Anytime we get an inquiry in our inbox for a wedding in Hawaii, my first thought is – how in the world did I get so lucky to do what I love! Second is…Wait, did they say HAWAII!? And I do a little happy dance because I have always felt like I left a little piece of my heart on the islands.

I spent my childhood years growing up on Oahu and I will always hold a special place in my heart for Hawaii, and probably why I love all places tropical. For our honeymoon, we drank pina coladas in Costa Rica, took boat rides with views of Mt. Fuji in Japan and went scuba diving in El Nido Palawan, Philippines. It was the trip of a lifetime!

So when Nicole and RJ reached out about getting some information about photography for their wedding at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa, of course we felt incredibly honored to even be considered as the photographers to document their special day!! We LOVE photographing Hawaii weddings.

Here are a couple of our favorite weddings and sessions we did there last year!

Adelaide & Adrian’s Aulani Disney Resort Wedding

Chrisell & Alex’s Anniversary & Family Sunset Beach Session

When Nicole reached out, I found out that her fiance, RJ was actually cousins with a couple of my really great girlfriends in San Diego. What a small world! And what was even sweeter and made me smile from ear to ear was when she said…”Little did they know, we have been LOVING your work long before they referred us to you.” Are you serious? That made me SO happy to hear that!

I was beyond excited to meet these two in person. They were traveling from LA down to San Diego for their engagement session and we actually had to postpone the first date we had planned because of the rain. So I was hoping and praying for great weather and we were not disappointed!

After sending a few examples of engagement sessions I had done in the past, they wanted to go for something with a woodsy feel to start with, then of course we had to get some great sunset shots to end the day! I LOVED their outfit choices and they both just looked so beautiful and classy.

Since their wedding will be in Hawaii, I thought it would be great to get some tropical style photos for them at La Jolla Beach. Nicole’s stunning bouquet(S) – yes, TWO gorgeous floral arrangements(!!) were created by Zeyda of The Little Fleur Co. She is so amazing and treats all her clients with so much love and care, paying close attention to their stylistic preferences while also creating something unique and artistic every single time!

Pat & I really loved our time getting to know Nicole & RJ. They are so kind and you can immediately tell they have huge hearts of gold. We were laughing nonstop during the session and they are complete naturals when they got in front of the camera. I can already tell their wedding is going to be so much fun and we are over-the-moon excited to be there to capture it!! I’m just counting down the days. :)

Enjoy some of my favorites from their woodsy AND tropical ;) engagement session and stay tuned for more from their Hawaii wedding later this year!