May Planning Update!

I can’t believe we’re so close, but there are still SO many little details I want and need to arrange. Coming up with the story framework for our day has helped so much with decisions and inspiration, but the challenge lately has been finding the good old-fashioned time to execute everything. You guys know I have a big tendency towards perfection and taking on too much; the struggle has been that there’s so many details I want to do in a special way but I know realistically could (and perhaps should) be done much more simply and quickly.

Take for example our seating chart. A popular way is to create a nice layout with everyone’s names and table name/number. But I saw the seating chart as the perfect space to tell our story because it’s a prominent visual everyone will see. My idea was to make it look like a storybook reminiscent of the one in Cinderella. I took our story I’d written out back in March and ran it through AI to help with formatting and visual ideas, then drew the final one below out by hand. The words in purple are the table names, and next to this we’ll have escort cards for each guest. I love how it came out- it feels authentic and I like how each table name has real meaning that relates to our life together…but wow it took a minute! Ultimately though I feel like the magic is in the details, so I’m trying to find a way to do all the things I want with the time I have the time to give.

Seating chart/table names

Opening of Cinderella (I picked elements like the opening text, the font, border, and castle)

The ending of the movie (I used the swirls at the top for the border of the chart)

I know that’s a lot of tiny little details for just a seating chart, but I love giving the extra attention to these little projects and I know they’ll add up to something really beautiful. At a Kraft Heinz sales meeting a few years ago a guest speaker talked about recognizing what in your life is made of glass and what is made of rubber (i.e. can bounce back), and how these things shift based on what season you’re in. I’ve been trying to put our wedding into that perspective– because it’s a once in a lifetime event and you don’t get a do over. But more importantly, mine and Keith’s relationship is so special and I really want our wedding to reflect this. I’m trying to shift things around to give all this planning the time I feel it deserves (…without driving myself crazy!) But I’ll be honest, it’s been really difficult balancing everything we have going on with the kids and work with wedding planning.

But let’s talk about where we are with everything.

Visual Design
I’d say we’re 95% there! Below are the main decor elements for our reception. When we were at Disneyland in March, I noticed trees wrapped in twinkle lights which I thought really enhanced the overall night magic. I didn’t think it was something we could do but since there are trees around Wailana Pool, I shared the idea with our planner Kim just to put it out there–and she was able to make it happen! She worked it through a vendor partner, Designed with Aloha who does really beautiful work. She even figured out how to hang chandeliers from the tree (and include them in the venue fee we already paid). For chairs, I loved these round gold Phoenix ones, but they were only available from another vendor, Aloha Artisans, who had a delivery minimum the chairs weren’t going to hit. But Kim was able to switch some of the other standard/included lighting elements to them so we could reach that minimum. I feel like she’s been my fairy godmother LOL…I didn’t think we’d be able to do these things especially while staying within our budget, but here we are and I am so thankful.

As you can probably tell I’ve spent a lot of time on the visuals. I really do think they are a huge part of what makes a wedding feel immersive, special, and ultimately memorable.

Food and Beverage
This was another significant one for me because it’s so closely linked to our guests’ experience. Many of our loved ones are traveling a long way and I want the food and beverage to be amazing. Here are some of the food and beverage details!

• Mickey Mouse waffle ice cream sandwich station. I went back and forth with this one because the wedding is more Disney fairytale/less Disney Mickey Mouse, but ultimately he’s the one who started it all, and from what I read this station is always a big hit whether it’s a wedding at Disney World, Disneyland, or Aulani.
• Signature hosted bar. This went back to the guest experience. We made some shifts in other things like photography to do this. I told our planner, nothing interrupts a fairytale like a bartender telling you, ‘that will be $12 please.’ You know what I mean? I want the wedding start to finish to be a beautiful escape from reality.
• Cocktail hour menu. A lot of the classic fairytales are set in France, so I thought it would be fun to sprinkle in a little French flair and the cocktail hour menu seemed like the perfect place for this.
• Dinner. We’re doing a buffet style (with a little Be Our Guest theming 😉 ) and doing a variety of menu options. This seemed like the best way to ensure there was something for each guest. I’m so excited for the Braised Beef short ribs but we’re also having seafood and vegetarian options, as well as a variety of salads, soup, roasted vegetables, starches and dessert. We chose some dishes with a local flair and some that are more traditionally European and American. For one of the desserts, Chef came up with these strawberry guava mousse cups with edible roses which I’m so excited about!
• Cake. Below is it what it will look like! I shared about the cake tasting and flavors we chose here.

Entertainment
This was another really important aspect! My thought process is, if you want your guests to have a great time then the biggest thing you can do is hire a really good DJ/MC. The DJs on Aulani’s preferred vendor list were all top notch, but when I talked with them last August I knew right away DJ Troy was it (I shared a little more about why in this post). He brings a different philosophy to the role of DJ/MC and he’ll be the perfect fit for our crowd and vibe. I wanted someone who would be a strong energy manager for the event and he’s it!

Photography
I did things a little differently here. I wanted a really good photographer that matched our style, which I’m so happy we found in Aria Studios. I am SO excited to have them shoot our wedding! But I only booked for four hours, two of which were included in our Aulani event. I did it this way because that was enough time to capture the traditional photos we want, and then to cover the rest of the event I picked Leialoha Socials for a completely different perspective. A social media content creator felt like the best way to capture all the candid and less posed photos- plus include a lot of video. While the photos and videos can be used for social media, they don’t have to be and will make beautiful keepsake memories in their own right. And eight hours of coverage was only a little more than one hour of photography. Iniki at Leialoha Socials had some great ideas about how to engage our guests in fun ways and I’m so excited to explore this more with her team!

There is so much more I want to share, but as usual I’ve gone longer than I planned :). I’ll share more next month!

Love,
Terra