Maui Oceanfront Wedding | Micaela + Jon | Angela Nelson Photography

Sometimes when I’m reminiscing on past weddings, I forget all the little details. Micaela and Jon’s Maui oceanfront wedding – man, that was one for the books. The special dances, the sunset that night, the Lakers shot, all the special little touches throughout the day; their day was really special to me. On many different levels, I may add. But I won’t go into that here. Instead – I’ll let Jon and Micaela tell you what they loved about their wedding day!

Oceanfront Wedding in Maui

1. Tell me about your thoughts leading up to the wedding, did you think about it growing up, did you plan it together? How did it feel to make your choices and marry one another?

I (Micaela) was never the girl who had her dream wedding planned since she was a little girl. I never needed the glam and frills (in fact, I drove myself to our church ceremony). And the first time I showed my mom and sister a venue I saw and thought “wow, I could get married here” was actually the weekend before Jonathan proposed – it’s like he timed his proposal perfectly! In terms of planning, we did plan two separate ceremonies. I’d say Jonathan was a great cheerleader as I worked with my sister and mom on planning the larger reception on Saturday, but Jonathan took full charge of our Church ceremony that happened the Thursday before 🙂

Growing up, I (Jonathan) was lucky enough to be raised by two immigrant parents that showed me the importance of family. I always imagined having a family of my own, but it wasn’t until we got engaged that I really felt the reality of what Micaela and I could build together. I did my best to be a supportive fiance through the planning. And I’m very relieved to not be planning anymore. Now that we’re in the rookie year of our marriage, I think “why didn’t we do this sooner?”

It’s still weird to think that we’re married sometimes. A little over a year of planning led to the absolute best week of our lives, and so much has already changed since then! We both actually took job interviews during our wedding week (Jonathan took one the morning of! *additional side note – he’d been unemployed the three months leading up to our wedding&), and when we came back “to real-life” we jumped into our marriage – 2 new jobs, a new car, we moved. It’s been quite an eventful 4 months!

Why We Chose Maui

2. Why did you choose Maui?
Hawaii has always been a special place for my family. I (Micaela) spent my summers growing up visiting my grandparents in Oahu, along with the rest of my cousins. Hawaii was always the place my family would come together. In 2016, we had a family reunion in Maui, and it was the first family vacation Jonathan was part of. We wanted to pick a place that was significant to us and symbolic to us. We met on the beach, we started dating at the beach, and now we got married at the beach.

3. What was your favorite part of the day?
It’s so hard to choose just one part! There were so many highlights – truly one of the most fun days EVER. We loved our first touch, the entire ceremony (lol), allll of the surprise performances, and OF COURSE our Lakers photoshoot. We also got a sunset that we couldn’t have ever DREAMED of. Such an incredible day — can it all be our favorite?

4. What were your favorite details and why? (dress, suits, flowers, etc)

One thing we did for our bridal party, was to write individual letters delivered on the wedding day. Jonathan wrote to the bridesmaids and I wrote to the groomsmen. It was fun to see their reactions and a small way to reiterate just how important everyone has been to us as individuals and as a couple. The groomsmen went the extra mile though by delivering their notes with Musubi!
Most of the details were handmade by family members – for example, the table flower arrangements, the guest seating chart, and the bouquets. It was a constant reminder of how much we were surrounded by love, and how many people we so willing to be part of our special day. It was truly amazing to see everyone coming together.

5. Why did you choose me as your photographer?
Jonathan and I did A LOT of research on photographers leading up to the wedding. Choosing a photographer we both loved and agreed on was definitely high on our priority list. We realized quickly though that we did not have close to a similar taste when it came to photography. We presented each other with options on options, but it wasn’t until we found your website that we actually agreed! We loved the way you captured emotion. The reaction photos and first kiss photos you took were like none we had ever seen before. Then we had our first meeting on Facetime (which was something no other photographer had ever offered before) and it just solidified that we wanted YOU to be with us on our big day. You were so personable, and we could tell that you truly cared and could be trusted. Like you said, photographers are there for every part of the day, in the most intimate moments, and we wanted someone we felt comfortable with to be in those moments with us, to capture everything we were feeling. And you did that above and beyond.

When we watch our wedding slide show, we can relive every emotion we felt throughout the day. Your pictures make us FEEL (and cry… a lot!). And the Lakers photo you captured for us on top of that?! Crazier than our wildest dreams. The fact that you were able to include something that was so important to us, and put in the extra time and effort with the details, truly meant the world to us. That Laker’s photos should go down in wedding photography history!! Thank you!!

6. Do you have any wedding advice for couples getting married in the future?
1. In the words of Angie, “TRUST OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER”
2. Always keep the big picture in mind! The planning process can get stressful, but remember that it’s supposed to be a fun day! Things will inevitably go wrong (I forgot the Welcome sign I was so excited about AND forgot to put on my veil lol), but no one notices and will never know!
3. It takes a village, and with many people will involved (#blessed, #grateful), those people also come with opinions. But it’s YOUR day! So at the end of the day, pick whatever will make you happy.
4. The day really does go by as fast as everyone says. Make sure you take a few moments to stop and soak it all in.
5. The wedding day is just a day that will come and go, but the marriage is forever. Make sure you take a step back in your planning to focus on the marriage, and on your love for each other, above all the other details 🙂