It's really something quite special for me to blog about John and Nancy... :) They were married at the beautiful Bayer Estate on June 19th, 2009.

And as wonderfully,happily busy as Dave and I were engrossed in our own wedding planning, for the following day (June 20th, also at the Bayer Estate), something about this couple just made me want to stop and smell the roses :) In getting to know both John and Nancy through email and phone correspondence, I could literally FEEL this very special love that they had for one another. Whenever a voicemail would come in from them, John's VOICE always had a loving smile to talk about the excitement and anticipation of their wedding day.

And bummed as I was not to meet them in person (because of my own wedding whirlwind), Nancy and I had the most heartfelt phone conversation a few weeks after wedding day, about how she truly felt about John, and how he really is THE love of her life....I can totally relate Nancy...I can totally relate!

What an absolute joy to have worked with and photograph John and Nancy. Congratulations on a lifetime of TRUE love.

Enjoy viewing the images of their beautiful day at the incomparable Bayer Estate...!

Aloha, Michelle & Dave

You talk about Ken and Barbie dolls :) ....MYRA & ARON were two of the most beautiful people to work with...I

Dave and I had the great pleasure of photographing them (Dave did the ceremony, and I joined Dave to 2nd shoot their wedding reception) We are so fortunate to have such cool couples. Their ceremony took place at Waimanalo Bay Beach on a beautiful Hawaii morning, while they followed their reception at Tiki's restaurant. They chose happy tropical tones of vibrant red for their wedding theme, and no doubt surrounding themselves with family and friends trekking in from the mainland and locally.

Sweet and stunning these two! Hope you like the images!

Aloha Dave & Michelle

We met Tia and Keola through the super cool hip cake designers Rick and Sasha of Cakelava.

You know how Hawaii is such a small place. In getting to talking with them and Tia's parents, it turns out that I grew up one block away from Tia's Dad.I remember Tia's Dad played in a rock band, and every Sunday they would have a jam session and invite all of the neighbors!

Tia looked absolutely beautiful in her gown which she purchased from the ladies of The Bridal Boutique (Props to Joyce & Cecilia!) draped by a multi -tiered pikake lei...Very beautiful, and classic Hawaiian...! Here's a few images of their day. Congratulations Tia and Keola...!

Aloha Dave

I shot Jill and Brad's wedding on June 27th 2006. I'm so fortunate to be able to see my couples after their wedding and it's really cool to see this stage of their lives. Jill had an idea about wrapping herself in material and having it blow in the wind. What you don't see is the rain and the 25 mph winds that almost tore her skirt off! But all's well and I was really pleased with what I got.

Hello....! We're back on the blogging trail...We've missed everybody :) It has been quite a while since we've posted a wedding story but we have a great excuse. You see we were busy planning our OWN wedding, as well...!

With many, many lovely couples that we've worked with between May -August, we put our own planning, and horn tooting on hold, to make sure our clients wedding photography needs didn't skip a beat... :)

However, it's time to re-surface again (in the blog world) , like that of the inevitable sea turtle, and share with you what's been going on with the NEW ..Mr & Mrs. Dave Miyamoto...!

With 140 of our family and closest friends, our awesome bridal party, and wedding colleague friends, Dave and I had the most magical day at The Bayer Estate...! Lucky us, to have the most incredible family and friends in the wedding industry collaborate their talents, as June 20th turned out to be an explosion of creative and loving energies throughout the entire planning process...

As you can see here, although we had more than enough awesome photographers on hand to help us that day, Dave made sure he took photos of our bridal party walking down the aisle as well me with my trusty point-and shoot camera (shooting back at Dave), to make for the most fun and memorable walk-down-the-aisle :)

In the spirit of Dave's wedding proposal to me, we gave out candy ring pops as props for each guest to wear for our entire guest photo, in tribute to Dave's very sincere candy ring proposal to me, 16 months ago...SOOO cool :)

Mahalo everyone from the bottom of our hearts :) We hope that you enjoy the images that we have to share with you as a small window into what was no doubt, the best day of our lives...!

Aloha, Michelle Guda-Miyamoto & Dave Miyamoto (the NEW Mr & Mrs...!)

Christina & Alex. Such a nice couple :) And I had the honor of photographing their wedding this past Saturday. The ceremony and reception was held at Lanikuhonua. With a reception with over 300 guests, it was a very festive event. Bright happy colors were the theme which was perfect because it matched their personalities :)

Aloha-:Dave

Here is a peek of Arnie and Sara's engagement session from this past weekend at some of Dave's favorite China Town spots, and other cool areas about town, and on the north shore. Dave is also scheduled to photograph their upcoming wedding happening on July 10, 2009! Woo hoo...COUNTDOWN...!

CONGRATULATIONS Arnie and Sara, and enjoy that wedding planning journey :)

Michelle & Dave

Could Meenal and Jeff be any cuter...? This is so exciting for us to blog about, as this is their very first pregnancy, with baby Jaiden expected to pop into this wonderful world on JUNE 19th...!

I was so bummed because Dave forgot to wake me up to go with him to this very early morning HAPAI session, at beautiful Sandy Beach, on Oahu's east shore. I intended to see these 2.5 beautiful people, to wish them well with the rest of their term...!!

In any case, we wish a huge "sun-risey" CONGRATULATIONS once again to one of our very favorite couples, Meenal, Jeffrey, and Baby Jaiden Johnson...!

Aloha to the Johnsons :) Dave, Michelle, and Nacho...

We hope that you all realize how we just LOVE our couples... :) We felt so wonderfully honored to have photographed Sibley, Jake, and their family during their memorable destination wedding here in Honolulu. Dave was so excited to learn about the Thali, and witness the wedding traditions of India....What an absolutely beautiful culture :)

Our couple Jake and Sibley initially contacted us from home in California. This was a return visit to the islands for this extremely photogenic couple :) For many of their guests, it was their first time to Hawaii (coming from the mid-west),and abroad. And as Sibley and Jake shared with us, this was also the first time their families traveled outside of their "home territory", to have a family wedding.

With much anticipation, and anxiousness to do them right with some unforgettably cool photos, Dave had planned out a photo tour of some of HIS favorite shooting spots to showcase Oahu's beauty, as a background to this lovely, lovely,( and did I say lovely enough times ?)...couple :) Their day took them from St Augustine church in Waikiki, to Makapuu, for the coolest, dramatic, shoreline shots....then back to Aloha Tower for a romantic dinner cruise aboard the STAR OF HONOLULU.

We thank you Jake and Sibley for including us as part of your most special day, and we hope that the rest of your family and friends carry with them a boat load of cherished memories too. Please give your wonderful parents our regards, and we hope that all is well...Aloha :)

Michelle & Dave...!

Amanda & Mark contacted us from Austin, Texas interested in doing an engagement session while they were here in Hawaii planning their upcoming wedding here on Oahu. This was both their first time here in Hawaii so I wanted to make it a very special session for them. You know the only time I like to get up at 5:00am is if the waves are really good or if my couples are willing to get up to do a sunrise session. On the island of Oahu we have some gorgeous locations for these early morning photo sessions.There is something about the mornings that I love, it's that quietness because everyone is still a sleep in their comfortable bed, that crispness in the air which you can only smell in the early mornings. And it's that first light when the sun is rising over the horizon that wraps around the couple. That light I'm talking about is such a warm and romantic glow. Most times I tell my couples I want to start before the sun rises and they turn around and ask me can we do sunset photos instead? But for those who can get up and look like they haven't woken up at 3:30am... it's so worth it to shoot at that time. Hope you enjoy the images of Amanda and Mark

Aloha,

Dave

We were contacted by Mary Lou and Brian last year, as they were planning their special day from across the U.S, in Maryland. Talk about the sweetest couple, we knew instantly that there was a connection made with them because of their wonderful wedding choices made so far...The Bayer Estate (no doubt...our hands-down favorite location), cakelava (good friends of ours Rick and Sasha...wedding cake experts extraordinaire)!

As each time-sensitive phone call and email came in from Mary Lou during the course of their planning, I just could not wait to see what their photos were going to look like :)

With about 25 of their loved ones gathered, Mary Lou and Brian said their I-Do's in a lovely afternoon ceremony on the ocean side of this beautiful estate. Our talented Photographers Russ and John captured their day in images below.

Congratulations to Mary Lou and Brian on your new lives together as husband and wife, and may you enjoy your honeymoon on our beautiful neighbor islands!

Aloha ~

The love match was set up by Karyn's sister in law. Her "S-I-L" was friends with John, where they were both grad students at Cal Lutheran College, and thought it would be a good idea for them to meet. To make a love connection for Karyn, it came down to the big four questions...

1. Did he like blondes?
2. Was he a football fan?
3. Did he like nurses?
4. Does he love dogs?

Fortunately for John, all of his answers were an overwhelming YES! Their first phone conversation took place on March 14,2007, followed by their first date a couple of days later. And as they say... the rest is history!

John proposed to Karyn in February 2008, at Sunset Beach, a place he knew all too well, as he lived at and surfed the north shore for 10 years. They both live in California now, but found themselves leaning towards a destination wedding in Hawaii, because of John's ties here, and of course this is where John had popped the question!

Their wedding location choice was a simple decision for Karyn. The criteria? Lush. Tropical. Somewhere that their wedding photo memories would scream Hawaii in it's truest sense! On a website search, once she landed on the Kualoa Ranch homepage, she just KNEW that this was where they would exchange vows :)

With the guidance of Susan and Pam from Aloha Wedding Planners, and the loving company of 75 of their closest friends and family gathered this past weekend, they said their vows at beautiful Moli'i Gardens, at Kualoa.

Enjoy the images below taken by Dave and our talented Associate Photographer Erwin...

Aloha...!

This is a continuation of my sunrise sesion with Jen, Paani,& Baily. Jen's due date is March 4th so she's ready to give birth any time now!