Hawaii is one of the world’s most iconic island chains that instantly brings thoughts of warm, white sandy beaches, hula skirts and shave ice.  It is the perfect location for a destination wedding or elopement, which is exactly why Stephen and Amelia decided to have their wedding celebration there. They brought with them those that mattered most and made it a truly special experience.

Shunning the tourist haven that is Waikiki, they chose the more secluded western coast of Oahu in the backyard of a beautiful home on the beach.  After their wedding ceremony, which had hints of Hawaiian symbolism, we headed off to Makua for portraits and captured an amazing sunset and views of the mountains.

“We were extremely happy with our decision to use Ben & Hope Wedding Photography. Ben came with us on our destination wedding in Hawaii and helped us with the whole process including spending the day before the wedding scoping out locations with us. The photos turned out amazing and we had a lot of fun doing the photo shoot. From our first meeting with him and from his portfolio and blogs on the website, we knew that he would deliver at a very high standard. He did! We would highly recommend him.” – Stephen and Amelia

If you are getting married in Hawaii, Contact Us for more information.

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Ben says that from the moment he met them he felt like they had been friends for years. They just clicked. Misa is sweet yet fiesty and Alex and a loveable larakin. Over the past year we have kept in contact through all the wedding planning and day to day life. As the months rolled over we were growing more excited to get over there and see these two get hitched.

The night before the wedding Alex + Misa hosted a BBQ dinner with all their family and friends from the Island and the many who had travelled from across the states and world to attend the wedding. We were lucky to be staying with them for the night so enjoyed a traditional American BBQ as well as getting to know their families. By the end of our 2 days with them all we really felt apart of the family.

The morning of the wedding came and it was a gloomy forecast for the day. Huge grey clouds covered the skies as it rained on and off all morning. Misa was worried as she had planned a gorgeous outdoor ceremony and really didn’t want to move everyone inside the gallery. The executive decision was made, we would risk the weather and go ahead as planned.

Adiel + Nikki from Salon 253 arrived and got to work on Hair and makeup while the sky slowly but surely got a little bluer and brighter as the time past.

The ceremony was officiated by their close friend Dave Balding on the grounds of the Hui No’eaa visual arts centre. Alex + Misa wrote their own vows, and Alex even memorised his. Towards the end of the ceremony it started to lightly rain but it didn’t matter.

After the ceremony we took some time to take portraits of the bridal party. The venue has a great little roofless stone room hidden away that we took full advantage of. Photographing these two was easy! Alex is so smitten with Misa, you can see it the way he looks at her and holds her close.

The reception was held in a marquee on the property and was beautifully set up by Melissa from Opihi Love. We especially loved the paper flower centerpieces and Disney themed guest canvas which was perfect as Alex + Misa were jetting off to Disneyland for their honeymoon.

This family, with it’s mix of Hawaiian, Southern and Spanish roots was so much fun! We’ve never seen such non-stop dancing all night long before. Even the Daddy/Daughter dance was a fun dance off to Bruno Mars Uptown Funk. Their DJ was on point with the perfect mix of songs.

We had such an awesome time not only shooting Alex + Misa’s wedding but spending time with them and their family, thanks to everyone who made us feel at home!

To see what Misa wrote about her day and a link to all the vendors who made this day come together, check out the bottom of the page…

From Misa…

“I woke up on my wedding day to gloomy skies and forecasted rain. But while it did rain all day, it cleared to a light drizzle in time for our ceremony. And if we could do the rain for our engagement photos, then we could do a drizzle on our wedding day! The ceremony was conducted by our dear friend, Dave Balding. It felt so personal to us to have someone we cared for be in charge of making us husband and wife. I had super stellar vendors, so by the time we were done with photos, everyone was having a great time. But what I loved most about our wedding was how the decor was made by me, my mom, and my friends. After putting all the time into personalizing it to what I wanted, it was amazing and special to see all the work we had done come together thanks to the skilled hands of my day of coordinator, Melissa.”

Ceremony and Reception venue – Hui No’eau Visual Arts Center

Wedding dress – Lugo Novias

Hair + Makeup – Salon 253

Cake – Cake Fanatics

Stationery – Minted

Event planner + styling – Melissa Padilla from Opihi Love

Photography – Ben + Hope

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First up from our Hawaii sessions is Aubry and Kapono. They decided that they wanted to shoot their engagement session on the legendary North Shore at one of my old surf spots V-LANDS. Aubry and Kapono both surf there regularly and felt that there would be no better place to showcase who they are than to have their engagement portraits shot there.

If you are looking for Hawaii photographers to capture your engagement and wedding, we would love to hear from you.  If you could please send us a quick message, we will get back to you within 24 hours.  Mahalo.  Ben and Hope

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