, yielding over 10,000 images!  At the end of the event, we were left with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and accomplishment.  A HUGE congratulations to Kelly and Steve on their new life together.  We were so happy that you chose us to be with you during this momentous time in your life.  Thank you for your hospitality and we wish you both the best!

Here is the link to their SLIDESHOW.

Day three was a three part series.

Part one:  Dress Rehearsal

Part two:  Mass

Part three:  Rehearsal Dinner

We primarily took this day as an opportunity to capture a few great portraits of the guests and to gain a better understanding of how things would transpire during the wedding.  We also did a few grab shots throughout the day to compliment the story of the entire event.  I’ll be posting images of the wedding soon!

Day number two was a sizable celebration of being together in Hawaii.  Kelly and Steve rented out the 3 adjacent homes for a few of their friends and family to stay.  One of these dwellings was a stunning modern home owned by a world famous architect.  They decided to have the Luau based from this modern gem.  As the guests arrived they were met with singing by the same Hawaiian troupe that performed the house blessing.  Each guest was gifted a sweet smelling hand-made Lei and then led through the home, where a variety of colorful tropical drinks were waiting.  Earlier in the morning, a pig was put into the prepared Imu (Hawaiian underground oven) and steamed all day for their feast.  When it was time to reveal the cooked pig from the simmering ground, all of the guests gathered, anxiously waiting for what was the most delicious pork I have ever eaten!  So good.  The festivities continued into the night with energetic Taiko drumming, Polynesian music and customary hula and fire dancing. The food was divine, the entertainment was exciting and the atmosphere was uplifting.  The luau was a wonderful way for the guests to be welcomed on the island.

This is the first of many posts from Kelly and Steve’s wedding adventure in Maui.  Our first day was blessed with warm wind, sunny skies and an amazing introduction to their property.  Their home in Maui sits on one of the most unique and beautiful properties in all of Hawaii.  Their Fijian style home is adorned with Teak hardwood molding and filled with treasures from French Polynesia.  The location is unlike any other, situated on a peninsula overlooking Lanai, Kaho’olawe, Molokai, Molokini crater and the westernmost point of Maui.  It was breathtaking.  After the guests arrived, they had a troupe of native Hawaiians perform a traditional house blessing for the first of many gatherings during the week.  The ceremony began with the blowing of a conch shell  in each nautical direction, a few traditional Hawaiian chants and dressing Steve and Kelly in a Hawaiian Leis and wraps.  Each of the guests was given a banana leaf and after dipping the leaves in a blessed water bowl, they were to go to all corners of the property chanting and blessing the space.  Everyone then gathered at the westernmost point of the property where Steve and Kelly were given a gift of hand carved turtles (a theme around their property).  All of the guests then encircled Steve and Kelly while a blessing was given over the held water bowl.  At the end of the ritual, Steve and Kelly each remarked that it felt as if that was their true wedding ceremony.  It was a beautiful house blessing and we were honored to witness and be a part of such a moving tradition.

Here is the POST.

Here is the link to the SLIDESHOW:

For those of you that are looking for a great resource for your planning your bay area wedding, I highly recommend this GUIDE as well as their new wedding BLOG that they just launched.  Oh and they are both FREE!

Check out the cover shot by our friend Alex Farnum!