Happy February everyone! Anyone else feel like January went WAY too fast? I think with this being our wedding year too, every month feels like a big deal because it’s one month closer to July!
If you’ve been around for a while, you know this as the place I shared fashion/beauty/life. Since 2019 I’ve mostly stopped, which makes me sad but at the same time I don’t have regrets as I needed to focus on family. BUT–since Keith and I are getting married in 2026 I thought it would be fun to revive this space and use it to share monthly wedding updates and behind-the-scenes with you!
First off though- I also created a dedicated website for guests on withjoy.com. This site includes all event details and logistics to help with booking your trip. Think of it as your one-stop-shop for planning. Joy is designed for this and fantastic at capturing everything in one place to make it easy for everyone attending (which this blog isn’t really built for!)
https://withjoy.com/terra-and-keith (password: love)
But Joy isn’t really customizable, it’s not designed for monthly wedding updates. You can’t add pages and share photos or write detailed posts. So after wrestling with what to do and how to structure things, I landed on Joy for its utility and this blog for its versatility.
Ok…on to the first monthly planning update! 🙂
In June we chose Disney Aulani and signed the paperwork.
In July and August, we chose our vendors. Here’s who we picked for DJ, photographer, and florist!
DJ/Emcee: DJ Troy
When I was looking at DJs, I really liked DJ Troy’s approach– reading the crowd, editing the music, and adjusting so the entertainment is suited to the group and moment so everyone is always having the best time. He’s the opposite of a ‘playlist DJ’ which I really like because the crowd and energy won’t always follow a playlist picked ahead of time (but he will work in the songs we want!) I also really like his ‘clean presentation’ with his equipment and how his setup can be made to match our style and colors. I’m trying to think of how to use the LCD screen on his booth…let me know if you have any ideas!
Floral: Sweet Pea & Petunia
Floral was an easy choice as I knew early on how I wanted AMA’AMA patio to look for our ceremony. I came across this picture in 2024 which you could say started everything. Chatting with our Aulani planner Kim she suggested Sweet Pea and Petunia who created it. I’m so glad we picked them and love working with Eve- she’s been wonderful with finding creative ways to stay in our budget but bring the vision to life!
Photographer: Aria Studios
Choosing the photographer was the hardest part for me and Keith! I didn’t think it would be with my experience shooting for the blog and developing a brand and style. I didn’t expect wedding photography to be so different! Aulani has a list of 6 preferred photographers so we used that as the starting point and narrowed it down to Aria Studios, Ashley Goodwin Photography, and Bianca Photography. I ended up creating a side-by-side comparison, and ultimately Keith and I both liked Aria the best. In addition to beautiful editing, their compositions are really beautiful and stood out to me. 🙂
Shortly after choosing our vendors, I found my dress! I did not expect to find it so quickly. I casually booked an appointment with Bijou Bridal for a random Saturday when Keith worked and took Juliana and Kieran. Being 10 months postpartum I anticipated struggling to find a dress I liked and thought looked good on me. I was also budgeting for my dress as I kept thinking how you only wear it once. When I booked the appointment, I shared about the styles I liked (fit and flare or trumpet silhouette) and asked if we could start with the sample rack. I did not anticipate it was the only rack we’d need to look at 😉
I was really surprised how pretty the first dress I tried on was:
Then the second dress…it was ‘the one’! I kept asking the lady Pauline who helped me, ‘is this normal to find it on your first try on?’ I really thought it would be a long search and I’d struggle to find one I loved. Pauline was so helpful and sweet with the kids too. There were a few times after I bought the dress and got home I thought, was that too impulsive? Should I have looked longer and researched more? And as silly as it sounds, wondering if I missed out on the tradition of trying on dresses with your friends. But I realized it’s important when you find the right one not to overthink it. And I’m so glad I have those memories with the kids. It was the most perfect day.
I’ll wrap up here, but there’s so much more I can’t wait to tell you! Stay tuned for monthly updates where I’ll share more including-
- Our theme and words that describe our wedding
- Our wedding invites (just got everything finalized last week and so excited with how they came out!)
- My hair and makeup + bridesmaids’ dresses
- Juliana’s special role in the wedding <3
- Food selections and top runners for cake flavors
- What we prioritized for our wedding budget
- My experience working with Disney Aulani to plan everything
- Tablescapes and reception decor. Below is a little preview- I used AI to try different chairs and table cloths at Wailana Pool and fell in love with this theme!
Love,
Terra