After moving to lush, green Hawaii after living in the desert I craved seeing cactus (crazy when you live in Hawaii, right?). On Oahu, at the base of an enormous volcanic crater lies a dry almost desert where cactus grows rampant. When I first saw this beautiful cactus garden, I knew I had to create a shoot here that blended my Arizona roots with Oahu’s gorgeous, natural setting. I knew that Hawaii’s very well know Passion Roots floral team would be the ones to understand this vision, and they jumped on board. The created a super unique bouquet of lush succulents, cactus, and of course some local floral from the islands. The bouquet and table centerpiece was an exact representation of the shoot, flowy, unique, green and oh so Hawaii- with a touch of cactus.

The bride wore a gorgeous flowing dress that caught the wind perfectly, from Love and Lace Hawaii, a local bridal boutique. Hair and makeup by Blush Beauty Styling, was simple, and natural. The shoot, all located on Koko Crater which has a unique rock formation of layered ash, creates amazing designs in the natural rock, which is then set agains none other- than the Pacific ocean. Our invitations, from Minted blended that gorgeous blue ocean, with the natural rock layers perfectly.

This shoot was such a blast to shoot both creatively, and aesthetically. With gorgeous backdrops at every turn, and so much cactus to draw inspiration from and talented- all female vendor crew, it was easily one of my favorites to date.

I have to say, my first official Hawaii wedding was one of my absolute favorites to date. The couple; embodying everything you possibly can about ‘Aloha’, were equal parts relaxed, fun and amazing gorgeous. Its a photographers dream.  I ‘re-met’ the bride and her now, husband, when my family and I  first moved to Oahu last summer. Scared, confused and out of place these two swept us up like Ohana and made us feel welcome, and at ease in a strange new place. They taught us everything from; how to  do a beach day right, and even how to properly eradicate centipedes. (Side note: YIKES) I can not say enough kind words about these two- which made shooting this wedding EXTRA special for me.

The bride selected a real dream team of vendors from her gorgeous Joelle Perry custom gown to excentuate her growing bump, to the amazing hair and make up by Marian Melanie to the bouquet and event planning by Alana Madrid Florals & Events. The event took place at the Hawaii Polo club- a  huge open field surrounded by beautiful trees, and butting up agains that amazing Hawaii ocean. The bride and groom, who are naturally photogenic, were so fun to take photos of. They also had the benefit of being 20 weeks pregnant, which added a whole other element of beauty and fun to their story line. It also made the ceremony, on of my favorites to date!  I hope you enjoy going over their wedding as much as I did taking the photos. Cheers friends! 

Wedding Day Details

Dress: Joelle Perry Wedding  

Hair & Makeup: Mariah Melanie

Florals & Even Planning: Alana Madrid Florals & Events

Location: Hawaii Polo Club 

Lead Photographer: Elizabeth McDonnell Photography

Second Shooter: Amber Schyne 

XO

Mary & Tommy are one of those couples you dream about working with. Creative, laid back, stylish, and FUN. Every vendor I worked with remarked on how amazing they were to work with and how incredibly creative the bride was. The bride, a designer by trade (and by nature), was a true DIY bride. Everything from the hand stamped table runners, the hand painted table numbers on wood blocks (that she built), and the custom invitations- not only coordinated perfectly, but were one of a kind designs by the bride herself. Not wanting to be a ‘typical bride’ the classically beautiful bride choose to wear a bright blue Mara Hoffman gown with hand beading in every color imaginable. The dress was perfect against the all white spanish stuccoed venue, the Tubac Golf Resort. The flowers, created by the talent at Butterfly Petals, were a mix of bright color and texture- ranging from hot pink peonies to the textural proedia. The couple swapped out the typical dessert table, for a dressed up cookie spread with hand baked cookies made both by Sugar Sweet Bakery, and the Mother of the Groom. A Philadelphia tradition that came from the grooms side. It was clear that each and ever detail of the wedding was not only incredibly all thought through, but perfectly executed…right down to the donkey that attended the cocktail hour.

For photos, we used the natural spanish architecture of the venue along with all the creative details made by the bride to create a colorful story board that reflected the bride and grooms style. The bright colors, the spanish ranch style venue, and the hand crafted details made this wedding truly one of a kind. The wedding was shot with a mix of digital photography and film that was mixed together to create a unique look for the couple. This wedding was a true dream to work on and I am so excited to share them!

Vendors:

Venue: Tubac Golf Resort & Spa

Photographer: Elizabeth McDonnell Photography

Second Shooter: Kelsey Shirley Photography

Florals: Butterfly Petals

Brides Dress: Mara Hoffman

​Bridal ​Shoes: Halogen

Bridesmaids Dresses: BCBG

Suit: H & M

DJ/ Band: Hans Hutchison

Bridesmaids Gifts: Avenue boutique

Dessert/ Cookies: Sugar Sweet Bakery

Invitations: Handmade by Bride

Equipment used:

Canon 5D Mark iii

Canon 6D

Contax 645

Lenses Used:

50mm 1.2 Canon

24-70 2.8 L Canon

50mm 1.4 Canon

80mm Zeiss

From the bride: We have friends from all of the country and the world, so we knew we wanted to get married where we could spend the whole weekend together. With a family home in the small artist community of Tubac, Arizona, we quickly zeroed in on getting married at the Tubac Resort.

Everything we did was dedicated to trying to create as many opportunities to catch up with all of our loved ones. The entire guest list was traveling in for the wedding, so guests arrived to welcome packets full of area recommendations and an itinerary of activities over the entire weekend. For four days straight, we had parties and celebrations- from a pool party to Whiskey Western Night, and finally the ceremony and reception! And, as a designer and maker, I had handmade details at all of them.

It was beautifully exhausting to plan, but worth every moment. By the morning of the wedding, I was already so tired that I worried I wouldn’t be able to make it through the day….Like, I literally broke down. I had been planning and making and imagining this day for a whole year and I was so tired from the three parties we had already had I couldn’t imagine having another HUGE party! But, it ended up being the most perfect end to a magical weekend. And, my very favorite day of the whole weekend.
For the ceremony, the chapel is so beautiful that we tried to keep the ceremony decor very simple. Our florists made some amazing succulent walls and our dear friend Johanna was the officiate. Johanna wove the most amazing story of our life together- filled with deep love, dedication, yet very goofy and full of laughter. I don’t think I have seen so many people laughing and crying at the same time!
For the reception, we were focused on having a great party! We had a surprise guest to kick-off the reception- a little Burro named Bunny. Through wedding planning, my mom had become obsessed with us having a burro, so we finally gave in! Thank goodness we did, because he was a huge hit!
For the look and feel of the reception, I wanted to the rustic beauty of the resort to be the star. I chose natural and muted tones and handmade the southwest inspired table runners, table markers, and signage. And, my florist created those amazingly colorful southwest arrangements. For dessert, we went the cookie table route! Tommy is from Pittsburgh, so we wanted to include the Pittsburgh tradition of a cookie table. With so many people traveling we relied on a bakery to make the cookies, but we did have a couple of family and friends who baked cookies per the Pittsburgh tradition! We collected all the platters from family and friends.
We didn’t do many of the wedding traditions, but my sisters surprised me with a full performance of the Sisters song for their speech. It was absolutely incredible!
Overall, it was such an amazing experience. Looking back on the wedding, Tommy and I are so grateful that we were able to spend so much time with all the people that we love throughout the weekend. Bringing all the connections in your life together is incredibly special.

Taking a few weeks off to welcome our newest little member to the family. Hope to talk to you all soon. Before I sign off for a bit though, I wanted to share a few of OUR maternity photos from our session with the amazingly talented Cait Schlablach ! Follow her and all her amazing photos and adventures on Instagram and Facebook!

We love you and your work Cait! Thanks again! <3

First Kailua, Oahu beach session! Love this sweet family! 

More to come, but as I continue to edit my little tush off from my spring weddings, I had to share just a few gems! Love this sweet couple and their beautiful wedding. Cheers to the week friends! XO

Amazing bouquet by: La Fleur

Dress by: BHLDN

Flowers by: La Fleur