Destination Wedding in Kona, Hawaii

Jo-Ann and Jonathan hosted an intimate destination wedding in beautiful Kona, Hawaii.  This pair were no strangers to travel as the bride tell us.  “Jonathan and I met while we were both working for NGOs in Mozambique. After getting engaged while the sun was setting on Watch Hill Beach, Rhode Island, the perfect place for a beach-girl! =), we started talking about our wedding. We both wanted it to be very simple, outdoors, all in the same place, as close to the ocean as possible, in Hawaii (where my parents live) and I remember saying that I wanted to wear my Havaianas!”

“I have always loved the ocean and wanted the wedding to reflect the colours of the sea, so we went with all blues for the bridal party.  In Hawaii you can get away with bright colours, so I decided on many shades of pink for the decor, and purple for the flowers! I love orchids and Jonathan always sent them to me when we were apart, so we chose orchids as our flower, which was fun to keep the tropical theme going too.”

“My favourite wedding-memories were the ones I had as a kid. I remember how magical it felt running around at big family weddings, and dancing the night away with my cousins. As a result, I wanted our wedding to be as kid-friendly-and-fun as possible! We had a kid’s table with all sorts of fun things for them to do and a piñata later on. It was so lovely to see them running around with their glow-sticks, sparklers and bubbles, and dancing away together on the dance floor.”

“As I’d been living in Asia for a while, I wanted to have some Asian touches. We had Korean chopsticks on the table-settings and Korean fans on the chairs at the reception. We had Thai food for the main course and sushi for starters.”

“Although Hawaii is quite far away from many of our loved ones, we were lucky enough to have family and friends come from as far off as New Zealand, India, South Africa, New York, Connecticut, California and Canada! We were so blessed to be able to celebrate with so many who are so precious to us!”

“Since we had met while both working in Africa, and we wanted to have some elements in the wedding that would reflect our heart for development work. We had a number of organisations to give to on our registry and instead of a favour, and we gave our guests a little package with a card in it explaining that we’d given a house to a widow in India through www.handsonhouses.com. When it came to my rings, we were thrilled to find Brilliant Earth, as they have a hundred percent guarantee that their diamonds are conflict-free!”

For more, check out their wedding video by Bradley Productions.

Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Destination Wedding Photographer: Bob Brown from Hawaii Photographer

Wedding Vendors: Wedding Videographer: Bradley Productions / Floral Design: Kelsi from Ainahua Florals, Waimea / Rentals: Waimea Party Rentals / Officiant: Lenny Hernandez / Location: Living Stones Church, Allii Drive, Kailua-Kona/ Catering: Orchid Thai, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii + Hyashis, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii / Wedding Dress: Maggie Sottero via Princess Brides, Honolulu / Wedding Veil: Vera Wang via David’s Bridal/ Groom and Groomsmen’s Attire: Cubavera / Brides’ engagement ring and wedding band: Brilliant Earth