If you’re looking for a Hawaiian Wedding but want to stand out from the more common preference of a beach wedding, then opt for a tropical wedding! This lovely couple decided to have their wedding in Hilo, Hawaii, which resulted in a lush and vibrant style of wedding photos.

To start off the day, the Wedding Party got ready in the same location but on different ends of the house. This was a little tricky with making sure the groom did not see the bride, but we made it work and I love how the photos turned out. I enjoy doing something fun with the bridesmaids while they are getting ready and since they already had glasses, we decided to have some refills and take photos of a pre-wedding toast.

While the Bride was getting ready, I headed over to the Groom’s side of the house and we took a few photos of him and his groomsmen getting ready. I always love photos of the Groom and his best man, so I try to incorporate those shots into our photography list.

After the photos of the Groomsmen are done, I gather the Bride to take a few photos of just her in her dress. The bride was very beautiful and I am glad the location had a balcony to take the photos on. This allowed for better lighting and more space to take quality photos.

With this wedding, the bride requested a dress reveal with her Bridesmaids, so we made sure to include this as well. I loved seeing the bridesmaids’ excitement when they opened their eyes and saw the bride. It was a very fun and heartwarming moment for them.

After this, we took photos of the bridesmaids and groomsmen separately, taking care to make sure the groom did not see the bride. We were able to pull it off and when this was done, the wedding party hopped in their cars to drive to the venue location.

When I arrived, I took some photos of the venue while we waited for the wedding ceremony to start. It was a beautiful moment when the bride walked the aisle and both the bride and the groom shed tears of joy as they held one another’s gaze.

Throughout the ceremony, there were laughs, smiles, and a few more happy tears.

The Bride and Groom said their vows and had a beautiful kiss in front of their family and friends. During the recessional, I always make sure that I have a clear path so that I can walk ahead of the couple and continue to take photos. And of course, I do all of this walking backwards, but it adds to the excitement of the day.

After this, we moved on to take their family portraits and their Wedding Party photos. The Bride and her bridesmaids were beautiful in their dresses and I always love seeing the joy on their faces after the rush of the ceremony is over.

One of my favorite photo to take is of the bride and groom sharing a kiss while the wedding party cheers them on. The bridesmaids were all naturals when it came to cheering and hyping up the couple. We also took photos of men and women separately and continued to keep the fun going.

I always encourage my couples to have fun with their photos and to let me know if they have any ideas they’d like to try out. The bridesmaids wanted to see if they could carry the groom and they had a great time trying it out. As we can see, they were very successful and had a good laugh while taking this photo.

We’re finally to my favorite part of the day, the bride and groom portraits! We tried out a variety of poses and as requested by the bride, we made sure to get the wedding veil photo.

Since this wedding took play on July 11th, or 7-11, the bride and groom had slurpees from 7-11 for everyone at their wedding. I loved this! It was fun to take these photos and I was glad that they could have a refreshing snack while they waited for dinner.

We finished up the last of the shots on our photography list and gave the bride and groom some time to rest before the reception started.

The reception started strong with the couple’s first dance and a few words of thanks to their guests. The venue and time of day turned out to be fairly good so I opted to not use my flash during this time.

After the couple had a chance to eat, they continued the night with more dancing. It was lovely to see them dance with their family members who mean so much to them. 

After the dancing, the bride and groom cut their wedding cake. It’s always fun to see how each couple is different when it comes to their cake and what they prefer on their wedding day. I always prefer to have fast shutter speed to prepare for a possible cake smash during the cake cutting and I was happily prepared for this photo. The bride and groom both had smiles on their faces and enjoyed helping their spouse get a mouthful of cake.

At the end of the reception, the bride and groom had a fun night of dancing with their guests. After staying to capture some of those moments, I completed my night and headed home to begin editing their photos. Although this couple did not request a video, I always try to capture some footage to show my audience an instagram recap of every wedding.

Hope you enjoyed hearing about my latest wedding experience as a photographer and videographer on the Big Island of Hawaii!