Cassie, owner of Lili Lu Elopes in Hawaii

Posted on: August 22, 2017

On July 30, we decided to elope in Hawaii, at Lanikai Beach on the East side of O’ahu.  We wanted something simple and sweet; we aren’t fancy people and I sure the heck didn’t want to plan a wedding 7 months pregnant ( our son will be here soon!). It was a perfect sunrise that morning. Honestly, we didn’t need decorations or a fancy venue, we had more than we could have ever wished for provided by nature.  I’ll never forget the feeling I had that day. Although my hair wasn’t done up all fancy; I didn’t have a pedi or a mani, and my dress was a $30 quick grab from Ross, I still felt like a million bucks. You’d think that after all of these years working in weddings, that I would have had something big and seriously planned down to every detail, but it really didn’t suit us as a couple.  You see, I married a farm boy from my hometown in Kentucky.  Men from Kentucky aren’t exactly fancy, or the type to even get dressed up for that matter. So we had a private ceremony, just us two, our officiant and our witnesses.  I handed the camera over to my friend who thankfully has a creative eye, and she snapped away.

 

My talented friend Jennifer from Happy Haku hand made my Haku Lei and Jonas wore a Ti leaf lei, which is customary in Hawaii for men on their wedding day.  My friend Malia grabbed me a bundle of pink ginger to hold as a bouquet, which you can see was quite stunning and simple! My honey Jonas looked so handsome, I couldn’t keep myself from crying when we said our vows. I honestly thought he would be the one to cry because he was crying the entire week leading up to our ceremony.  He’s usually a big sappy mess, but this time it was me who dropped the first tear haha. I’ve been to over a thousand weddings in my career, and I always wondered if my wedding would feel different, and the answer was definitely a big big  YES!  It really was special.  I felt special, and beautiful, and so beyond ready to marry the man of my dreams…who I happened to have met at a wedding! Imagine that!